I think a lot about the films made for the senior citizen audience. Films like Just Getting Started, Going in Style, Queen Bees, Poms, most recently the dreadful you’ll-wish-you-were-dead Summer Camp. And I think to myself, this is probably some old person’s last movie in a theater before they die, and that makes me so sad. Seniors still get out to movie theaters for films like those. And they get the same kind of schlock over and over – films that exploit the elderly, films that make the same cheap joke over and over, and films that have nothing meaningful to say about what it means to be an older person. Well, I hope anyone that saw any of the aforementioned dumpster fire movies goes to see Thelma. We’ve finally got something worth their time. 

Thelma Post (June Squibb) is 93 years old, living alone in suburban Los Angeles, having been widowed for a few years. Often visited by her warm and loving and concerned grandson (Fred Hechinger), Thelma is a firecracker and has always valued her independence. One day she’s scammed out of $10,000 and her daughter and her husband (Parker Posey, Clark Gregg) are very concerned she may finally be losing it. But Thelma is not about to take this lying down. She enlists the help of old friend Ben (Richard Roundtree) to go on a thrilling heist to find the perpetrators and retrieve what’s been stolen from her. 

Thelma is the feature debut from writer/director Josh Margolin, and the film is heavily inspired by the relationship with his own, currently 103-year-old grandmother. And there is so much genuine truth and heart to the depiction of this character. Thelma is not helpless, she is not bitter about her age, she is not sad or pathetic and she does not fit the stereotypes engrained in society for someone her age. She is brassy, she is strong, she is wise, she is clever, she is independent. She’s worried about the general concept of mortality and the limits of aging, but she’s never going to let that stop her from seizing every moment of every day. And focusing on someone like this who is so specific, so vividly drawn, is a breath of fresh air.

June Squibb is 94 years old. This is the first time she has ever been first on the call sheet of any movie. And while it’s long overdue, it’s better late than never. Squibb is an absolute beast in this role – hilarious, quick-witted, emotionally tender and she does her own stunts! We keep coming back to mentions of Tom Cruise and the Mission Impossible franchise, and Squibb makes a delicious meal out of having her own heist film where she’s the hero who saves the day. There is so much specificity to the way Thelma is written, but it’s impossible to picture anyone but the iconic and legendary June Squibb in this role. She’s giving this character her complete heart and soul, and it’s evident in every frame.

She has wonderful chemistry with the late, great Richard Roundtree, unfortunately in his final film role. He provides a great counterpart to Thelma, but he’s his own completely vivid character, and the film never condescends to him or makes him into something secondary. But it’s most fun when the script goes into buddy comedy territory, allowing these two a grand adventure. 

The supporting cast is absolutely stacked here. I really enjoyed Fred Hechinger as Thelma’s grandson Danny. He has a monologue near the halfway point of the film that brought me to tears. His character is so sweet and loving to his grandmother, but is a bit aimless and unfocused in life, in a way so many of us are in our mid-20s. He’s trying so hard to do right by everyone in his family but also to embrace his own life. I saw a lot of myself in that character, and it’s refreshing how sensitively he’s depicted, considering this could be a nothing role in a lesser film.

We also have the great Parker Posey as Gail, Thelma’s daughter. And I’ve always been a big fan of hers, but she hasn’t had the chance to let loose with a character like this in quite some time. Clark Gregg is also very good as her husband. We also have very good individual scenes with Malcolm McDowell and the legendary Bunny Levine, the latter will break your heart. 

Josh Margolin directs Thelma like a high-stakes action movie, but also a deeply sensitive character study about an elderly person who isn’t ready to slow down anytime soon. He’s an immediately exciting filmmaker to watch, and I could easily see a studio giving him something like an Ocean’s Eleven moving forward. But the personal nature of this story is written all over it, and this is a film overstuffed with personality, genuine heart and humor. The remarkable thing is we never hit a false note here. We avoid the cheap jokes, the trappings and cliches that these movies traffic in far too often. The script is tight, hilarious, deeply moving and the story is beautifully told.

Overall, Thelma is easily one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year. June Squibb delights in every second of having a role finally worthy of all she always has done so well. Every performance is pitch perfect and the story is fast-paced and genuinely has something to say about what happens to a person as they age. It’s the kind of movie I wish I could have taken my own grandmother to see. I lost her in 2020, and she was absolutely my favorite person in the world. I see so much of her in this character, and I know she would have loved this movie, and then asked we go out for margaritas afterwards. So, if you’re lucky enough to still have your grandmother, take her to see Thelma. And even if you aren’t, go anyway. There is so much vividly crafted truth and enormous love onscreen here, and you’d be a fool to miss it.