Actress June Squibb has been acting for longer than most of us have been alive. The 94-year-old made her Broadway debut in 1959 in GYPSY and has gone from strength to strength ever since. She probably came to the attention of most moviegoers back in 2013 when she appeared opposite Bruce Dern in the film NEBRASKA, a role that earned her an Oscar nomination. However, Squibb was also in ALICE, MEET JOE BLACK and ABOUT SCHMIDT, the last of which saw her play the wife of Jack Nicholson’s titular character. Squibb is now back on screen with THELMA playing a fiercely independent 93-year-old who isn’t going to go away quietly.

Thelma Post (Squibb) lives alone in Los Angeles though she’s regularly visited by her caring but directionless Gen Z grandson, Danny Markowitz (Fred Hechinger, NEWS OF THE WORLD). One day, Thelma receives a phone call from Danny telling her that he’s in jail and that he needs $10,000 immediately to get out and pay the lawyer. Not realizing that Danny’s voice is a Deep Fake, Thelma gathers the funds together and mails them to a PO box in Van Nuys. When she learns that she’s been scammed and the police seem unwilling to try to help her get her money back, Thelma decides to take matters into her own hands. She heads for a nearby retirement community where her old friend, Ben (Richard Roundtree, SHAFT) lives. Against Ben’s better judgment, the pair heads off on Ben’s electric scooter to Van Nuys to get her money back but not before stopping first to visit another old friend who has something else that Thelma needs. All the while, Danny and his parents, Alan (Clark Gregg, TV’s AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Gail (Parker Posey, IRRATIONAL MAN; BEST IN SHOW), are worried sick wondering what she’s up to and hoping she’s safe.

THELMA is a truly delightful film. It’s the kind of movie that you can, and should, take your parents or grandparents to see. Both Squibb and Thelma live by the words Michelle Yeoh said in her Oscar acceptance speech last year: “Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up.” If I should live to be 93, I hope I’m as feisty and as self-sufficient as Thelma is.

The film is the feature debut of Josh Margolin, who not just wrote and directed THELMA, he also edited it. I always advise young filmmakers not to be their own editors because they often lack the experience to be self-critical but this guy nailed it on his first attempt. THELMA zips along faster than Ben’s scooter and there isn’t one superfluous or overextended scene. Margolin also understands his characters and their motivations extremely well so it’s not surprising to learn in a post-credit scene that Thelma is based on Margolin’s own 103-year-old grandmother named Thelma.

Although THELMA is Roundtree’s final film appearance (he passed away last October at age 81), it’s not Squibb’s. LOST & FOUND IN CLEVELAND is already in the can, though no release date has been announced, and ELEANOR THE GREAT, which is Scarlett Johansson’s feature directorial debut, is in post-production. At 94, Squibb proves that age is just a number.

THELMA opens in Hong Kong cinemas on Thursday (August 15th). It’s already available on many of the streaming services. Definitely watch it.

Thanks for reading but don’t be a lurker! If you liked what you just read, here are some suggestions:

Sign up to receive my movie reviews in your inbox automatically
Share this review on your Facebook page
Leave me a message telling me what you thought of my review or the film
Bookmark the site and visit often
Like my Howard For Film Facebook page
Watch my reviews on my YouTube page
Check out my Howard For Film magazine on Flipboard
Tell your friends about the site