I’m not a fan of the term “post-horror”, which was coined by Guardian writer Steve Rose. The prefix is too loaded, suggesting that horror is a second-rate genre that’s been transcended. I prefer to keep genre labels loose than creating some rigid taxonomy, and I’m fine with movies that dip into any genre but do something different other than what the genre tropes dictate.
That may explain a lot of my curiosity and excitement for Thelma, the new movie from Jaochim Trier. The title character (played by Eili Harboe) is a young woman who goes to college, falls in love, and awakens some strange power within her. It’s like that trope about mysterious teenage girls who develop strange powers during adolescence. We’ve seen it before in Stephen King’s Carrie and Dario Argento’s Phenomenon, but Thelma looks like it does its own thing with the convention.
A US release trailer debuted for Thelma the other day, which you can watch below. It was also announced that Thelma is Norway’s official selection for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Yup… that’s what love and desire feels like. (Sort of like a Magnetic Fields song.)
Watching the trailer for Thelma reminds me a bit of Julia Ducournau’s Raw from earlier in the year, which bundled cannibalism with a young woman’s burgeoning sexuality. While I had some issues with the ending of Raw, I still think about certain scenes and images from the film, and I hope Thelma similarly lingers in my memory.
Thelma will screen at the 2017 New York Film Festival, which runs from September 28th through October 15th. Flixist will be covering the festival, so check back with us for a review. Thelma will be released in US theaters on November 10th.
[via The Playlist]
