“Thelma” (2024) refers to a ninety-three-year-old grandma, Thelma Post (June Squib in her first starring role), who is determined to find the people who scammed her out of $10,000 pretending to be her beloved twenty-four-year-old grandson, Daniel Alexander Markowicz (Fred Hechinger). She evades her concerned and loving family, which includes her daughter, Gail (Parker Posey), and son-in-law, Alan (Clark Gregg). Her friend, Ben Halpern (Richard Roundtree in his last role), reluctantly tags along. Will she recover her money or find out that she no longer has what it takes to remain fiercely independent?

Thelma is an ordinary woman modeled after director and writer Josh Margolin’s real life 103-year-old grandma, who appears in a post-credit scene saying some of the dialogue that appears wholesale in Margolin’s feature debut. The fictional Thelma has only lived alone for two years but appears satisfied with her life. The opening and closing credits depict still life portraits of her belongings, which are in a seemingly safe, spacious, well-lit, warm home. The heart of the film is the mutually loving relationship between Thelma and Daniel, who may be Margolin’s on screen avatar. He is patient and is genuinely thrilled at how she asks endless questions about technology like a curious child, and she encourages and dotes on him. When Daniel is not around, she exercises with a metal mini floor foot pedal, cross stitches watches television and plays on the Internet. It is a modest, age-suitable, solitary, quiet life, which Thelma enjoys and protects.

Margolin establishes Thelma’s routine before disrupting it with the call. Though loved, Thelma is on her own when she answers the phone, and her response exhibits her resourcefulness and foreshadows how she will respond to any threat to her life and people that she loves. Thelma decides to continue to take matters in her own hands with quotidian obstacles that are taken seriously but would not be daunting for the average younger viewer: falling, going someplace without a driver’s license or having a ride, getting something off a high shelf, etc. It is hilarious because of how achievable and modest her goals are, but also how Herculean because an older body cannot complete these tasks without risk of death. Her antics are given the same amount of respect as Cruise in the “Mission Impossible” franchise, and it works. She also comes to the rude realization that her friends can be counted on one hand and the remaining group have little to offer in terms of practical help. Her struggle is a battle to determine how she will live her life and not have her family take that away from her choice out of concern that she no longer has the capacity to make decisions. She has a young, rebellious spirit.

The alternative life choices for a seasoned person run the gamut from shocking to somewhat depressing, but still functional. Ben chose to live in an assisted living community, Belwood Village, but he is probably the most vibrant member of the community, and a bit of a local rockstar. Even Colin (Quinn Beswick) and Rochelle (Nicole Byer), who work in the community, are excited to see his latest, age suitable exploit. Ben has accepted his age and its drawbacks, but also lives a more social life than Thelma by being part of a broader community and having more resources and knowledge to navigate the challenges of aging. The corridors of his home act like mini vignettes of the complex lives of the people inside that will never be fully known and may unintentionally evoke a few scenes from “Smile” (2022). It should be unsurprising that Roundtree still has the goods and makes an excellent on-screen partner to Squibb in bringing “Thelma” to life. He has the edge on her in terms of age-appropriate life skills and assets, but Thelma also rescued him from the frustration of not having equals to play with.

Like Thelma, Mona (Bunny Levine), Thelma and Ben’s mutual friend, lives alone, but her loving quarters are more tenebrous and beginning to go to seed with some convincing, disgusting sound effects and thanks to some non-human talent playing an uncredited role. Mona holds the key to an essential part of Thelma’s plan, but she also serves as an unofficial warning of how Thelma can end up if falling for a scam is a sign of a deeper health concern as her family fears. While Thelma defends Mona’s way of life, Ben is objectively right that Mona is in no condition to live alone watching birds on television with dirty dishes surrounding her. Thelma’s argument in favor of her friend is self-serving projection, and if Thelma has a flaw, it is that her understandable desire to retain her autonomy can make her an inconsiderate person who does not think of others’ well-being. While other movies treat the elderly like a second late-stage adolescence, “Thelma” nails the realistic way that this attitude effects loved ones.

