Something to watch tonight: Friday 7 March
Thelma (Margolin, 2024)
An actual laugh-out-loud moment from Monday’s Oscar show was 95-year-old legend June Squibb presenting the Makeup and Hair award with Scarlett Johansson and joking that she was actually Bill Skarsgård and that the real June Squibb was watching back home on the couch.
Whoever it was, they looked sensational in purple and reminded us that every day is a good day if you still have a sense of humour.
Ms. Squibb is back in the spotlight thanks to last year’s surprise hit, Thelma. This is some of what I said about it when it landed in cinemas in September:
Squibb (Nebraska) plays a widow who decides to take the law into her own hands after she is scammed by some reprobates.
Needing help getting across town to the PO box where she sent the money, she enlists the help of Ben (the late Richard Roundtree) from the local retirement village because he has a souped-up mobility scooter. For a while it becomes an LA road movie as they slowly make their way across town, ineptly pursued by her daughter (Parker Posey), son-in-law (Clark Gregg) and sympathetic stoner grandson Danny (Fred Hechsinger).
Based on the marketing, I was expecting it to have more action but in fact it’s a sweet and sensitive story about trying to balance the two competitive aspects of getting old – ‘denial’ in which we are determined to not go gently into that good night and ‘acceptance’ where we learn to live with our diminished capacities in the hope we can eke out another few trips around the sun. Thelma makes a strong case for both.
Also featured in that September newsletter: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (“I feel like this is a couple of drafts short of being truly satisfying but I did enjoy the physical craft on display – the puppetry, make-up effects and set dressing are all first rate”); local documentary Maurice & I and the brilliant action thriller Rebel Ridge.
Reminder: Our special 400th newsletter special deal is available until 13 March. Get 50% off a full-year subscription to Funerals & Snakes – that’s only $2.50 a month for a daily recommendation to help you decide what to watch each night.
Where to watch Thelma
Aotearoa: Streaming on Netflix
Australia: Streaming on Netflix, Binge or FoxtelNow
Canada: Streaming on Paramount+
Ireland & UK: Streaming on Sky
India: Streaming on Hotstar
USA: Streaming on Hulu