Sundance 2024 Review: “Thelma” – A Heartfelt Action Film!

Hollywood has always been a “young person’s” game in the sense that unless one has been acting since they were children or teenagers, new and emerging talent is what Hollywood typically seeks. This is even more so for female actresses, being told that once they hit the age of 40 or so, their careers are “over.” This point has been disproven by June Squibb, who’s first acting role was in 1990 at the age of 60 years old. Since then, she has acted in dozens of films, her most prominent work being in Nebraska in 2013.

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Thelma is a story of an elderly woman with the intent of proving to her family she can take care of herself. In the same way that Thelma proves no matter one’s age our grandmothers and grandfathers are capable of more than we think, the film also proves that movies with unlikely heroes, such as Thelma, a grandmother in her 80s/90s, can light up the screen as bright as younger talent.

Thelma gets a call one day from her “grandson” that he is in a sticky situation and that she needs to mail $10,000 to an unknown man for his release. Being a concerned and loving grandmother, Thelma does just this, only to realize she has been bamboozled. With the help of her old friend Ben (Richard Roundtree) from a nearby nursing home, Thelma decides to travel to the given address to demand her money back, proving her individual capability to her family.

Thelma is a wild and fun-loving ride that is undeniably charming. The film plays out like an action film with elements like car chases, heists, and guns but on the scale that an elderly person would see being able to achieve these goals. The car chase is more of a scooter chase, the heist is a visit to a friend with a motive, and when it comes to guns, it is what it sounds like, which makes Thelma that much more unpredictable.

The obstacles Thelma and Ben jump over seem easy to the rest of us but watching these two characters defy the odds of the expectations others place on them and do the impossible, by their own standards, is riveting to watch. The suspense matches action films because of the character’s capabilities versus their situations.

Behind the action, at the core of Thelma is a story about generational differences and familial obstacles that are all too relatable. Thelma’s daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg) see her as incapable of living on her own while Gail and Alan also worry about their twenty-something year old son Danny (Fred Hechinger) who they feel doesn’t have a clear direction in life.

However, Danny and his grandmother Thelma have a bond where Thelma knows Danny has time to figure out his life because he is so young while Danny expresses to Thelma that she is old but that he is in her corner and always on her side. The closeness in generations of these two different relationships, Thelma and her daughter as well as Gail and Danny, display the gaps in emotional understanding. Yet, when the film analyzes the skip from Danny to Thelma’s generation there is more they have in common then on the surface. Margolin’s exploration of this within the realm of an action film is outstanding.

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On top of that, Thelma’s relationship with Ben in the film is handled beautifully, Ben learning from Thelma that he can do more than he thinks and Thelma learning that it is okay to ask for help and it does not diminish one’s strength. Seeing two older actors on screen being the heart and soul of the film, carrying it along for young and old audiences, proves how with incredible direction, writing, and something worthwhile to say, a film can be successful, age just being a number.

Thelma hits every emotional target, suspense, heartache, joy, and sadness seamlessly. To say that this critic is excited for everyone to experience it would be an understatement.

‘Thelma’ Rating – 4/5

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