Starring June Squibb in her first lead file role, Thelma follows Squibb in the titular role as a 93-year old woman who gets scammed out of $10,000 and goes on a mission to get it back. In supporting roles are Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, and Malcolm McDowell to round out an impressive ensemble cast. The film was written & directed by Josh Margolin, inspired by a real-life scenario that involved his grandmother. The events depicted in the film didn’t exactly happen in real life, but Margolin got the idea when his grandmother nearly did send money to a scammer.

I initially had no plans on seeing this. I am not sure why, but whenever I saw a poster for it, I thought it was a documentary. While I have no issues with documentaries, the idea I had around the film didn’t make me want to add it to my watchlist. The poster for it was the extent of what I knew about the film. That was until one of my followers raved about it in their review, and I happen to take their opinion very seriously. After watching The Bikeriders, I decided to do a double feature and watch this film right afterwards. Between The Bikeriders and Thelma, this double feature was amongst the best that I have ever been to and will be one of the most memorable.

When I initially got my ticket a few hours prior to the showtime, I wouldn’t say the theater was all that packed. When I walked into the theater, it was nearly packed. It says a lot with other things out right now that this movie happens to get people want to see this over the rest. Who knows if those people also decided on a double feature, but I am going to go ahead and say that it is unlikely. It seems like word of mouth is giving the movie the proper attention it needs, and it’s not like the film needs to be a box-office hit. Rather, it shows that everyone involved deserves big things out of their career out of this film.

With June Squibb in her nineties, she perfectly fits for what the story calls from her, yet it makes me wish we got more of June Squibb in leading roles before. She easily makes the film work no matter who is with on screen. When she is with her grandson, Danny, played by Fred Hechinger, you can see how much he cares for her, because there is a lot that they can connect with. She is almost like him, yet her years of life over him gives him the confidence he needs in order to grow. This shows whenever Danny is having to deal with his overbearing parents, played by Parker Posey & Clark Gregg, or even his off-again on-again girlfriend, Allie, played by Coral Peña.

When Thelma isn’t in direct relation with her grandson, daughter, or son-in-law, Thelma spends majority of her screentime with Ben, played by the late Richard Roundtree. Their chemistry is truly unmatched. I truly wished we got more movies with these two together, yet just like the film’s messages, I’ll appreciate what I can get. It’s incredibly fortunate that Roundtree was able to play this role before his passing. Just talking about these two together makes me want to go see the movie again.

This is Josh Margolin’s directorial debut, which also happens a strong one and a much needed one to put him on the map. It looks like he has the proper experience according his IMDb. He got lucky landing the perfect cast to tell this story, and what a dream to be able to tell a story that he can connect with for his first movie. It is movies like this that need to be supported, because they have so much passion infused into them.

What I particularly love about Margolin’s style is how he overexaggerates the tone. The film opens up to a scene from Mission: Impossible – Fallout, giving you the idea of what kind of action movie was going to be. When a big action movie is playing on a tiny television screen, what more can we get to match that? The answer to that is by staging scenes that look normal into action scenes. Margolin does this through the vision of the cinematography and the musical score that makes it more intense than it should. It’s funny when the AMC app has this listed as an action film, yet it is more of a comedy.

The only small issue I do have with the film has to do with the tonal shifts. Sometimes, just as things are going with one scene, the film can feel like it’s screeching to a halt in the next scene. While it helps develop the characters, I almost can see a restructure of the film where its pacing gradually increases. The film gets into the meat of the plot rather quickly. To me, I would have liked to have seen more buildup before the inciting incident to help keep the momentum going afterwards.

Overall, Thelma is a delightful surprise that also happens to be amongst one of the best movies of the year. I genuinely can’t believe this June Squibb’s first leading role in her career, because she easily makes the film work. With an outstanding ensemble to support her, it’s hard not to enjoy the film. It’s hilarious, heartfelt, and will make you either miss your grandma or cherish the times you still have with her.

VERDICT: 4.5/5 – Amazing