featured-image

In the action comedy “Thelma,” 94-year-old actress June Squibb plays the title role, a grandmother who one day gets a call from her “grandson” who claims he’s in jail and needs her to send $10,000 or things will get really bad. Thelma sends the money and then she discovers she’s been scammed. She’s so outraged that she recruits her friend Ben, played by the late Richard Roundtree in one of his final roles, and sets off across the San Fernando Valley on a two-seat electric scooter to get her money back.

The so-called “grandparent scam” is a common con perpetrated on seniors who instinctively want to help their grandchildren out of trouble. And for writer-director Josh Margolin, it got personal when his own grandmother, Thelma Post, now 103 years old, was targeted about a decade ago with a call purportedly from Josh in jail. June Squibb as Thelma and Fred Hechinger as her grandson Danny in the new action comedy “Thelma.



” (Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures) When a scammer tricks Thelma out of $10,000, she recruits her friend Ben and his spiffy two-seat scooter, to trek across the San Fernando Valley. Seen here are actress June Squibb and actor Richard Roundtree in the new action comedy “Thelma.” (Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures) In “Thelma,” a 90-something grandmother played by June Squibb turns action here with help from her friend Ben, played by the late Richard Roundtree, traveling across the San Fernando Valley to catch the men who scammed.

Back to Entertainment Page