Thelma, 2024.
Written and Directed by Josh Margolin.
Starring June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, Malcolm McDowell, Aidan Fiske, Chase Kim, Nicole Byer, David Giuliani, Annie O’Donnell, Ruben Rabasa, Bunny Levine, Coral Peña, Ivy Jones, Quinn Beswick, and Sandy Gimpel.
SYNOPSIS:
When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.
Following an elaborate scam that sees 93-year-old Thelma (a delightful, resilient, empowering June Squibb) mailing $10,000 to a specified address to get her grandson Daniel (Fred Hechinger) out of jail on bonds (he’s at home, sleeping in, and missing phone calls from the entire family), one would be forgiven for assuming that Thelma (from writer/director Josh Margolin making his feature-length narrative debut) might fall into the familiar territory of pitying the vulnerability of the elderly.
Even as this film premieres at Sundance, The Beekeeper is currently in theaters, which uses a similar set up as an excuse for Jason Statham to go on an action-packed rampage in defense of taking advantage of the vulnerable. However, that’s not what this funny, surprisingly tense narrative has in mind: Thelma, after watching one of the more recent Mission: Impossible movies alongside her grandson, notices a newspaper displaying Tom Cruise and gets an idea.
With its playfully upbeat, spy-adjacent score from Nick Chuba (and let’s be real, who doesn’t want to watch a movie where June Squibb feels like a spy), Thelma is the rare type of film centered on elderly shenanigans that, for the most part (the middle portion is a bit rough and loses its way, slightly losing that perspective while slipping into road-trip buddy clichés) doesn’t see its older characters only as helpless victims. Yes, Thelma does not understand computers one bit (and the detailed specificity the film goes to explain what she doesn’t understand should also be commended, as it ensures the story and character don’t come across as generic), and her daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and her husband Alan (Clark Gregg) think it might be time to move her into an assisted living facility (especially in the wake of her losing her longtime lovely husband, still processing that grief), but she can still fight back.
Thelma retraces her steps, back to where she trashed a piece of paper with the address scribbled on it. Her kind and caring but frustrated and directionless grandson Danny (the chemistry June Squibb and Fred Hechinger share is nothing short of sweet) is unsure about driving to this address and confronting whoever is responsible, causing his grandmother to commit what would usually be an annoying cardinal sin in these types of movies: breaking a friend out of an assisted living facility.
However, as Thelma reconnects with her old pal Ben (a moving, warm, terrific final performance from the late great Richard Roundtree), primarily as a means to run off with his mobile scooter, she ropes him along for the ride (he can only hope he is back in time for the old folks’ stage play performance of Annie) in a riotous sequence that plays like something out of an action movie, offering further proof that these stories should never be boxed into one genre.
As previously mentioned, while focusing on the differing viewpoints between Thelma and Ben regarding independence vs. accepting assisted living facilities, even with solid performances, the film somewhat drifts along and forgets that the real engagement and suspense is coming from this road trip and what they could possibly find once they reach this address. Fortunately, Thelma does pick itself back up (as she physically picks herself up off the ground at one point) for a riveting finale filled with some intense computer screen “X” mouse clicking and standoffs where she rightfully preaches about right and wrong. It also ends on a beautifully heartfelt note between grandmother and grandson, putting an emotional exclamation point on this quirky, elderly action-adventure tale.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
