2024, USA/Switzerland, 98 min.
Thelma Post (June Squibb) is 93 and thriving on her own. But Thelma’s independent lifestyle becomes threatened after she loses $10,000 in a phone scam, prompting concerns from her overprotective, loving family. Thelma decides to get the money back, enlisting a longtime friend (Richard Roundtree) and his scooter for a trip over Los Angeles’s sidewalks. The plot sounds as if it’s designed to insult older adults for easy laughs, but that’s a subterfuge. Thelma’s growth as a person is the hook, not her quest for vengeance. Writer-director Josh Margolin’s ebullient, thoughtful comedy-drama is a tender, authentic look at aging, specifically the battle between asking for help and maintaining independence. And it moves at the pace of a top-notch detective story. Squibb is excellent, but Roundtree (in his final role) is exceptional as her partner and philosophical opposite.
