Thelma

Scam, Bam,
Thank You Ma’am

Thelma
Directed by Josh Margolin
Switzerland/USA 2024

Not to be confused with the famous identically titled Nordic horror infused sci-fi movie from 2017 (reviewed here), Thelma is a movie starring 95 year old actress June Squibb as the 93 year old title character, Thelma Post. She’s actually based on the director’s grandmother, also Thelma Post, who is currently 103 and who is also seen in the movie in a mid-end credits scene. Thelma Post is the widow of Ted Post, the famous Hollywood director, who is in family photos in the movie. Which would make sense because the location used for Thelma’s apartment in the movie is actually the real Thelma’s actual apartment.

Joining the actress in the film are her character's grandson Daniel (played by Fred Hechinger) who she has a very good relationship with... and his parents played by the wonderful Clark Gregg and the always brilliant Parker Posey (is she still regarded as the queen of indie film-making these days?). One day, Thelma gets a phone call with someone pretending to be her grandson in jail, who puts her onto a ‘lawyer’, and she falls for the scam, posting ten thousand dollars of bail money to the PO box given. The rest of the family, apart from her brilliant grandson, think she should be put in a home but, while they are procrastinating on stuff like this, she makes up her mind to track down the scammers and get her money back... inspired by Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible films she watches with her grandson.

So she goes to collect an old friend, Ben, played by the late, great Richard Roundtree in his final film (he died a few months before the premiere and it has an ‘in loving memory’ tag to him at the end of the credits). He has a new, two seater scooter and the two go a long way to find the scammer, after collecting a loaded pistol from another of Thelma’s old friends.

The film also has a nice touch where the main scammer at the end of their quest is also an elderly guy and, in some ways, much worse off than they are. He’s played here pretty well by the fantastic Malcolm McDowell (wow... Roundtree and McDowell, two 1970s cinematic icons in the same movie).

And it’s a nice, gentle comedy which explores what it means to be very old and the differences between people and the way they accept ageing, or don’t. Ben, for example, is perfectly happy in his elderly residence, where he is playing Daddy Warbucks in a version of Annie they’re putting on for the other residents... but, since the death of her husband two years prior, Thelma is more of a loner. In one scene, which I thought was a really nice touch, her grandson asks her what her plans for the day are... and we next see her sorting out all her pills for the next week and putting them into their respective compartments. Sadly, I am now at the age where I can totally sympathise and understand that... and not just from watching my folks do the same thing, alas.

Now, the film isn’t as pacey as I thought it would be but it is quite heartwarming and I think it also doesn’t make the kinds of turns I thought it would, so there’s a lot to keep things entertaining and surprising. The music by Nick Chuba is pretty good too... leaning into the action themes from the kind of movies which inspire Thelma but with a more modern take. Sadly, Schifrin’s Mission Impossible theme was, presumably, too rich for the budget but the score has a nice vibe to it and, at some point, I’m sure I heard one of my favourite musical instruments, the cimbalom, on one of the cues.

By the end of the film, everything seems to be maintaining the status quo of the central character (I thought it would go down a different route) and, my only real criticism is that Thelma, as old as she is, maybe doesn’t seem to learn too much from her experiences in the movie (or at least not unless certain things were left on the cutting room floor). But it’s a nice enough ending and, as I said, the real life Thelma pops up halfway through the end credits. This one is nothing spectacular but it is a heart warming and fun time at the movies so, yeah, definitely worth a watch.