THELMA (2017) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Joachim Trier
Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen,
Ellen Dorrit Peterson, Marie Magnusdotter Solem
"Thelma" is where "Carrie" meets "Let the Right One In", a Norwegian thriller about a girl who goes off to college, where she starts having seizures that appear to trigger supernatural events. Is the cause her strict Christian upbringing? Her controlling, manipulative parents? Stress from school? Or the anxiety that goes with falling in love? And what's the connection with her infant kid brother, who died under mysterious circumstances when the girl was six? It's all very quiet and creepy, with a restrained, sympathetic performance by Eili Harboe, who has the self-contained stillness of a young Isabelle Huppert. There's a much happier ending for Thelma here than there was for Carrie. At least there seems to be. It depends on how much is real and how much is playing out in Thelma's head. But if she isn't dead or dreaming that idyllic final encounter, good for her.
