One of the year’s best and most beautiful movies involves superpowers, and we’re not talking about “Justice League,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” or any other Marvel or DC movie. Instead, we’re talking about Joachim Trier‘s “Thelma,” a cinematic treasure that mixes the supernatural and spiritual into a spellbinding tale of coming of age and identity. It’s not to be missed, especially on the big screen — believe it or not, the film has approximately 200 CGI shots — and today we have an exclusive clip that highlights the film’s rich, thematic center.
Starring Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Henrik Rafaelsen, and Ellen Dorrit Petersen, the story follows Thelma, who leaves her small town on the west coast of Norway to study at a university in Oslo. Her arrival in the big city causes Thelma to question her strict Christian upbringing, and her world really starts to change when she develops strong feelings for her classmate, Anja. Thelma starts experiencing seizures and inexplicable supernatural abilities, and at the root of it all lays a dark secret from her past.
“I wanted it to be a shoutout to any person, male or female, who felt like a freak and felt like they didn’t belong and didn’t know how to accept themselves in the context of how they were living,” Trier told us about “Thelma.” “The story is also about being gay and I think that, at least in Scandinavian cinema, we’ve had a lack of stories of lesbian love and the complications of that. I think that’s an important aspect of this film as well. Very often gay stories are about men, at least in the Nordic countries, and I think that’s the case in many places for some weird reason. So, I think that kind of sense of alienation and the yearning for self-acceptance is the theme of this film and, without revealing too much…it’s about rooting for that character.”
“Thelma” is now playing in New York City and opens in Los Angeles on November 24th. Don’t miss it.