67
Trier’s first foray into the fantastic—his college Carrie—gets stuck in an odd middle ground: It’s at once too metaphorically muddled and too dramatically straightforward.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
At times a tad too subtle, Thelma is nonetheless an unnervingly effective slow-burn, and those with the patience for Trier’s patient accumulation of detail will find it pays off in unexpected ways.
80
In Thelma, Trier tries his hand at making a straight-up genre film — a love story between two women cloaked in a supernatural thriller. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Trier’s knack for nuance and graceful storytelling marries beautifully to a tender drama about self-discovery spiked with psychokinesis.
83
Here, the Norwegian’s filmmaker’s signature brand of existential dread (always coupled with and complicated by a youthful sense of becoming), is expressed through style more than action. This isn’t a movie where all that much happens, but every decision ripples with darkness.
63
There's too much undeniably impressive filmmaking to dismiss Thelma; there's too much uncertain storytelling to actually recommend it. Trier undoubtedly has a great horror-movie character study in him. We can't wait to see it.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
While the more enigmatic supernatural elements at times veer close to formulaic Hollywood horror tropes, the movie maintains a compelling seriousness, particularly in its consideration of the conflict between sexuality and repression.
58
The Film Stage by Ethan Vestby
The disappointment with this film is in how it feels like a betrayal of the skills which made him stand out amongst many of his contemporaries. Empathy is in sight with the film’s subject, but never really felt due to a certain distance.
50
Thelma's transition into a paranormal thriller doesn’t complicate its initially potent character study.
91
Trier crafts a drama that is sublimely ambiguous, austere and also deeply sad and heartbreaking.
70
Screen International by Tim Grierson
Even if Trier doesn’t have much new to say about oppressive religious belief, childhood trauma or the terror of adolescent hormones, Thelma’s sustained, muted uneasiness gives this genre exercise sufficient gusto.
Using the paranormal as an avenue to express the pain of repression is so masterfully done here. And the triumphant ending makes it essential queer coming-of-age viewing!