“Thelma”
Inspired by writer and director Josh Margolin’s relationship with his grandmother, this Sundance audience favorite finds now 94-year-old June Squibb as a retiree on the hunt to take down a serial scammer. After being conned out of $10,000, Thelma reluctantly partners with an old friend, Ben (Richard Roundtree in his last on-screen role), to get her money back. As the pair traverse across the San Fernando Valley in Ben’s motorized 2-person scooter, Thelma’s grandson (Fred Hechinger), daughter (Parker Posey), and son-in-law (Clark Gregg) begin a family manhunt to find her. Genuinely funny and moving, thanks to the wonderful chemistry between Squibb and Hechinger, “Thelma” is a love letter not only to Margolin’s grandmother but to Los Angeles itself. What a joy. – GE [read our review]
“The Beast”
Bertrand Bonello’s sophisticated Sci-Fi epic asks if love can transcend time, and if so, can you kill it? Also serving as a timely warning about the dangers of AI and a future pandemic-laced world, Bonello chronicles the pairing of Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) and Louis (George MacKay) from 1910 Paris to 2014 Los Angeles and back again to a decidedly muted 2044 France. Will either of them undergo the procedure to genetically remove their emotions to allow for a more peaceful and profitable existence? Or will their century-spanning love win out? It’s a tantalizing scenario that Bonello pulls off with remarkable aplomb, including a vision of the future that isn’t that isn’t as far off as it seems. – GE [read our review]