Thelma

***1/2

Reviewed by: Jennie Kermode

Thelma
"Silly in places but smart in others, and well structured throughout." | Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute

According to the Office of Trading Standards, around three quarters of people in the UK have fallen victim to scammers at one time or another, but only a third of those people have reported it. Most are simply too embarrassed. It can, after all, be easy to see through most scams in retrospect – but nobody can be on their guard all the time. When 93-year-old Thelma gets a frantic phone call which seems to be from her grandson, she’s quick to respond to his request for money, and only afterwards realises how she’s been played. Her family members treat it as a targeted form of exploitation, as if she were a poor helpless, fragile creature, somehow less capable of comprehending such things than younger people. Frustrated by this, as she is by the scam itself, Thelma becomes determined to get out there, track down the scammer and get her money back by herself.

Inspired by director Josh Margolin’s own grandmother, who almost fell prey to such a scam at the age of 103 and who makes a brief cameo near the end, the film combines elements of comedy, thriller and character study. June Squibb makes a formidable lead. Her Thelma faces obvious physical limitations but is skilled at working around them and at commandeering the help she needs, most notably from old acquaintance Ben (Richard Roundtree), a man whom she finds boring but who has a mobility scooter she needs. Later, her grandson, Daniel (Fred Hechinger), joins the team. Like her, he’s used to being patronised and excluded from family decisions. He has useful skills that her generation never needed to develop, whilst her confidence helps him learn how to assert himself.

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There are a lot of jokes here about ageing bodies which the film largely gets away with on a laughing with rather than laughing at basis, though the conflation of disability and age, each of which brings its own distinct problems to the table, is sometimes problematic. The stronger aspects of the comedy focus less on Thelma’s actual shortcomings – which, as a rounded character, she has plenty of – and more on the ridiculousness of how other people think of her. There are moments when she’s clearly leaning into the belief that it’s ridiculous for an elderly woman to be physically active in order to gain an advantage. Similarly, her willingness to play up being befuddled means that her foes can never be quite sure when it’s genuine and when she’s several steps ahead.

With scenes that parody Mission: Impossible, the film builds up through a series of low stakes action pieces before plunging its relentless heroine into a situation where she might face very real danger, with Malcolm McDowell bringing just the right edge to a villainous role. He is, of course, 81 himself, which immediately points up the disparity between how we perceive men and women in their later years. Older viewers will appreciate the different meaning attached to fighting to survive at a stage where there’s an element of that in the everyday and one is very much aware that one day the struggle will fail. Margolin’s skill lies in capturing this without limiting his audience reach. Thelma is a film that you can enjoy at any age.

Silly in places but smart in others, and well structured throughout, this is a film which seems to have created a sensation simply by treating its central character as a human being. There is real meat on those bones, however, as its now substantial collection of awards nominations should make clear.

Reviewed on: 19 Jan 2025
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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.

Director: Josh Margolin

Writer: Josh Margolin

Starring: June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, Malcolm McDowell, Coral Peña, Nicole Byer, Annie O'Donnell, Bunny Levine, Ruben Rabasa, Chase Kim, Annie Korzen, Ivy Jones, Aidan Fiske

Year: 2024

Runtime: 97 minutes

Country: US

Festivals:

Sundance 2024

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