The title alone convinced Aubrey Plaza to appear in My Old Ass, an offbeat coming-of-age story that was warmly received during its premiere Saturday night at the Sundance Fest.

“It all just made sense to me,” Plaza told the sold-out crowd at the Eccles Theater. “‘My Old Ass,’ I was like, ‘Oh man.’”

And when Plaza spent time with Megan Park, the film’s writer and director, and discovered her affinity for unusual means of transportation, Aubrey knew she had signed on to the perfect project. Park was sporting a life vest during their first Zoom meeting, a sign of her love of all things nautical.

“Megan is the only director I’ve ever worked with who Jet Skis to work,” Plaza said. Park also picked up Plaza in a paddle boat for their initial meeting. “She paddled over me,” Plaza recalled. “And I sat there for a while just staring at her, inching along. I was like, ‘What the? What have I got myself into?’ And [then] I felt like, ‘This is right.’”

“Once he gave us the go-ahead, we were thrilled,” Park said. “We leaned into it even more. Everybody was so game to play and have fun.”

“I kept thinking about this idea: there was a time when you did something like play pretend with your friends, and then you just never did it again,” Park said. “That made me really emotional. I also wanted to immerse myself in a joyful film and something that made people feel nostalgic for an easier, simpler time in life. Because life can be hard and shitty sometimes. I wanted to have an escape.”