Thelma

Thelma felt sort of cliché. I wanted to love it because I love Joachim Trier, but this movie seemed like a retread of X-Men and Raw, and not in a good way. It's basic message is that you have to kill your parents, and, like, I already know that, so I'm gonna need this film to come up with something better.

Also, maybe it is the atheism talking, but when I'm watching a character have an interior struggle that involves religion vs. queerness I get bored very quickly. This is because I know that if religion wins out your movie has a serious problem. And so I know that religion isn't going to win out. This isn't just a plot problem – although it is a plot problem, because there are not really any stakes – it's also a problem of my own interests. I am just not interested in religion: in queer people's religion, in straight people's religion, in Christianity, in Islam, in Judaism, in any of them. I just don't care. I know that a lot of people do care, but I am not one of them. If I had known Thelma was in the least bit about a young woman's struggle between queer desire and Christianity, I would have passed on it.

But, Joachim Trier, I still love you!