Margolin parallels how Alan and Gail infantilize Thelma and Daniel. While Daniel is interesting in relation to his grandma, the narrative detours which explore Daniel’s failure to launch and his break with his girlfriend, Allie (Coral Pena), are the only drag on this firecracker movie. It is intellectually understandable that Margolin is probably injecting some of his own life into the script, but it is not interesting or unique as told in this setting. Margolin should check out “Shortcomings” (2023), and if he has more unique ground to cover, consider revisiting it in another movie. It also may help for Margolin to do a quick lap around TikTok because people are getting weary of stories where a man leans on a woman to become himself while the woman is just automatically assumed to have those tools and exists to be a part of his character development, which is the direction that Daniel’s storyline seemed to suggest. It is possible to root for Daniel and hope that Allie stops taking his calls so she can develop herself instead of becoming shackled to a drain on her battery. There may also be some lingering curiosity if the real-life Thelma has such perfect memories of her marriage considering how she delights in her newfound, late-stage independence. While her grandson loves and admires her, his view of the situation should not necessarily be conflated with an unauthorized biography. It is entertainment, and it is normal to be biased and think that his grandparents are the ideal, but discourse from the horse’s mouth, the women in those relationships, does not have the same filter of rose-colored glasses, but experience.

Anyone familiar with Posey, a queen of independent films since “Party Girl” (1995), and director, actor’s actor and Marvel fan fave Gregg will not be surprised that they make a great team as the sandwich generation coping with adults whom they do not have control over but are still responsible for. They may be the best married couple since “You Hurt My Feelings” (2023). Their best scene is when they are driving in a car, and Posey delivers her trademark tone-laidback, matter of fact with a dash of exasperation while wearing sunglasses and slouching in the shotgun seat, to admonish Alan to drive a little faster. He executes a left turn on a busy road with no traffic signal, and Margolin treats the scene like an intricate maneuver to convey the character’s elevated emotional experience while accomplishing the tasks. Forget Ian Fleming! Margolin finds fresh, innovative ways to inject quotidian spy craft and action into “Thelma” with Nick Chuba’s retro 70s inspired action thriller score. It is rare to watch a film and not recall seeing a spy gimmick before. For Thelma, just using a computer ranks her as a world-famous hacker for that demographic with Daniel as her handler or overwatch operations.

Margolin also has a great sense of rhythm and planting joke grenades. If a character references something like Oppsie Upsy, there will be a payoff. There is a mute character called Stary Gary (David Giuliani) who plays a pivotal role that moves the plot forward and serves as a long running gag without being the punchline. Like kids in a playground, Thelma often goes up to strangers who are around the same age and plays a round of “Do I Know You,” which ratchets up the tension because it delays her from accomplishing a task, but also pays off when she finally comes across a friend at the perfect time. Though belabored, Squibb’s insouciant physicality conveys her youthful spirit such as when she casually moves the rollator across a room like a toy car. Margolin also uses diegetic sound from Thelma’s point of view to punctuate pivotal emotional points in the film. Hearing aids are not just functional but carry an emotional and psychological gut punch to enable viewers to further relate to the titular protagonist.

Is “Thelma” a flawless movie? No. Couldn’t she just call a cab instead of using a scooter? Yes, although maybe she had less liquid and did not have credit cards. A fellow reviewer asked why the family did not just call her or use “Find my iPhone.” Absolutely. Will it ruin your suspension of disbelief? Nope. June Squibb is the Tom Cruise of her generation, and “Thelma” will be a new cult classic that people will enjoy for decades to come. Usually, films about older Americans fit two unrealistic genres: melodrama or pablum like “80 for Brady” (2023), “Poms” (2019) or anything starring Diane Keaton lately. The movie accomplishes the tightrope act of making fun of the aging process without insulting its target audience.