Over the 12 days of Christmas, The Independent's Jacob Stolworthy shares his picks of 2024.For day two, Jacob shares his love of action-comedy caper Thelma, a film about a granny seeking revenge on those who have done her wrong.The film sees a tour-de-force from actor Jane Squibb, playing 93-year-old Thelma Post who gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a 93-year-old in an action-comedy.
00:05That's right, my second recommendation for you is the action-comedy film, Thelma.
00:09Hello?
00:10Grandma!
00:10Danny? You sound so strange.
00:13I'm in jail.
00:14Oh my God!
00:15Which stars June Squibb, as I mentioned, a 93-year-old lady.
00:19She gets conned out of some money, and instead of letting sleeping dogs lie,
00:23she goes on a hunt for vengeance, to hunt down the people who conned her out of their money.
00:28And this film, it sounds like it might be ridiculous, and it kind of is, kind of is ridiculous.
00:32But it also has heart, it's got tension, and it's just anchored by this beautiful performance by June Squibb,
00:39who, I don't know about you, maybe missed my nana, maybe want to give her a big cuddle.
00:43So I was enjoying it for that reason, but I was also just loving seeing someone very unlikely kicking butt on screen.
00:48They contact people at random, using telephone listings and social networking sites.
00:52Like Facebook?
00:54Sure, like Facebook.
00:55Well, shouldn't Zuckerberg be able to fix this?
00:58If you do want to watch Thelma, which I've just explained the plot, why would you not?
01:03You can rent it on Prime Video.
01:05Now, I think Thelma, you know, technically, is probably not the best film I've seen this year.
01:08It's not, you know, it doesn't have the cinematic spectacle of June Part 2.
01:12What it does have is heart, and it disarms me.
01:15I think a lot of films come out like this, and they're about the ridiculousness of the plot does a lot of the heavy lifting.
01:22But with Thelma, it actually has a lot under the surface that backs it up.
01:25And for me, when it finished, it felt like a hearty meal.
01:29I'd just eaten a hearty meal that I want to eat again.