A 94-year-old badass is a Sundance highlight in ‘Thelma’

The Sundance Film Festival’s lineups can often be dark affairs with edgy shocks, narcotics and strident political talking points. 

But one of the most soul-satisfying movies to premiere at the 2024 edition features no drug dealers, whistleblowers or bloodbaths. It’s about a sweet 93-year-old grandma who collects marbles and rides a mobility scooter.

And, OK, yes she also holds a man at gunpoint.

Called “Thelma,” the off-the-charts likable action-comedy stars the marvelous, indefatigable June Squibb as a nonagenarian on a dangerous mission. 

Thelma is a seemingly normal widow who lives the quiet life in California as she’s looked after by her 24-year-old grandson, Danny (Fred Hechinger, a teddy bear going through a crisis). He genuinely loves being with her and both of them know that their remaining time together is short.

When a phone scammer pretending to be a lawyer representing Danny tricks Thelma into mailing him $10,000 in cash, she’s hurt — and hungry for revenge. 

Tired of being viewed by her helicopter daughter (Parker Posey) as old and helpless, she decides to hunt down the opportunistic criminal and get her money back. That task turns out to be harder than she thought.

Like James Bond has many times before, Thelma goes rogue and runs away from her worried family who pursue her in a frenzy. Like a secret agent, she drops her wristwatch tracking device in a parking lot to get them off her scent.

Writer-director Josh Margolin imagines, quite cleverly, what a “Mission: Impossible” film might look like for a 94-year-old woman, but he doesn’t scrimp on deeper issues either. This isn’t a full-blown, clown-car parody like “Spy” or “Johnny English.” “Thelma” is at its best when it touchingly addresses the complexities, challenges and liberations of age.

That freedom is alive in Thelma’s fiery “what have I got to lose?” attitude that powers her journey through, alongside her husband’s friend Ben (Richard Roundtree). For her, the money comes second to being taken advantage of and thought of as an easily manipulated old lady.

The 94-year-old Squibb is beyond wonderful in the role as she revels in rebellion while also imbuing Thelma with relatable vulnerability. And, good God, is she funny. 

A repeated gag in which Thelma keeps running into elderly people she thinks she knows, and then gets into long conversations about where they might have met, only to discover she was thinking of somebody else is hilarious every time.

“Thelma” is an auspicious feature debut from Margolin, who has a real knack for comedic timing and pace. The director is Judd Apatow-like in his easy mixing of heart and “ha”s, and concocts so many memorable bits. Just wait until you meet “Starey Larry.” He’s a filmmaker with a lot of commercial potential.

The ending, I’ll admit, comes together awfully conveniently. “Thelma,” really, is a cinematic fantasy of the best possible outcome for a theft. The wrong was committed locally, and not by an unreachable syndicate in China. The villain isn’t a terrifying thug, he’s Malcolm McDowell. 

However, any plot greasing is quickly forgivable because of how damn delightful it is to be riding in the back of Squibb’s scooter. That this is the actress’ first leading role in a decades-long career is the greatest crime of all.