A frozen winter. A man takes his daughter hunting. At age six, she’s too young to participate. She’s fascinated by the fish swimming beneath as they walk across the ice-covered lake. The two cross the lake and spot a deer in the woods. Dad asks for quiet as he lines up the shot. The deer doesn’t move. Anticipation. More anticipation. What is the hunter waiting for? The camera asks our question; it finds dad as still as the deer. Without warning, the father slowly and silently pivots the gun at the girl’s head. This is what he intended to do all along.
Well, movie, you certainly have my attention. Use it wisely.
Thelma (Eili Harboe) is a Danish girl away for her first year at college in Oslo. The daily check-in routine suggests the parents are having separation anxiety. They’re new empty-nesters, so it’s hardly unreasonable. In fact, were it not for the lake scene opening, I would think I was the target audience. HA! Quiet and removed, Thelma is slow to make acquaintances of any kind. Her single dorm room exacerbates matters. Do most freshman in Norway get singles? Totally jealous. In the library, she spies a face she’d like to meet. Then a bird hits the window and Thelma has a seizure. Is there a connection among these things?
The next week, Thelma suddenly has a new friend, Anja (Kaya Wilkins). The very Christian Thelma ain’t about the drinking, smoking, cavorting, or having fun of any type, yet finds herself having a first beer in the company of Anja and her friends. That evening, Thelma goes to bed and thinks about Anja. Thelma gets out of bed, looks out the window and, check it out, there’s Anja down below. Is that cool, or what? Wouldn’t it be awesome just to wish people by your side? Both girls are puzzled. And Thelma has another seizure.
I see Thelma as a poor man’s Carrie. I wanted her to be spiteful, wicked, or maybe mischievous. She mostly comes across as a blank slate, which belies her abilities. Does she have abilities? What are they, exactly? And
how do her parents fit in? What’s with the pious? What was with that opening? Was that six-year-old Thelma dad aimed to kill? The questions are answered, but not entirely with satisfaction.
Thelma is a tad too slow for my tastes. I think we need to move a little faster to get to the issues. It also had a real problem with audience. I emerged from the theater both wondering what I’d just seen and how I was supposed to feel about it. When the end credits flashed, I just knew director Joachim Trier is related to Lars von Trier. How could he not be with what just happened on screen? Of course, I wouldn’t wish the von Trier film gene on the undead; can you imagine being compelled to create and display the ugliest, most vile, the most stomach-turning shiitake mushrooms human nature has to offer? And yet, I cannot deny that Thelma wasn’t an evil film, wasn’t a depressing film, wasn’t necessarily difficult to watch, and had moments of both shocking and gripping. I applaud it for the latter. Maybe if the von Trier gene can be tempered with a dose of humanity, the product ain’t so bad.
Thelma’s a normal girl, if you please
Who has powers or some sort of disease
She might need a pair
Or some torrid affair
What happened to Danish Louise?
Not Rated, 116 Minutes
Director: Joachim Trier
Writer: Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt
Genre: Be wary of the name “Trier”
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Cult fans, maybe?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Parents
