Sundance '24: "Thelma" - Film Review
At the young age of ninety-four, June Squibb finally has her first leading role. Squibb plays the titular Thelma, a lonely woman who gets scammed over the phone to the tune of $10,000. Thelma lives alone, but is frequently visited by her grandson, Daniel (Fred Hechinger). It’s her loving relationship with Daniel that is exploited when Thelma receives a frantic phone call from someone impersonating Daniel. The voice on the phone says he’s in jail and that someone will be calling her shortly with an address to send him money. Thelma complies when she can’t get Daniel on the phone, but when Daniel finally calls her back and tells her he’s okay, Thelma decides she won’t rest until the scammers are brought to justice. Thelma is a low-speed heist caper with all the trappings of a Mission: Impossible flick. Just swap Tom Cruise for a ninety-four-year-old woman with a righteous desire for revenge.
courtesy of sundance
As slow-moving as Thelma’s lead protagonist is, the film has its fair share of pulse-pounding action. There’s an electric scooter chase through the halls of a retirement home, evasive maneuvers using a life-alert bracelet, and the ever-daunting issue of stairs. Thelma and her partner in crime, Ben (Richard Roundtree), don’t need any super-secret spy comms because they have hearing aids and can connect to one another through Bluetooth. For Thelma, who rarely leaves her home, any adventure is a bit extraordinary. She can’t drive anymore, needs hearing aids, and has trouble walking long distances, but there’s a determination in her. It’s not fully fueled by wanting to right the wrong of being scammed, but more to prove to herself and others that things haven’t changed. That despite being in her nineties, Thelma can still provide and care for herself. As she describes it, she spent her whole life being the person who helped and cared for others. To accept help now would be to go against her entire life. She has no blueprint or means of allowing herself to be helped.
As Thelma, Squibb is divine. Her career has spanned 70 years on stage, in film, and on television. In 2013, she was nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role in Nebraska, but Thelma is her first time taking the entire spotlight as her own. Not only does she savor every minute she has, but she runs away with the entire film. This is Squibb’s victory lap, a celebration of her immense talents. Proof that she hasn’t slowed down, even for a second. And she’s surrounded by charm. The late Roundtree is gentle and sincere as Thelma’s reluctant partner in crime. Hechinger has carved a bit of a niche for himself as sweet, often listless characters simply trying their best. Parker Posey and Clark Gregg round out the cast as Daniel’s parents who are pulled unwillingly into the heist of a lifetime.
courtesy of sundance
Thelma is a revenge movie like no other. Wrapped up in Thelma’s desire to be Tom Cruise is a deeply human fear of losing attributes of yourself that you once took pride in. Are we still the same person we always were if we allow ourselves to be vulnerable? Thelma wholeheartedly says yes. That we are at our best when we allow ourselves to be emotional, to try and fail, and to get right back on the electric scooter when we fall off.
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