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It’s isn’t initially clear why the writer of this film about a nonagenarian woman who decides to go on a mission to track down the men who conned her out of $10,000, chose the name Thelma for their lead character, and indeed for the title of the movie. This isn’t just any name of course, it is one that already has strong cinematic connotations after Gina Davis iconic performance under that moniker for Ridley Scott’s in 1991. You can’t really call a film Hannibal anymore, or Erin or Bridget or Nemo, and similarly you can’t just call it Thelma. It isn’t as though the protagonists is motivated by Thelma & Louise in her activities either, that would have made sense of it, she is actually inspired by Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

Then at the very end it becomes obvious why this name was chosen and the reason is actually quite lovely. It is simply because Thelma was the name of writer director Josh Margolin’s own grandmother. Sorry if that is a minor spoiler (the moment where they reveal this is quietly powerful) but it is key to everything that I want to discuss about this movie.

On the surface Thelma is an action movie spoof, or at least it riffs heavily on this genre. Like Cruise’s Ethan Hunt elderly Thelma is on a mission, that no one thinks she can complete, to track down some criminals and thwart their nefarious plan. There is computer espionage, explosions, screeching tyres and feats of unexpected human prowess, all shot with fast editing and thrilling close ups, but completed by an old lady rather than your typical movie star. (For the record at 93 lead actor June Squibb is thirty one years older than Tom Cruise, which incidentally is not far off the age gap between Cruise and his partner Elsina Khayrova.) There is nothing she is doing that someone of her age would not be able to though, for her the distance vaulted is ten inches not ten feet and the wheels are on a mobility scooter rather than a motor bike. Still the risk of broken bones is as high and arguably the tension higher. It is in this that Margolin’s inspiration shows through. This is not just a movie built around the idea of a properly geriatric action hero; it is first and foremost a respectful and loving story about the capacity older people have to defy expectations and a celebration of independence in the face of progressing years. The story itself is almost a metaphor, the point is this man’s admiration for the grandmother that evidently still really inspires him.

There have been films about growing old before but never with this much regard and affection. Thelma here is never the butt of a joke or an easy comedy conceit; she is a woman with a determination established over decades and a resolve that strengthens even though, and perhaps because, other parts of her may be getting weaker. The film is a hymn to life in the face of it reaching its end. Alongside Squibb’s Thelma is Richard Roundtree’s Ben, as much the no nonsense straight talker as he ever was, but the conversations about their peers having passed away and the possibility of their own demise is given extra poignancy by Roundtree’s own death last October. Elsewhere great support is given by Parker Posey and Clark Gregg and a key role is given to Fred Hechinger, who is of course the grandson.

With all of this informing it Thelma is an utter delight and so much more that it could have been without the love that has clearly gone in to it. So Thelma may have no connection to Gina Davis character but she is every inch the feminist force and if there is any justice when people hear the name from now on there will be broader connotations. Thelma was someone else to Josh Margolin and now she is to us too.