From heralded writer/director Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st), Thelma is a spine-tingling thriller with a deeply romantic heart, about a lonely young woman who discovers she may have supernatural powers.
Brought up in rural Norway by her religious and quietly domineering mother and father, painfully shy Thelma has recently arrived in Oslo to begin her university studies. At the library one afternoon, she experiences a powerful seizure, and beautiful fellow student Anja is there to help. Developing an overwhelming attraction to her new friend, yet anxious that these feelings betray her beliefs, Thelma begins to manifest a dangerous and uncontrollable power that her parents have long feared…
While the genre-hybridity and northern setting is reminiscent of Let the Right One In, Trier’s electrifying, constantly surprising film is in a world of its own, commanding attention right from its heart-stopping opening sequence and not letting go. Featuring stunning cinematography from Jakob Ihre and a star-making central performance from Harboe, Thelma is ultimately a daring and resonant exploration of the dangers of repression, and a sexy, head-spinning treat.
Please note: contains a scene with strobe effects.