June Squibb’s Action-Comedy ‘Thelma’ Secures Distribution Deal with Magnolia Following Sundance Premiere
“Thelma,” an action-comedy featuring June Squibb, has found a home with Magnolia Pictures after its debut at Sundance.
Directed by Josh Margolin, the film centers on a grandmother who sets out on a mission to reclaim her $10,000 lost in a phone scam. Taking a playful nod from “Mission: Impossible,” “Thelma” also stars Fred Hechinger of “White Lotus” fame, the late Richard Roundtree in his final screen appearance, alongside Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, and Malcolm McDowell. Drawing inspiration from a real-life incident involving Margolin’s own grandmother, Thelma Post, who is 103 years old.
Margolin shared, “Tom Cruise jumping out of a plane is as dangerous as my grandma getting onto a bed. I wanted to treat Thelma’s mission with the sincerity and stakes that you would Ethan Hunt globe-trotting to track down the bad guy.”
“Thelma” marks Squibb’s debut as a leading film actor. The 94-year-old Oscar-nominated star insisted on performing her own stunts, including a dramatic vehicular showdown in a retirement home hallway with Roundtree, culminating in an electric scooter crash.
Reflecting on her experience, Squibb revealed, “They weren’t expecting me to do the scooter work. They were so worried about me, they thought I was going to kill myself. They said, ‘Just tap his scooter,’ and I thought, ‘Oh, hell,’ and I just cowed into him.”
In his review, Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge described “Thelma” as a “warm hug, one that anybody with an elderly relative can appreciate on some level.”
