Thelma

Feeling ashamed, Thelma finds an initially reluctant accomplice in Ben (Richard Rountree). Powered by a motorised scooter, they pursue Thelma’s money up and down Los Angeles motorways and back streets.

In Western cultures, which are obsessed with youth, it is rare to find movies where a a person over 90 plays a leading role. June Squib made her Broadway debut at the age of 30 and her film debut at age 61. She played supporting roles in movies including Alice, Meet Joe Black and Nebraska, for which she was nominated for an Oscar at age 84. Watching a film in which a woman aged 94 smashes a first-ever leading role is worth the price of admission alone.

Character development is central to Thelma’s success. The intergenerational bonds between Thelma and her young adult grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) bring initial warmth. The interactions between Thelma and Ben open insightful windows into the gendered nature of ageing. The unfolding back story of Harvey the scammer (Malcolm McDowell) is a tragicomic illumination of the interplay between poverty and ill health in modern America.

Thelma is personal. First-time director Josh Margolin wrote the script in response to the real-life scamming of his own grandmother. Thelma is also the last movie in which Richard Roundtree acts. Roundtree, famous for his performances of John Shaft, which birthed two sequels and a series, was also a cancer survivor. In the 1990s, he battled male breast cancer. Roundtree died of pancreatic cancer in 2023 and could not walk Thelma’s red carpet for his 129th movie credit. These personal details make the movie's final scene a poignant elegy about dignity in ageing.

Running through Thelma is a commentary on the gendered nature of ageing. Raised with her parents and married young in the movie, Thelma never lived alone. While she mourns the recent death of her husband, she also finds a new freedom. Solitude can have an upside. Confronting scammers is a way for Thelma to take responsibility and make her own way. Thelma is thus a late-blooming coming-of-age story. 

Leaving the cinema, I found myself pondering the prophetess Anna. Anna is one of thirteen female-male parallel accounts in the Gospel of Luke. What is striking in Luke 2:36-38 is the leading role taken by Anna. While her counterpart, Simeon speaks to Mary and Joseph, Anna is the one who speaks publicly to “all who were looking forward to the redemption of Israel” (38).

During the scooter adventure through the streets of Los Angeles, Ben keeps encouraging Thelma to move into assisted living. While Ben lauds the benefit of having someone help him, Thelma replies that she has spent her life helping others. In helping, she found herself losing her sense of self. For cultures obsessed with youth, portrayals of older women like Thelma and Anna finding their voices are important stories to share.

Rev Dr Steve Taylor is the author of "First Expressions" (2019) and writes widely in theology and popular culture, including regularly at www.emergentkiwi.org.nz.