“The Film Is A Coming Of Age Story And It’s Dealing With How You Become An Individual, How You Become

“The film is a coming of age story and it’s dealing with how you become an individual, how you become autonomous from your parents. I think it’s something we all have to go through at various stages in our lives… asking those fundamental questions of where we come from and how much of that past we’ve internalized. In this case, Thelma comes from a religious strict family background and she falls in love with a girl and her parents are very rigid about and conservative. I wanted to make a love story about someone who feels like a freak. I know a lot of people who have gone through that struggle of feeling that the way they felt about love or themselves was not acceptable. I wanted to make a film about a strong young woman who’s grappling with that.” - Joachim Trier, director of Thelma (2017)