“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]
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
