Thelma ** (2017, Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen) – Movie Review 

Co-writer / director Joachim Trier’s Norwegian romantic mystery supernatural drama stars Eili Harboe as a college-age young woman called Thelma, who is definitely looking for her Louise.

Thelma finds her in the shape of Anja (Kaya Wilkins) and begins to fall in love with her. Thelma has a lesbian kiss and takes a drink or two, but then she has fits and fantastic powers.

Henrik Rafaelsen and Ellen Dorrit Petersen play Thelma’s over-bearing, religious parents, Trond and Unni. I suppose it is all about the long shadow that religious belief casts over our lives, blighting them, and rendering us incapable of true love and feelings. But that is just a wild guess.

Trier writes and shoots confidently, and it is intriguing and well filmed. But this is a dreary movie, with even drearier music dragging it down. Thelma is way too low key and draggy a film for a satisfying experience. It all feels like it is semi-digested and an unresolved work in progress. The mystery and supernatural elements are bewildering instead of fascinating.

Thelma is way too arty to get on with its story, and that makes it frustrating and even aggravating. You feel you just want Thelma and Anja to get on with it. It runs to nearly two hours, which seems a long time with this movie. With her expressive, lovely face, Harboe is very good though, in a sympathetic, involving performance, and Rafaelsen scores too in support as the creepy dad.

It is Norway’s submission for the Foreign Language Film Award of the 90th Annual Academy Awards.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Movie Review 

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