“What would Tom Cruise do?”
That is the question ninety-three-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) asks herself when she falls victim to a phone phishing scam. Thelma’s day-to-day routine post her relatively recent widowhood is far from exciting, but it suits her. She receives near daily visits from her aimless but loving grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger), who genuinely adores her. Danny helps Thelma use her computer and her emails, makes sure she’s wearing her medic-alert bracelet (“for my mental health” she says), and they watch Mission: Impossible movies together. Danny’s going through a bit of a crisis, thinking he's not much good for or at anything after breaking up with his girlfriend Allie (Coral Peña), but Thelma tells him that he’s only twenty-four and he’ll work it out – she’s not worried about him.
Thelma gets caught by a common phone scam making her believe Danny is in trouble. She tries to get in touch with her daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and her son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg) but they both miss her calls. Distressed that Danny might be stuck in prison, she takes ten thousand dollars in cash and mails it to a post office box as instructed by a fake ‘lawyer’.
When Gail and Alan finally get Thelma’s messages, they are panicked believing something could have happened to their son. They’re helicopter parents passing on their anxieties about Daniel’s future on to him unceasingly. Of course, Danny is fine – he was just in bed after a late night and didn’t hear his phone. He’s safe, but Thelma finds out her money is well and truly gone according to the police. Scams are increasingly common, and people are picking up whatever information they can from the internet and random dialling. “How can Zuckemborg let this happen?” Thelma demands despite the fact she doesn’t have a Facebook account. The officer says he’s sorry he can’t help, Thelma’s response is, “No you’re not.”
Embarrassed and overhearing Gail and Alan discussing the possibility of assisted living (something Danny doesn’t want for her), Thelma hatches a plan after seeing an article about Tom Cruise still having the juice for action films and his own stunts. Thelma is going to find the address of the P.O. box where she sent the money and get back what’s hers and her dignity – and she’s doing it her way.
She calls Danny to let him know she’s found the address, but she’s frustrated he wants her back at home where she’s safe. Nevertheless, to institute the next part of her plan she needs to go see an old acquaintance, Ben Halprin (Richard Roundtree) at Belwood Village and needs a lift there. All the other people she thought to call first are dead and she’s not too keen on seeing the “soft and fussy” widower who constantly phones her to tell her about the melons at the assisted care home.
Ben is delighted to see Thelma as he believes initially it is her reconnecting with him and the friendship they shared as part of a group years previously. When he realises that Thelma is there on her money recovery mission (using phones and their hearing aids as secret communication devices), he tells her she should just go home. Thelma steals his extremely well fitted out mobility scooter and makes a break for it – but Ben is coming too, that is if they’re back by 8pm so he can play Daddy Warbucks in the facility’s production of Annie.
Josh Margolin’s deftly layered script puts Thelma’s “Mission Possible” up front for fun. It riffs on Mission: Impossible delightfully especially with Nick Chuba’s score overlaying the true “geriactioner” shenanigans; physiotherapist-taught bedrolls, duelling mobility scooters, hearing aids and phone apps as communication monitors, medic-alert bracelets as decoys, and “little old lady” fake outs. All the elements come together breezily, but Margolin has a lot more to say about the dignity and lives of older people than a straightforward action-comedy.
Thelma as a character is stubborn, caustic, inventive, and resourceful. She’s also a genuine pain in Ben’s ass whenever he brings up his contentment living in the retirement village. They visit an old travelling friend, Mona (Bunny Levine) so Thelma can get a gun. Mona is on her own in a large house (like Thelma) and has signs of dementia. Thelma is bed rolling and climbing to get the gun out of Mona’s bedroom while Ben distracts her with talk of fruit. As they leave, he asks how Mona can be allowed to live like that – not knowing what is going on and in clutter. “She’s managing.” Thelma snaps. “We all have our good days and our bad days.”
