Thelma (2024, dir. Josh Margolin)

by Jack Martin | Jul 20, 2024

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 98 mins

UK Distributor: Universal Pictures

UK Release Date: 19 July 2024

WHO’S IN THELMA?

June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, Malcolm McDowell, Nicole Byer, Coral Peña

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Josh Margolin (director, writer, editor), Chris Kaye, Benjamin Simpson, Karl Spoerri, Viviana Vezzani, Nicholas Weinstock and Zoë Worth (producers), Nick Chuba (composer), David Bolen (cinematographer)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

An elderly grandmother (Squibb) sets out to retrieve her stolen money…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THELMA?

Two years ago, cancer stole my grandmother from my life. To simply say it was a gut-punch would undersell how distraught I was (and still am, quite honestly), because I was exceptionally close with my grandmother, as I often spent considerable time as a kid just sitting and chatting with her while she’d read the newspaper or watch her favourite daytime programmes. Later in life, I’d drive her to and from church and family gatherings after she had her licence revoked. But even in her final few years, my grandmother never lost sight of the love she had for all her family, including myself, and remained as good-natured and strong-willed as you’d expect the best grandparents to be.

Those fond memories I have of her did make it more difficult for me to get through Thelma, from writer-director Josh Margolin. Not because the film is in any way bad or distasteful, in fact it’s a hugely charming and often very funny ride, but more because I felt so much of my grandmother’s presence here, and it caused a whole flood of emotions to come crashing through as I witnessed Margolin somehow, without having even been aware of her existence, replicate nearly everything I knew and loved about her.

It appears that the filmmaker had as much affection for his own grandmother as I did for mine, because Thelma – named after his nan, who as of writing is apparently still alive at the age of 103 – manages to lend a deeply compassionate lens towards elderly civilians that largely avoids patronisation and instead celebrates their resilience and determination, proving how they can be just as much of a hero to us as any other virtuous role model. It’s also, for good measure, extremely funny and remarkably sweet in its overall execution.

In the film, Thelma Post (June Squibb) is a nonagenarian living independently ever since the passing of her husband, with her kind but directionless grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) often keeping her company as she attempts to use a computer and watches Tom Cruise run breathlessly in the Mission: Impossible movies. One day, Thelma receives a phone call from someone claiming to be Danny, who tells her that he’s in prison and need $10,000 to post bail, which she promptly delivers, only to later realise that she’s been scammed. With the police being of no help, along with her adult daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg) worrying about her mental state, Thelma decides to take matters into her own hands and confront the scammers themselves. To do this, she acquires the mobility scooter of her friend Ben (the late Richard Roundtree, in his final film role), and together they set out on an action-filled adventure across the city to get back what is rightfully hers.

The earlier reference to Tom Cruise and the Mission: Impossible movies was far from trivial, as Thelma styles itself specifically as a low-stakes pastiche of those films, complete with an identical amount of active camerawork and a flute-heavy musical score that you’d often find in one of them. Cruise himself is also an indirect inspiration for the title character, as well as actor June Squibb who similarly performs most of her own stunts, of which there are a surprising amount in this film, including a scooter chase in the hallways of a care home, and intricately moving about a bed as though there were lasers swarming around it. Margolin, who also edited the film, has a lot of fun staging sequences where his elderly actors get to be a bit more physical than they’d normally be able to, often resulting in some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments where the joke, refreshingly, isn’t entirely on them or their limited capabilities. It’s almost to a point where I’d unironically petition for Margolin to direct an actual Mission: Impossible film, because if he can get a ninety-something actor like Squibb to perform a series of carefully choreographed stunts, then who knows what he’d be able to get Tom Cruise to do?

It already works as a funny and exciting tribute to action cinema, but Thelma is at its best when it’s simply wearing its earnest heart on its knitted sleeve. These characters are just so lovable, from Squibb’s endearing lead to Fred Hechinger’s caring grandson to Richard Roundtree who, even before his passing, still knew how to unleash his inner Shaft by turning up the charm to eleven. You end up really caring for these people, least of all because the performances do so well to get you on their side, as well as the stuff that they’re going through which is simple and straightforward, yet packed with enough emotional weight to justify its admittedly light nature. Margolin is also wise to not overdo the more tender moments, which in the hands of a lesser storyteller could have come off as schmaltzy and corny, but here they’re handled with the right amount of sweetness which ends up leaving a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

It certainly did for me, though that was probably down to how Thelma really did have me thinking about my own grandmother. While she might not have exactly been the type to acquire a gun and set out on a mobility scooter to track down those who had stolen her money, she certainly carried a similar amount of optimism and kindness that I doubt I’ll ever find again in my lifetime, and for that I’m thankful that this movie exists so that, for a brief moment, I can recall her warm nature that I miss so very, very much.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Thelma is a very funny and exceptionally endearing pastiche to stunt-fuelled action cinema, with filmmaker Josh Margolin getting some impressive stunts out of his elderly actors like June Squibb and the late Richard Roundtree, but it is its earnest heart that impresses the most, even with its somewhat light narrative.