With the film festival now in full swing at the Dietrich Theater, I wanted to take a look at another prior film festival selection that I didn’t get a chance to check out: the indie film “Thelma.”
Thelma Post is a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist on the phone.
With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her.
This 2024 indie production does an amazing job showing us that the talented June Squibb has what it takes to carry this film — and, at the age of 95, this was Squibb’s first leading role! The actress has appeared in quite a few films over the years, such as “Scent of a Woman,” “About Schmidt” and “Nebraska,” among many others.
Squibb’s character (Thelma) delivers some fun, entertaining moments that can easily give you a good chuckle. Squibb gives a performance that is very memorable and she does an astounding job anchoring the film with both warmth and the previously mentioned humor. There are a couple of scenes that she shares with the late Richard Roundtree (aka Shaft) where their comedic timing was perfect, and they just absolutely killed it in most of their scenes together.
There are also a few moments scattered throughout the film that can give it a bit of action and are sort of shot like the early “Mission: Impossible” movies. There’s a scene where Thelma steals her friend’s scooter and her friend (Ben) ends up chasing after her with another scooter, and this scene is simply hilarious since it’s the exact opposite of a typical high-speed chase.
“Thelma” also delivers a bit of heart as well. In the film, we are introduced to her grandson, Danny, who takes good care of his grandmother and loves her. There’s a pivotal moment where Danny is having an argument with his parents and he vents about everything he has done wrong lately and how he’s lacking in some skills — which is probably his best moment in the film.
Overall, “Thelma” is a little comedy mixed in with a little bit of action that will really surprise you. This film also puts a clever spin on action-related films by featuring a grandmother as an unlikely hero. If you haven’t seen the film yet, I highly recommend it.
Cast: June Squibb (Thelma); Frank Hechinger (Danny); Richard Roundtree (Ben); Parker Posey (Gail); Clark Gregg (Alan); Nicole Byer (Rochelle); Coral Pena (Allie); Aidan Fiske (Michael); Malcolm McDowell (Harvey).
Writer/director: Josh Margolin.
Trivia: The film is actually inspired by Josh Margolin’s 103-year-old grandmother, who was almost duped by scammers pretending to be her grandson into giving them thousands of dollars. “Thelma” also marks Roundtree’s final film role before his passing in October 2023. “Thelma” premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 18, 2024. It was also named one of the top 10 independent films of 2024 by the National Board of Review.
MPAA rating: PG-13 for strong language (running time 98 minutes).
Where to find it: You can currently stream “Thelma” on Hulu/Disney Plus or rent it via Fandango, YouTube, Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
Originally Published: February 26, 2025 at 12:00 AM EST