Ben lost his wife Cheryl in an accident five years ago, he has no other family, and likes living in a structured environment. “We’re old, we’re diminished. We’re a burden,” he says to Thelma. Thelma, who we find out has survived breast cancer, a double mastectomy, arrhythmia, TGA, and has a slow growing brain tumour, is far from ready to give up her freedom. After a bitter argument with Ben where she says some unkind things, she finds herself alone and lost, and takes a tumble. She can’t get up on her own.
Thelma is aware she doesn’t have a lot of time to be independent – and although she loves and misses her husband, her two years without him have been the only years in her life where she has made her own decisions. One of the decisions she is going to have to make is learning how to accept help with grace. One of Ben’s lessons is that occasionally going outside the rules has an unexpected payoff. Life isn’t over until it’s over.
Danny’s relationship with Thelma is built out of admiration of her indominable spirit. Gail and Alan aren’t bad parents, and Gail is not a bad daughter. They’re both in the relatively typical Generation X conundrum; stressing about an elderly parent, holding down jobs, trying to encourage their son to find a path when he feels he’s useless. Gail and Alan don’t realise they’ve become over-protective and need to relax a little for everyone’s mental health. Danny needs to know he’s not a permanent loser living in his parents’ home with no idea if he’s good at anything. All that he feels he’s good at is taking care of Thelma – so when he “loses her,” or more specifically he feels like she’s rejected him, it’s a massive blow.
Every performance in Thelma is perfection. June Squibb has been a working actor since the 1950s on stage but moved onto the big screen in 1990 in the Mia Farrow-led film Alice. She was sixy-one when that happened. As Kate Grant in Alexander Payne’s 2013 Nebraska, she was rightfully nominated for a slew of awards, and seeing this ninety-three-year-old actor play a kick ass ninety-three-year-old character is a cause for celebration. Thelma Post is tailor made for Squibb – an A-grade character for an A-grade actor.
Recently departed Richard Roundtree is wonderful as Ben, the role a tribute to his years as characters such as Shaft. A dastardly turn by Malcolm McDowell is also on point casting.
Both Parker Posey and Clark Gregg are fantastic as the people who probably didn’t think they’d end up being boring or “middle management” in all aspects of their lives. Gregg as Alan doing everything by the book because that’s what adults do. Parker Posey wearing a pair of sunglasses over her glasses is very relatable to frazzled women of a certain age.
Fred Hechinger, who serves as one of the producers one the film, is quite simply lovely as Danny. Being twenty-four and having trouble finding his place due to anxiety, a lack of confidence, and a learning disability has made him feel “stuck” and Thelma is the only person who isn’t pushing him – she’s just hanging out with him as much as he is with her and its gorgeous. Hechinger’s vulnerability and good humour as Danny is the other standout performance in the perfectly cast film.
Thelma is named after and partially inspired by Josh Margolin’s grandmother, who is shown at the end singing the praises of trees which should be dead but hold on nonetheless, “What spirit!” she says (June Squibb acts out part of the real Thelma’s speech in the film). Anyone who has taken an older relative through creating a folder on a computer desktop or is their 24/7 tech support will giggle at some of the gags (seriously, install a pop-up blocker whenever you visit an older person). Life moves at an elevated pace and older people aren’t going to adjust to it instinctively, but that doesn’t mean they’re just biding their time until the inevitable happens. Thelma is vulnerable and that’s why she’s stubborn. She tells Danny she doesn’t feel old, and in the most essential manner she isn’t – she has spirit.
Josh Margolin’s debut feature is a marvellous, witty, smart, and wholeheartedly charming affair. A sublime mixture of comedy and affection for our elders. There is no manipulation or cheap sentiment in the film. Margolin isn’t preaching; he’s written a comedy about life, dignity, and connection. It also has Thelma Post – action hero and nonagenarian avenger. If you are lucky enough to have a living grandparent who told you jokes, snuck you sweets, or made you laugh by rolling their eyes while your parents rant and rave, Thelma will make you want to give them a call or go visit. Thelma, like a good grandparent, is a hilarious, huge-hearted triumph, and gives the warmest of hugs.
Director & writer: Josh Margolin
Starring: June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Clark Gregg, Parker Posey, and Malcolm McDowell