SYNOPSICS
Thelma (2017) is a Norwegian,Swedish movie. Joachim Trier has directed this movie. Eili Harboe,Kaya Wilkins,Henrik Rafaelsen,Ellen Dorrit Petersen are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2017. Thelma (2017) is considered one of the best Drama,Fantasy,Horror,Mystery,Romance,Sci-Fi,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
Having just enrolled at a university in Oslo against her stern parents' will, the sheltered Biology freshman and devout Christian, Thelma, leaves for the first time the isolated Norwegian countryside, to start a new life away from home. Tangibly lonely, a casual conversation and one unexpected friendship with the beautiful fellow student, Anja, will broaden Thelma's hazy horizons; however, as the glacially alluring misfit wrestles with an onslaught of novel feelings, little by little, an unprecedented psychosomatic manifestation of repressed emotions start to take over. Indeed, a mystery cloaks soft-spoken Thelma's past, and the more she struggles to renounce her nebulous desire, the more violent becomes her quivering awakening. Can Thelma unearth a denied truth behind the stinging temptation?
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Thelma (2017) Reviews
Beautifully shot with a thought-provoking story
Most films now-a-days rarely dear to be pushing the boundaries of the artistic form of cinema. Joachim Trier does this brilliantly by being able to make the viewer experience the same emotions the main character, Thelma, does during the whole movie. During this beautifully shot piece, we're taken through a very eventful period of Thelma's life and learn to know her whole backstory, which is thought-provoking to say at least. It's a coming of age story told in a stylistic environment with some well-executed acting performances which makes the characters seem genuine. The viewer is thrown into a whirlwind of emotions throughout the film and as told earlier, Trier is great at making the viewer step into the shoes of Thelma. The story is told in a beautiful manner, even though it might seem slow at times for some viewers. However, I reckon the film would've lost a lot of the suspense and tenseness it manages to create if it was shorter and/or faster, as Trier really lets us dive deep into Thelma's emotions. Do certainly not hesitate to watch this movie as you will not regret it. Even for those not liking this film as much as I do, it's still a good movie which does not let you down, neither acting, telling or shooting-wise.
I want to see it again already.
I feel like in the future, I might appreciate this movie even more. You really have to respect the ethics of it. Odder, unusual movies are commonly only screened at festivals, so it makes me very happy that this is one that slipped through the cracks and made it to the regular theaters. This is one of the most unique experiences I've had all year. It revolves around Thelma, who grew up in a religious household and now is an adult living on her own. She's pretty shy and doesn't know how to talk to anyone at school. One day when she sits besides a girl (who will become very important to the story), she starts shaking and crows crash into the windows. She's having an epileptic seizure. But why? Once she starts to have feelings for Anja (with Anja showing feelings back) as well as drinking and smoking (which her parents openly have discouraged), her powers start to spiral out of control even more, having horrifying nightmares and weird visions. This is a very nice and slowly paced (in a good way) movie, but "nice" does not always equal comfortable. It will make you happy with emotions bubbling up in you, it will scare you one other moment and it will make you very sad. As the movie goes on it gets darker and darker, but instead of delving into full-on horror territory it makes you think a lot, and deals with Thelma getting increasingly emotionally conflicted. Why does she have these powers if they don't do any good for her? Is she punished by her sins or is she punished because she has lived out her life restrictfully? There's an interesting conversation at the beginning, where Thelma makes fun of creationists for believing the Earth is only 6000 years old, and her parents tell her she shouldn't make fun of what others believe and that she doesn't know much more herself about what created the world and what controls it. Thelma feels belittled, like she's been relieved of all sorts of independent expression. Despite this, she apologizes to her father afterwards since she's too afraid to break their rules, that she'll lose her love if she deviates too much from what she's been brought up to think. The romance aspect is handled very nicely. It doesn't feel the slightest bit sappy, Elli Harboe and Kaya Wilkins play their characters gracefully, and their scenes together are never bloated by Hollywood esque music, which would remove some of the subtlety. Joachim Trier also makes this movie look GORGEOUS visually, you often feel like you're inside of some strange lucid tangible dream world, and whenever scary things occur it's absolutely beautiful to look at. It's not suitable as simple escapist entertainment, but if you want something which will make you think about the characters afterwards, not just how well-acted they were, but them as people, then I promise you won't regret it.
