M. Night Shyamalan's movie 'Old' inspired by Father's Day gift

'Old' is a science fiction mystery thriller film, inspired by the novel 'Sandcastle' by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters. It follows a group of holidaymakers who find themselves aging rapidly on a secluded beach they cannot escape from. 

"Interestingly enough, it (the book) was a Father's Day gift that my three daughters gave me," Shyamalan recalled on "Today" show, reports aceshowbiz.com. 

He added: "They found it in this little comic book store in Philadelphia, this graphic novel by a French author, and it was very obscure and impossible to find, and I loved this premise..." 

Shyamalan said that the story was very moving. 

"It's what we all think about - how fast time is moving, you blink and our kids are so old and they're different human beings, and our parents have become frail, so these were the things that were on my mind (reading) this amazing graphic novel... I loved it," he said. 

The film's cast includes Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Alex Wolff, Abbey Lee, Aaron Pierre, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott, and Kathleen Chalfant. 

The director hired two of his daughters to work with him on the film. 

"They've grown up in this house of arts and now they're these adults and incredible filmmakers...," he said. 

Talking about his daughters, Shyamalan said: "Ishani... is a filmmaker... She second directed the movie so she was at one end of the beach, and I was at the other. It was just an amazing experience. 

He added: "My daughter Saleka, who is this amazing musician...she wrote this song that's really important to the movie and really important to the characters, so it was an amazing experience to see them do all this stuff and lean on them."