The Williams Lake Film Club is thrilled to return this season with Thelma on Sept. 19 at the Paradise Cinemas.
It’s a crowd-pleasing romp of a film, and it’s been captivating audiences since it first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Thelma Post (in a dazzling lead performance by veteran actor June Squibb), is 93 years of age, and leads a relatively comfortable, quiet life in her Los Angeles apartment. She’s had some health scares and she’s lost her husband, but she enjoys relative independence and frequent visits with her likeable but rather directionless 22-year-old grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger).
Out of the blue, Thelma gets a call from Danny. He tells her he’s in jail, and she needs to call his attorney. When Thelma calls the number, she’s told $10,000 is required to bail him out of prison, and in a frenzy of anxiety, she gets the money together, and puts it in the mail. Only then to realize, of course, that whole thing is a scam. Her adult daughter and son in law are concerned - they ponder whether this is an indication she’s no longer capable of living on her own - oh well, though, no harm done, and the police say there is nothing they can do.
At first Thelma is despondent, but then - to hell with that. Shocked at being duped, and outraged for being mistaken as an easily outwitted old lady, she takes matters into her own hands. Set over the course of one day, Thelma’s first step is to abscond with a two-seated mobility scooter from her friend Ben (in a wonderful performance by the late Richard Roundtree).
However, when Ben learns Thelma won’t back down, he offers to tag along. What ensues is a low stakes joyride, and it’s hilarious because it plays off all the high stakes action tropes we’re used to seeing in Mission Impossible type films.
One of the key virtues of the movie is the relationship between Ben and Thelma and their misadventures on the road – they have genuine platonic chemistry, and it’s easy to believe they have years of rapport. The connection between Thelma and her grandson is also ingeniously paralleled - both he as a young person, and she in later years, deal with assumptions from family of being powerless and not in control.
The film is held together by a remarkable lead performance from June Squibb who portrays Thelma with plenty of verve and determination, but also a relatable vulnerability. And you’ll be tickled to learn, June Squibb, 93 years-old herself, does all her own stunts.
The plot could leave this film feeling one-note, but first-time writer/director Josh Margolin imbues the script with the complexities and absurdities of aging, and the real fear of losing autonomy. Tellingly, Margolin came up with the story based on his own grandmother, of the same name, and the time she was similarly conned. Thelma has a great deal of affection for the human condition and let’s face it, either we are old, or we’re getting old sometime (if we’re lucky).
All in all, Thelma is remarkably funny, cheeky, and exciting. It’s a bonafide big screen cinematic experience, and Margolin shows a real gift for comedic timing and pacing. It’s surprisingly feel-good, yet doesn’t resort to tired cliches, or shy away from addressing the real complexities of aging: “[g]etting old is not for the faint of heart, the film reminds us. But if you approach life as the great adventure, it is, you’ll leave with no regrets” (Baltimore Magazine).
Thelma is screening on Thursday, Sept. 19 at the Paradise Cinemas (78 Third Ave South). Rated PG. General admission tickets are $10. The film club is also excited to note that seniors' tickets for Thelma are half price ($5) in partnership with BC Community Response Networks (BCCRN). These tickets are available at the Seniors Activity Centre and The Open Book. Remaining tickets will be sold in the cinema lobby prior to the screening. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m.