Parents Lose Control of Daughter, Daughter Loses Control of Self
Lights flicker, the wind rises and animals behave strangely when Thelma becomes agitated. She is capable of mysterious and ethereal powers, and more than she knows because her manipulative and fundamentalist parents keep such things under wraps in home-school. As Thelma heads to college in Oslo and stops taking medications, not only do her parents lose control, she loses control of herself. Psychogenic seizures rack her body. Passions and anxieties multiply along with her abilities. This is when Anja, Thelma's close friend, does something extremely upsetting for Thelma. The next day when Anja can't be found, Thelma has a sickening feeling she had something to do with it. She searches for answers to the secrets and powers that beguile and haunt her. This thrilling, deep, complex and sensual film explores a whole realm of different theories and possibilities. I was surprised and delighted by its twists and turns. It crosses borders between reality and fantasy, and light and darkness, and explores the good and bad in human nature. The actors are amazing, especially Eili Harboe as Thelma and Kaya Wilkins as Anja. It is fantastic to discover that the roots of psychogenic disorders go back as far as Joan of Arc. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival.
One of the darkest supernatural love stories
Thelma is a hard film to categorise. It contains everything from drama, mystery, supernatural elements, a bit of horror and is essentially a story about love, self-discovery and the fear it may be attached to it. It is a very slow film but the pace is even enough so it never gets dull or drags. The opening sequence is perfect and sets the tone of the film right from the very first seconds. All the performances are simply top-notch and photography stunning. There is also a bit of symbolism present so you will get your share of food for thought. The symbolism nicely compliments the film, it is not the focus of it and thus does not make Thelma a full on art-house film where you can't decipher or understand what is going on. It is very well written although it is very hard not to think of or compare it to Carrie since there are similarities. Everyone who love dark films and stories with haunting atmosphere, good performances and beautiful photography should not miss this one. Recommended.
"I know there's something wrong with me", but what exactly?
"Thelma" (2017 release from Norway; 116 min.) brings the story of university student Thelma. As the movie opens, we see young Thelma and her dad walking in the snowy woods, and when they encounter a deer, dad aims his riffle first at the deer, then.... at Thelma. Whoa! We then go to today, as Thelma, just entering university in Oslo, has a difficult time finding her way. Then one day, as she is in the library/study hall, Thelma suffers a seizure. Following that incident, Anja, another student, reaches out to Thelma to see if she's okay. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: this is the latest from Norwegian writer-director director Joachim Trier, who previously gave us the excellent "Louder Than Bombs" (2015) and before that the even better "Oslo, August 31st" (2011). Here he goes a very different direction. Trier brings us Thelma, an 18 yr. old who grew up in a very conservative/religious/rural setting but now finds freedom in the big city and, while feeling guilty about it, is nevertheless quite eager to explore this newly found freedom. The movie is paced quite slowly, and I mean that as a compliment, as Trier takes his time to explore and provide full characters. After the first seizure, Thelma gets scared and confesses "I know there's something wrong with me", but what exactly? And what causes thee seizures? All is revealed in the second hour of the movie... I shan't say more! Eili Harboe is outstanding in the title role, and I can only imagine that she will soon be making her debut in US movies. In fact, I could easily see how "Thelma" is one of those movies that Hollywood wants to remake--Hollywood style of course. Let's hope I am dead wrong on this one. "Thelma" is 180 degrees away from Hollywood mainstream, and it should stay that way, "Thelma" opened without any fanfare or advertising at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, and seeing that this was directed by Joachim Trier was good enough for me to check it out. So glad I did. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended so-so at best (6 people including myself), and that leads me to think this won't play long in the theater... If you are in the mood for a top-notch foreign psychological drama with hints of the supernatural, I readily recommend that you check out "Thelma", be it in the theater (while you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Thelma" is a WINNER.