IFFBoston 2024

Thelma

Attendees

Expected to be in attendance at the festival:

Director Greg Kwedar and Actor Mosi Eagle

Q&A Moderated By:

Description

IFFBoston 2024 Closing Night Film


Winner: Best of Fest; Narrative, 2024 Sundance Film Festival


When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.


Inspired by a real-life experience of writer-director Josh Margolin’s own centenarian grandmother, THELMA puts a clever spin on movies like Mission: Impossible, shining the spotlight on an elderly grandmother as an unlikely action hero. With affectionate humor, Margolin employs the familiar tropes of the action genre in hilarious, age-appropriate ways to tackle themes of aging, mortality, and human frailty. In the first leading film role of her over 70-year career, Oscar-nominated veteran character actor June Squibb portrays the strong-willed Thelma with grit and determination, demonstrating that she is more than capable of taking care of business—despite what her daughter Gail (Parker Posey), son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg), or loving grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) might believe.


—Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Film Festival guide