The feature directorial debut of Josh Margolin, Thelma is a poignant action-comedy that gives veteran June Squibb her first leading role and features the final performance of trailblazing actor Richard Roundtree. Squibb, who did most of her own stunts in the film, plays Thelma Post, a feisty ninety-three-year-old grandmother who gets conned by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson and sets out on a treacherous quest across Los Angeles, accompanied by an aging friend and his motorised scooter, to reclaim what was taken from her. Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, and Malcolm McDowell also star.
Inspired by a real-life experience of Margolin's own grandmother, Thelma puts a clever spin on movies like Mission: Impossible, shining the spotlight on an elderly grandmother as an unlikely action hero. With infectious humour, Margolin employs the familiar tropes of the action genre in hilarious, age-appropriate ways to tackle aging with agency. In the first leading film role of her seventy-year career, Squibb portrays the strong-willed Thelma with grit and determination, demonstrating that she's more than capable of taking care of business - despite what her daughter Gail, son-in-law Alan, or grandson Danny might believe.
