Thelma (2024) - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

ON paper, the concept for Thelma - a nonagenarian seeks revenge on the scam artists who scammed her - would seem ripe for exaggerated comedy. A sort of late pensioner variation on the idea of Taken or Nebraska.

But first-time writer-director Josh Margolin’s movie is disarmingly poignant and sweet, as well as feisty and funny when it needs to be. But the film was also envisaged as an ode to his real-life grandma, Thelma, who gets a moment of her own during the credits.

It also affords June Squibb her first leading role after a lifetime of attention grabbing support (she was also in Nebraska), which she grasps with both hands.

She plays the Thelma of the film’s title, an independent widower who is beloved by her grandson Danny (an endearing Fred Hechinger), yet painfully aware that one fall could send her to the type of care home she dreads.

When she is scammed into sending $10,000 to bail Danny out from prison, her wider family - daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and son-in-law, Alan (Clark Gregg) - scurry to have her committed. But Thelma has other ideas and enlists the reluctant support of Ben (the late Richard Roundtree in his final role) to track down the criminals and get her money back.

Margolin is aware that the premise has a certain absurdity to it and plays around with this idea well, framing it as a quasi Mission: Impossible style caper complete with a sound-alike Lalo Schiffrin-inspired score.

And there are one or two laugh out loud moments - one involving a gun that is brilliantly devised.

But where Thelma really scores highly is the way in which it doesn’t exist merely to poke fun at the concept; but rather explore it. The notion of independence is viewed from both ends of the spectrum, with both Squibb and Herchinger struggling with it, despite being at opposite ends of their lives.

It makes the mutual respect and love between the two of them all the more endearing.

Sharp, too, are the observations on getting old that can lead to frustration and regret. Thelma is young at heart and determined not to let the physical ravages of age defeat her. She’s also stubborn, seldom reaching out for the help that could - actually - enable her to live more freely.

As such, her growing dependence on Roundtree’s Ben is beautifully played - with Roundtree also grabbing the opportunity to flex his dramatic muscles with one or two monologues that are rich in experience and regret.

Thelma is therefore a film that consistently surprises, always pleasantly so - right down to a late film cameo from Malcolm McDowell.

It’s a charming crowd pleaser capable of appealing to audiences of all ages, which also has plenty to say about life and the challenges it often poses.