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Thelma… so good, they named her once.
She’s portrayed by the brilliant June Squibb (Inside Out 2), who I didn’t think was as old as the titular character’s 93 years, but she was at the time of filming, and now is 94, since that’s how time works.
As it begins, seeing her grandson, Daniel (Fred Hechinger, above-right, The Pale Blue Eye), showing her how to use a PC, scrolling the mouse etc, reminds me of when my Mum was using a PC and really didn’t know what she was doing at first. Ultimately, she never did get the hang of copy-and-paste, either!
That said, I could question why she only clicks once on an attachment in an email for a recording of her late husband, Ted, singing, when it requires two clicks to open such a file…
However, after lamenting what’s gone, she’s then seen watching Mission Impossible: Fallout on a 4:3 TV (in the modern age?!), giving her a renewed sense of vigour and a new lust for life, seeing Tom Cruise doing all his own stunts, later in his own life, so once she gets scammed from a cold call over the phone for $10,000, she’s determined to get things sorted out, leading to her visiting old friend, Ben (the late, great Richard Roundtree in his final performance), at his care home, commandering his scooter, and heading off with him to get to the truth and get her cash back… although I did spot some bad green screen while outside on her travels at one point.
While this film deals with a serious situation with a rather simplistic approach – since in reality, scammers like Mark Pollard, really just need to be murdered 10 times over – it has a lot of strength in its superb script with tons of hilarious asides, and great character writing, especially for Ben, and Daniel, a young lad of 24 who’s in that inbetween period of life – after having finished education, and not knowing where to go next in life. He’s so disorganised, yet his ex, Allie (Coral Peña – 24: Legacy), was the glue that held their relationship together, and he feels lost without her.
Some of those asides include recognising the sort of things my late parents would do or say, such as when my Dad would his essential alert bracelet off, or my Mum, reminding me of a similar time to when Thelma bemoans of her lot, “All of my friends are dead”, and for this character she adds, “I didn’t expect to get so old. I used to be in 4 lunch groups”, plus for her, you can’t help but let out an unfortunate giggle when she learns that one of her friends died in a fire pit after falling in!
The script also creates memorable characters, and despite the brief 98-minute running time, the film also takes time for Thelma and Ben to visit an old friend, Mona (Bunny Levine), who also lives in her own home, and you get the feeling that as well as just dropping in, this is the last time those characters would actually ever see each other. She just sits there watching TV, as if it’s the only thing left in her life, and you can imagine her doing that forever.
The cast also includes Parker Posey (The Staircase) as Thelma’s daughter, Gail, along with Clark Gregg (Painkiller) as Gail’s husband, Alan, who are both frantic when the matriarch goes AWOL.
Regarding Thelma, she also worries that, at her age – and with her relatives looking into putting her into assisted living accommodation – the thought crosses her mind that if she ever falls down, she’ll never get back up again under her own steam, and that’s her independence gone.
There’s no plot-driven mid- or post-credits scenes, but soon after the credits begin, we see a brief scene with the real Thelma, talking away, as the film is based on writer/director Josh Margolin‘s late mother, with the film being dedicated, “For Thelma”.
Thelma is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 98 minutes
Release date: July 19th 2024
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 8/10
Director: Josh Margolin
Producers: Chris Kaye, Benjamin Simpson, Karl Spoerri, Viviana Vezzani, Nicholas Weinstock, Zoë Worth
Screenplay: Josh Margolin
Music: Nick Chuba
Cast:
Thelma: June Squibb
Ben: Richard Roundtree
Daniel: Fred Hechinger
Gail: Parker Posey
Alan: Clark Gregg
Detective Morgan: Chase Kim
Gloria (‘Annie’): Sheila Korsi
Grace: Annie O’Donnell
Starey Gary: David Giuliani
Winston: Ruben Rabasa
Rochelle: Nicole Byer
Colin: Quinn Beswick
Mona: Bunny Levine
Allie: Coral Peña
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.