Thelma: Film Review
June Squibb has always stolen the show in supporting roles and now, at the ripe old age of 94, she’s leading her own movie, Thelma.
Josh Margolin‘s comedy tells the story of Thelma Post (Squibb), a widow in her 90s who lives alone in Los Angeles. One day, she is duped out of $10,000 by a scammer pretending to be her grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger). Once she discovers she’s been the victim of a scam, Thelma refuses to take the news lying down. She steals her friend’s motorised scooter and sets off on an adventure across the San Fernando Valley to track down the fraudsters and get revenge.
It is so rare to see a movie starring an elderly person, let alone one with plenty of micro-scale action, so it was a delight to see a 93-year-old woman exacting justice and making the baddies pay. It was also refreshing to see the modern world from her perspective, particularly in terms of how she interacts with technology (typos, pop-up ads, accidentally posting photos on Instagram etc).
Thelma is a badass and very headstrong but she’s not invincible or even as independent as she thinks she is. While the revenge plot was the comedy focus, the emotional resonance came from Thelma realising that she was not as capable as she once was. She slowly begins to accept the fact that she needs to let others help her, particularly her grandson, daughter Gail (Parker Posey), son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg) and friend Ben (the late Richard Roundtree, in his last role).
The heart of the film lies with Thelma’s relationship with her grandson, which is so lovely, heartwarming and sweet. This makes a lot of sense once you realise that Danny is a stand-in for the writer and director and Thelma is based on his real grandmother, also called Thelma Post. He was inspired to make the film after she was called by scammers, although thankfully she didn’t lose any money.
Thelma might not be the raucous comedy I had envisioned but it’s well written, very amusing and so nice and wholesome. Squibb is perfect for the role; I cannot think of anyone more well-suited for it.
In cinemas from Friday 19th July