2024 ‧ Crime/Comedy/Drama ‧ 98m
After well-received screenings at Sundance, Thelma has now gone wide. June Squibb, Academy Award Nominee for Nebraska, leads the film as the titular role.
Thelma is 93 years old and lives alone, much to Daniel, her 24-year-old grandson’s worry. Daniel (Fred Hechinger) helps her out with computer needs, but like many her age it isn’t her strongest suit. One day she gets a call from someone pretending to be Daniel saying he’s been in an accident and needs money for a lawyer. She gathers up the $10,000 requested and calls everyone in her family, but they are all too busy or, in Daniel’s case asleep, to answer. Her family eventually does get back to her, but not before she mails the money. The police offer no help, and the next day she decides she is going to get her money back. Reluctantly enlisting an old friend, Ben (Richard Roundtree), they travel on his scooter to go where the PO box she sent the money to is located.
There have been a lot of films about seniors taking justice into their own hands, dominating despite age, but Thelma is not an action movie. Instead, it focuses quite a lot on what aging does to someone. It often takes the time to show how difficult it can be to be older in modern society. Memory and body issues are always there in the background if they don’t make it to the foreground. Though this may sound somewhat dire, the film has a light tone that is quite enjoyable. The film is more comedy than anything else, but there are some moments of drama that are affecting. When looking to find help in her mission, Thelma goes through the contacts in her phone and realizes that many of her friends are dead. Though the scene is comical, it does have a dark bite that is consistent throughout the film.
Family relationships and generational divide are major themes in Thelma. Her Gen X daughter and son-in-law, Parker Posey and Clark Gregg, are often worried about her and the arrested development of their Gen Z son. In a more action driven version of this story, Thema’s family would have been an after-thought. Here them trying to find her and their relationship with each other are a secondary plot. Though heightened and humorous, it gives a sense of verisimilitude. Most filmmakers would just focus on Thelma’s mission, but having the caring family involved makes the stakes higher. First time director, Josh Margolin, offers a different layer to what could be a typical crime narrative.
Squibb’s performance is obviously the standout here. She is doing much more than the standard “Grandma” role or “old person out for revenge.” It is a comedic performance for the most part, but Squibb easily shows up her range throughout the film. Richard Roundtree gives his final feature film performance as Ben, who Thelma allows to join her mission. If only to use his scooter. His performance is the other standout. Oftentimes, casting someone who played as iconic of a role as Shaft could be a bad idea, but here it adds an extra layer to the story. Even John Shaft can get old and infrim.
Thelma plays like the sort of film you expect from Sundance, and fans of that will not be disappointed. Those looking for a funny, layered, and exciting film won’t be disappointed either.
Grade: B-
~Andrew