At its core, Thelma is an emotional ride of a 93 year old protagonist who is experiencing loneliness even though she has her grandson for company who frequently pays her a visit, and teaches her the basics of a computer. While she is a reluctant learner similar to most old folks, there is a tinge of sweetness that spirals the narrative at the start. But the writers do prepare you for a drastic mood change with a Tom Cruise film Mission Impossible playing out on television, much to the amusement of Thelma who learns that Cruise performs his own stunts. Yet, seldom does Thelma know that she will be in the thick of things following a scam on her wherein she will get to play ‘Cruise’ in her little adventure. And while the action trail forms the major runtime of the film, the events are laced with a plethora of emotions that are used as an undercurrent. These emotions are attached to the phenomena of old-age while never overpowering the light and frothy tone of the drama that you get to witness over the course of its screenplay standing at 90 odd minutes.

The drama might seem to be far-fetched with its central conflict but it seamlessly utilizes the generalized character traits of people who are aging. After a point when life is tapering, we are often witness to elderly people becoming kids again. This basically means they get slightly stubborn with their actions even while their antics become child-like. And this is wonderfully showcased here when the protagonist sets out on her mission, a la Tom Cruise-esque style to redeem a substantial amount that she lost in a scam. To give her company was another character of approximately her age, and you could easily draw parallels of a ‘daredevil’ mission in play, even as a parallel track involves the chaos around the other members of the family including Thelma’s grandson who panic at her sudden disappearance.

The drama never really lets go of the frothy tone that is prevalent throughout the film. This, even as there are moments of sweetness and some gut-wrenching drama that alternate right throughout the narrative. So even as a gun is accidently fired in a scene, only for it to be ignored by a couple of elderly folks who are hard of hearing, you are invested in the journey of the protagonist which almost seems personal. In a moving confrontational scene, you see the character of Ben, Thelma’s partner-in-crime narrate in angst how his impaired hearing prevented him from registering his wife’s fall before it was too late. Some pain as they say, are withheld within you without the knowledge of the other person. Thelma in another moving scene also narrates how she spent her most fruitful years with her husband until he expired two years ago. And loneliness and the pain of being left behind was so wonderfully explored here.

Almost the entire third act is dedicated towards the conclusion of the heist, and it has to be one of the funnier sequences I have witnessed this year. Having said that, the sequence was also bittersweet with its tone in many ways wherein the justification provided by the character about the eventual scam also made you feel you him. This, before the badass version of the protagonist was at the forefront leading to a satisfactory conclusion. The portions just before the end of the film involves Thelma listening to her grandson who exclaims at how he would immensely miss her once she is gone, to which she replies that she isn’t worried about him and that he will be just fine, a silent unsaid conversation that made me emotional while reminiscing about my grandmother (and if she is looking, I am happy in life, touchwood). And just when I thought that this is going to end in a certain way, the frothy and light tone was back to ensure that the viewers are left teary eyed but with a smile on their faces. A little montage at the end similar to the immediate previous scene was an indicator that Thelma is indeed a real person, the 103 year old grandma of the director who is still alive (and may she live for another thousand years❤️). The conversation was philosophical highlighting how we all are dying each day, yet living to tell a story each day! The screenplay is delightful here and had me teary eyed, at times with laughter and other while with emotions in this immaculate drama.