‘Thelma’ Makes You Rethink Your Grandma’s Use-By Date
Little old lady? Not bloody likely. Thelma reminds us that our seniors’ worth and spirit are often underestimated.
We reckon American author and film critic Thelma Adams (yay for Thelmas!) said it best when she wrote, in her historical fiction novel The Last Woman Standing, “Let’s face it: ageing is a bitch for everybody.” Of course, Adams meant every one of us who gets older. But there’s another way to read it that’s just as interesting: that ageing is a challenge for the person going through it, and for everyone around them, too.
That’s the premise at the heart of American writer-director Josh Margolin’s debut feature Thelma, which gives veteran Oscar nominee June Squibb (Nebraska) the very first leading role of her 70-year acting career. It’s a story that millions of families can probably relate to: frustration at their ageing loved ones’ dwindling abilities, their guilt over considering aged care, and for the seniors themselves, their stubborn insistence that actually, I’m doing just fine, thanks very much!
The film was inspired by a real-life experience that actually happened to Margolin’s own grandmother — also named Thelma. It not only gave him the catalyst for the plot, but something deeper: an urge to crystallise her spirit on the big screen while she was still around. “My grandma refuses to die,” Josh jokes in the film’s press notes. “She just turned 103 and the inevitability of losing her has become increasingly real to me, and so has her dogged persistence to hold on to her sense of self, as her body and mind stubbornly slow.”
Thelma might be the perfect movie to take your Mum (or your Mum’s Mum) to: light-hearted and savvy enough to have a laugh together, and yet layered with real issues relatable enough to prompt some meaningful conversations in the car on the way home.
What is Thelma about?
Thelma might be best described as a poignant comedy with a surprising sprinkling of senior citizen action (no, not that kind of action! We mean the stunts & explosions kind — and yes, June Squibb DID grab the chance to perform a fair chunk of her own stunts in the film).
The plot in a nutshell? Feisty 93-year-old grandmother Thelma Post (played by Squibb) gets conned by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson — so she packs her meds and a warm sensible fleece and sets off on a treacherous quest across L.A. (on a friend’s “borrowed” motor-scooter) to grab back what was stolen from her.
Thelma puts a clever spin on movies like Mission: Impossible by swapping an elderly woman into Ethan Hunt’s risk-loving shoes (in one great scene, she uses her Bluetooth-equipped hearing aids to covertly plan a break in; in another, she calmly walks away from a classic movie-style explosion). Tom Cruise even appears on Thelma’s TV, sprinting across a rooftop. It seems if Cruise ever retires from running, Thelma Post is ready to step in. It’s like Mission: Nonagenarian.
But while you’ll chuckle at the juxtaposition, Thelma’s far from a running gag made at the expense of seniors. Across an infectiously charming story, Margolin raises thoughtful topics like, how do families navigate their ageing loved ones retaining their own agency? What’s the difference between being ‘determined’ in your 90s, and simply stubborn? And can seniors hang onto their rights, even when their younger family members suspect they’re “past it”?
How does Thelma show us something inspiring about seniors?
In lots of ways, Thelma’s your typical Nanna. Snow-white hair. Wobbly gait. A huge penchant for cross-stitch and Mah-Jong. Margolin gives us a little montage at the top of Thelma to put us right in her world, and it’s a typical one. It reminds us of the routine of seniors and, yes, probably the daily boredom too.
No-one wants to get scammed, but Thelma’s quest to get her savings back offers her two rare commodities: excitement, and purpose, something seniors long past retirement can often find themselves lacking. Of course, the point is that most people in Thelma’s shoes would just let the injustice go. File a police report where they’d probably hear “We’re sorry, but there’s nothing we can really do” (which is exactly what happens in the movie).
But Thelma’s cut from a different cloth. Her character is really a surrogate — an example for any of us to “do that thing” that we think is too hard, out of reach, or outrageous to even try. This is a movie that coaxes out and cheers on the Thelma in all of us.
“I wrote Thelma from this place of reckoning. I wanted to explore her fight for what’s left of her autonomy just as I was beginning to consider mine.”
~ Writer/Director Josh Margolin
It’s mostly great dialogue that marks Thelma out as one of the great movie grandmas. She’s self-aware, but not self-pitying, and this cheeky outlook immediately earns our respect (and quite a few LOLs). When she’s told to relax, she fires back “I’ve got things to do!” When she’s told to be careful, her reply is “If I fall, I’m toast. That’s why I don’t fall.” Like threads in a big banner, her character’s retorts quickly weave the message together: Just because I’m old, doesn’t mean I’m dumb — and it doesn’t mean I’m done.
How does Thelma explore the impact of ageing?
For a first-timer, one of Josh Margolin’s more impressive feats is carefully balancing the ‘up’ moments of Thelma (like the self-deprecating gags and tongue-in-cheek stunts) with the more serious ones. There’s a gravitas that comes with acknowledging you’re on the “wrong side” of 90 and trapped within a failing body — and the script doesn’t shy away from it.
