Sydney Film Festival Review - Thelma

 

“I’m just looking for my grandma.”

Delightful, geriatric and poignant, Thelma is a comedic blast that takes a simple premise and gets maximum reward with a heartfelt and hilarious June Squibb as the precocious 93 year old on a quest to get revenge on phone scammers, with clever use of action spy tropes and a touching story about aging and family. 

Discussion Points: 

I had an absolute blast with this. It’s so cleverly and poignantly written. It takes a simple premise of a runaway grandma trying to get even with scammers who took $10,000, and crafts a film filled with great laughs and gags, clever parodies of spy/action film tropes, and plenty of personal and heartfelt observations about aging, and family. There’s “high-speed” electric scooter chases, hearing aid secret conversations, and a sequence navigating obstacles that’s framed like a laser field, but there’s also heart-to-heart conversations about how aging family can become liabilities to the ones they love, desperate to maintain their independence, but at ever increasing risk of danger or injury. Perfectly paced, and endlessly entertaining, it’s the performances of June Squibb, Fred Hechinger and the late great Richard Roundtree, that bring it all together. Thelma’s relationship with her grandson is so touching and helps him learn life lessons, whilst her old friendship with Ben allows her to learn life lessons and accept her aging reality. The humour consistently lands, with jokes that will appeal to seniors, adults and youth, and plenty of relatable moments of humanity. Loved this!