Thelma
A 93-year-old grandmother seeks revenge in Josh Margolin’s hugely entertaining, bittersweet action-thriller.
Born to be wild: Richard Roundtree and June Squibb take to the streets.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures
Considering that the age of the viewing public is getting increasingly older, it is perhaps insulting (and short-sighted) that fewer and fewer films represent that demographic. So Josh Margolin’s sprightly thriller starring a 94-year-old actress takes a huge leap to redress the balance. June Squibb (Nebraska, Palm Springs) plays Thelma Post who, since the death of her husband two years ago, has found a new lease of life. Now 93 (“I don’t feel old”), she fills her days organising her medication, playing Scribbage, enjoying light exercise and cross-stitch and getting to grips with the latest technology. The last-named activity takes a little more mental processing and her beloved 24-year-old grandson Daniel Markowitz (co-producer Fred Hechinger) does his best to help her tackle the pop-up ads.
Thelma dabbles in social media, but is not entirely convinced of its merits (“how can Zuckenborg make this happen?”). She’s a bright button for her age, in spite of having had breast cancer, a double mastectomy, a hip replacement, bowel replacement and sepsis and is now suffering from arrhythmia, a brain tumour and transient global amnesia. But the worst part of getting old is that most of her friends are dead. So she dotes on Daniel, and when she receives an alarming telephone call to say he’s in prison and needs a large sum of cash for his release, she doesn’t hesitate to withdraw the money and post if off. It is, of course, a scam and would destroy a person of a lesser spirit (Thelma doesn’t have Jason Statham to do her bidding - cf. The Beekeeper). However, she has just watched Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Fallout and, armed with a new sense of indignation, takes to the streets of LA with a broiling sense of entitlement. You don’t mess with Thelma Post…
June Squibb, who made her film debut aged 61 in Woody Allen’s Alice (thirty-three years ago), is a thing of beauty. Whether striding down the sidewalk with a grim determination or zooming off on the scooter belonging to an old friend (Richard Roundtree, in his last performance), she is a formidable presence. The few films made about the aged tend towards the maudlin and sentimental, but Squibb’s Thelma neither begs for our sympathy nor our condescension. She hasn’t forgotten how to enjoy her life and isn’t about to let her physical limitations stop her from obtaining justice.
Josh Margolin’s Thelma is remarkable on a number of levels. It’s a fast-paced movie about a slow-paced woman – a thriller that is equal parts witty and heart-rending. The one thing that unites every colour, gender, creed and race is that we all get older and, should we survive into out autumnal years, we suffer the same physical indignities. As Roundtree’s Ben says, “We’re old – diminished – a liability to those we love… We’re not what we were.” “Well,” says Thelma, “we all have our good days and our bad days.” Thelma is actually having a good day. She’s enjoying the chase. When she steals a firearm, Ben asks incredulously: “Can you use a gun?”, to which she replies: “How hard can it be? Idiots use them all the time.”
On the edge of the precipice, one might as well live every second for what it’s worth. Josh Margolin obviously knows of what he writes having hero-worshipped his own grandmother (called Thelma) and seen her scammed by swindlers – and he gives his film heart without sacrificing its momentum or its humour. For her next trick, June Squibb has landed her second title role – in the Scarlett Johansson-directed drama Eleanor the Great.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Clark Gregg, Parker Posey, Malcolm McDowell, David Giuliani, Coral Peña, Nicole Byer, Quinn Beswick, Bunny Levine, Ruben Rabasa.
Dir Josh Margolin, Pro Zoë Worth, Chris Kaye, Nicholas Weinstock, Benjamin Simpson, Karl Spoerri and Viviana Vezzani, Ex Pro June Squibb and Fred Hechinger, Screenplay Josh Margolin, Ph David Bolen, Pro Des Brielle Hubert, Ed Josh Margolin, Music Nick Chuba, Costumes Amanda Wing Yee Lee, Sound Nathan Ruyle.
Bandwagon/Zurich Avenue/Invention Studios-Universal Pictures.
98 mins. USA. 2024. US Rel: 21 June 2024. UK Rel: 19 July 2024. Cert. 12A.