On her avenging journey with longtime friend Ben (Richard Roundtree), they stop in to visit an old friend, Mona (Bunny Levine). Actually, it’s less of a visit and more of a “we need to secretly borrow your gun.” They quickly realise that Mona’s gone quite a bit downhill since they last caught up. Her home is plagued by cockroaches and she’s showing signs of dementia — which by the way, is the second-leading cause of death among all Australians.
“The film shrinks down the tropes of the action genre to a very human scale and uses them to explore ageing, fragility, and anxiety.”
~ Writer/Director Josh Margolin
As seniors, it’s sobering to see Thelma & Ben’s reactions to the condition of one of their peers. Naturally, there’s layers of sympathy and concern: How’s she getting her meals? How long has she been in that chair? But there’s also traces of a kind of honest relief; something you might think aloud but never say. We’re so glad that’s her and not us.
Later that night, Ben & Thelma find themselves lost on the wrong side of town, and Ben’s frustrations spill over at Thelma. On the surface, he’s upset with her for roping him into her journey, but his dialogue reveals a bit more than that when he shouts, “We’re old! Diminished. We’re a liability to the ones we love. You know that they’re worried sick.”
But Thelma pushes back on that: “What’s to worry about? You start acting like a baby, people treat you like a baby.” In other words, she’s not willing to use her age as an excuse.
In a great callback, there’s a scene later in the film where a cockroach appears scuttling across Thelma’s OWN floor. She’s shocked at first, as though it rattles her self-image — she doesn’t see herself as a Mona, and neither do we. Then, WHACK! We’re snapped out of that when Thelma smacks the roach with a shoe. It’s a great metaphor for capability. Sure, age might be coming for me, Thelma seems to be thinking, but I’m not ready to pack it in yet.
What does Thelma have to say about how families interact with their seniors?
A big theme raised by the movie unpacks the Catch-22 many families face: how do they give their ageing loved ones space to maintain their independence, while also keeping them safe? We mean safety in both the physical sense, like what the Mona character represents, and also psychologically — like giving seniors the tools to recognise digital scams (if only Thelma had been schooled on the fake “Mum, it’s me!” phishing tactic… but then, we’d have no movie).
Thelma’s family, like her daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg), are well meaning — but of course, they freak out when Ben’s nursing home reports that their Mum just zoomed off with one of their residents, and now they’re both missing. Gail is panicked, convinced that it’s time to consider an aged care home. But where’s the line? When does well-meaning concern start to take agency away from seniors, purely because they’re old?
“For Thelma, the little things present great dangers. I want the audience to feel these challenges viscerally, never making light of the strength it takes for her to move through the world.”
~ Writer/Director Josh Margolin
Margolin makes a generational comparison by including Gail’s son and Thelma’s grandson Daniel (Fred Hechinger) in the mix. In a way, he’s closer to Thelma than her own daughter is. When Thelma needs help with her passwords, it’s Daniel she turns to. She’s only in this mess because she THOUGHT she heard Daniel’s voice on the phone, begging for help.
Early in the film, Daniel pleads with his grandmother to wear a medical alert bracelet (even though she insists it’s overkill). He finally convinces her by asking, “Please? For my mental health?” So the device is less about Thelma’s care, and more about reassuring her family. Later though, when Thelma goes AWOL, it’s Daniel that defuses Gail’s hand-wringing: “I’m sure you’re super worried, but… Maybe she’s just doing something. You know? On her own.”
It shows that he’s come to respect his grandma’s independence and her lived experience, and gives Thelma the trust she deserves. Wrapping our parents and grandparents in cotton-wool might be comfortable for us — but a suffocating experience for them.
So what’s the takeaway from Thelma?
As the credits roll, Josh Margolin includes footage of his grandmother — yep, the real Thelma — as they take a drive together. Sharp as a tack, we immediately see her inspo for the character, describing the trees passing by with a quirky sense of wonder. “What spirit!” she exclaims with joy. Has her attitude come from age? Or, flipping that: perhaps her ripe old age is a result of her attitude?
If it was created with a different set of sensibilities, Thelma could’ve easily been a cheap shot at seniors (and a forgettable experience). Imagine a sitcom-style movie with stale gags about how oldies can lose their marbles, their temper, or their bladder control. A film built around a character that’s there purely to be laughed at.
Instead, we’re laughing with Thelma Post, and at the assumptions and stereotypes about the elder community that she pierces, one by one, and undermines. It’s great writing, brought to life by an ace June Squibb, firing on all cylinders. Together, they create a poignant reminder that even at 93 — perhaps especially at 93 — you’ve earned the right to maintain your independence and dignity. And maybe set off an explosion or two.
Originally published at https://good.film/guide.
