Weekend Watch: Thelma, Kinds Of Kindness

An all-action OAP and Yorgos Lanthimos' trio of weird tales

Image Credit: Magnolia Pictures

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, June Squibb wants her money back and Yorgos Lanthimos tells three odd stories. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite

While summer usually means a flood of big movies jostling for the out-of-school crowd, 2024 is in a very different position because of the studios’ obstinate behaviour extending the strikes of last year.

Yet that also means space for some very different titles, and one of my favourites of the year is Thelma, a film that could well stand alongside the likes of the Mission: Impossible franchise…. if Tom Cruise was a 93-year-old woman and the mission was to retrieve some scammed cash.

Josh Margolin’s feature debut stars June Squibb as Thelma Post, a feisty grandmother who gets conned by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson Daniel (Fred Hechinger), and sets out on a treacherous quest across Los Angeles, accompanied by aging friend Ben (Richard Roundtree) and his motorized scooter, to reclaim what was taken from her.

At the same time, Daniel and his panicked parents Alan (Clark Gregg) and Gail (Parker Posey) look to track her down, worried that she’ll get in trouble.

The film boasts a remarkable performance from Squibb –– shockingly, the first leading film role of her 70-year career –– and she performs a number of entertaining stunts as Thelma continues on her mission. She’s ably supported by Roundtree (who sadly died just after the film was finished) and Hechinger, who make sure the film stays grounded even at its wildest.

This is warmly funny, unexpected and refreshing, and I have to urge you to check it out wherever it’s showing near you. After all, if it’s not a huge success, how can they start work on a five-film Thelma franchise? I can’t wait for Thelma: OAProtocol.

Thelma is in US cinemas now. It’ll arrive in the UK on 19 July.

Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures

One day, Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos will make a film that is entirely straightforward, and on that day, we’ll all know it’s part of an elaborate signal that he’s been kidnapped.

For now, though, Lanthimos, the director behind films such as Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Favourite and Poor Things (the latter two scoring Oscars), is sticking to his offbeat ways. And if you thought Poor Things’ story of a young woman brought back to life with her own baby’s brain inside her head was the strangest story he’s told, then Kinds Of Kindness is here to challenge that notion.

A triptych of films written by Lanthimos and regular collaborator Efthimis Filippou, it features a repertory cast anchored by Emma Stone (in her third collaboration with the filmmaker), Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau and Willem Dafoe.

Here’s the basic synopsis, which gives little idea of the unusual places to which this new movie journeys: “A man seeks to break free from his predetermined path, a cop questions his wife's demeanour after her return from a supposed drowning, and a woman searches for an extraordinary individual prophesied to become a renowned spiritual guide.”

Beyond the cast, the three stories are linked by a character called R.M.F, played by Yorgos Stefanakos, who serves a different role in each one.

Naturally, the new entry is a heady stew of sexual quirks, bizarre behaviour and random violence. The whole cast acquits themselves well (though I do feel bad for Qualley, who, as with her turn in Poor Things, mostly serves as the butt of jokes or a human prop), and though your enjoyment of the film might depend on your tolerance for the director’s fixations, it’s certain you won’t have seen anything like this in such wide release.

As someone who had to be converted to the director’s particular style, I must admit I still preferred Poor Things and The Favourite to this one, but found enough to keep me… well, perhaps entertained isn’t the right word for it. But certainly intrigued, wondering just what unusual situation would sidle on to screen next.

Kinds Of Kindness is in US cinemas now. It’ll land in the UK on 28 June.