Thelma Review: Delightful June Squibb Performance Highlights Serious-Minded Comedy

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – Thelma is a serious-minded comedy about an elderly woman who has been scammed. Directed by Josh Margolin, June Squibb plays Thelma, an old, independent, fiery woman who falls for a phishing scam, but she soon decides to bypass the police and pursue the scammers herself. Fred Hechinger plays Thelma’s grandson, and Richard Roundtree plays an elderly man who joins Thelma on her adventure. Parker Posey and Clark Gregg round out the cast.

Thelma is first of all a performance showcase for June Squibb, who came into most folks’ orbits with her 2014 Oscar-nominated performance in Nebraska . Squibb is an utter delight as Thelma. Not only is she able to carry the comedic scenes and deliver her lines with a dry and sardonic wit, she also handles the film’s emotional sections.

The film sets up that her falling would be a great tragedy, and that danger hangs over the rest of the movie, connecting to the film’s central theme: being old is treacherous and the loss of independence is dehumanizing. Squibb captures the emotion and futility of feeling like a burden to everybody else, and these scenes bring out the best acting in Squibb and Roundtree.

Fred Hechinger’s character also feels like a burden on the rest of his family but in a different way. Hechinger’s performance avoids the “disaffected Gen Zer” characterization, but how and why he feels inadequate isn’t well established in the film’s beginning and not well resolved by the film’s end.

Thelma is worthwhile just for June Squibb, but its comedic take on serious issues will resonate with many audiences. Getting old is not fun. But that doesn’t mean films like Thelma can’t make fun of it, and with jokes written as well as these and delivered with such a dry wit, it’s easy to smile and enjoy the ride – preferably on a tricked-out red scooter like Thelma’s.

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