History Film / Thelma

* HomoeroticDream: Thelma has one at a party of Anja having sex with her, confirming her growing attraction.

* DayLightHorror: Much of the terrifying scenes involving the outdoors happen during the day and are not shrouded in darkness which is a possible contrast to DarkIsNotEvil.
** Thelma’s [[spoiler: brother was found dead under the frozen lake at sunrise. Her father was almost burning to death and died by drowning in broad daylight.]]
** The opening scene of the film shows a child walking with her father in the snow that is reminiscent of bonding moments. Then [[spoiler: he turns his rifle [[MoodWhiplash towards her head.]]]]

* OverprotectiveDad: Thelma’s dad and mom regularly look over her schedule and he calls her every night to make sure that she eats or doesn’t give in to hedonistic practices. They may be protective and watch carefully over their daughter but they are shown to be emotionally distant.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Thelma masturbates during her erotic dream about having sex with Anya.

* Foreshadowing: [[spoiler: When Thelma is drowning in the pool she swims up and finds the floor of the pool, indicating that forward may not be what she thinks.]]

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Fervently prayed for by Thelma—but she will never be which is for the [[BeYourself better]] or [[FridgeHorror worse]].

* VisualForeshadowing: [[spoiler: When Thelma is drowning in the pool she swims up and finds the floor of the pool, indicating that forward may not be what she thinks.]]

** Is it a [[spoiler:dream sequence?]]
** It also plays very differently depending whether you think that [[spoiler:Anja genuinely loved Thelma from the beginning]] or if [[spoiler:Thelma actually compelled Anja to her.]]
** In which case, does it show Thelma breaking free of her religious repression, realizing that she needs to be herself, and ending up happily, or does it show Thelma embracing the more monstrous side of her [[spoiler:as she starts to exercise her power without fear, having either killed or silenced the only people who could stop her (her parents)]]?

* LipstickLesbian: Thelma is a quite feminine young woman who's attracted to her female classmate Anja. Meanwhile Anja too is a feminine woman and reciprocates her attraction, but may be bisexual as she's also shown dating a guy before. However, [[spoiler:Anja's attraction to her may be induced by Thelma's powers.]]

* VillainProtagonist: Arguably against the author's will, who probably wanted to write a metaphor about old beliefs vs Christianity. But the result, oh dear... Everything here needs a spoiler, sorry.
** [[spoiler: When Thelma really, truly desires something, she can make that happen. What does she really desire?]]
*** [[spoiler:To start with, when she is around six, to kill her newborn baby brother, who probably annoyed her with his crying here and there, in a gruesome way, and she makes him drown under an iced over lake.]]
*** [[spoiler:Then to kill her father, who surely enough was repressive, but was like that only because he wanted to avoid seeing his daughter replicate what she did with her baby brother, and does so by burning him alive in the same lake where she killed her baby brother. And then makes a half-hearted try to find his body, giving up as soon as she remembers her hot lover (who she couldn't have, if she followed her father's decisions).]]
*** [[spoiler:Of course, one could argue that most of the bad things happen when she is sleeping or without her knowing her powers, but, to start with, to truly want to kill your baby brother just because he annoys you is undoubtedly a mark of evil.]]
*** But, even more, we see the difference with what happens to Anja. [[spoiler: Thelma kills her baby brother and her father, but "only" makes Anja disappear. Eventually Thelma can fix the last action, but is unable (or unwilling) to fix the others too. And she doesn't care to do it, either.]]
*** To put the cherry on the top, there is the chance that Thelma has (unconsciously) [[spoiler:brainwashed the same Anja into loving her, and the movie ends with Thelma "calling back" Anja from where she was, and making out with her, without any remorse or worry about that possibility.]]
** The only decent act Thelma does is [[spoiler:to heal her mother]].

* AdultFear:
** Seeing your child [[spoiler: under a frozen lake and being helpless to save them will haunt a parent for life.]]
** Also having a child [[spoiler: with psychokinetic powers and realizing she’s able to move people through her thoughts and with minimal effort, and not knowing how the child can control their power while doing your best to keep her and your family safe will definitely leave no parent at peace.]]

* DoubleStandard: At least according to some viewers, and maybe even according to the author, she is not a VillainProtagonist. Now:
** Theo, a six year old boy truly wants to [[spoiler: kill his newborn baby sister because she annoys him crying here and there]]; Theo is now a straight teenager who [[spoiler: discovers his powers, kills his mother who, even being repressive, was trying to prevent Theo from possibly harming more people]]. Theo, after he learns that maybe [[spoiler: he brainwashed the first hot girl he liked, to make her his girlfriend]], doesn't give a damn and goes along with that. Evil. Evil. Evil.
** [[spoiler: The same things, reversed, are done by a lesbian? She is only trying to free herself from under the repressive thumb of a patriarchal, religious society. Hell, she even has a black crow following her? That is not a sign she is evil or the [[Film/TheOmen Antichrist]], but some nice thing that should remind us about nature, Wicca and how nice the old beliefs are]].

* BlessedWithSuck: Thelma has nigh-boundless psychokinetic powers but has no idea on how to control them and is too afraid of knowing how they work that she restrains every thought and feeling that she has which she deems as destructive or impure. This is [[spoiler: subverted in the end of the movie when she embraces it and which can possibly qualify her as [[TheUbermensch the Ubermensch]]]].

* MixedAncestry: Anja's mother is White, while she clearly is not. We don't see her father though, and thus his race isn't made clear.

* LGBTAwakening: Alongside the ComingOfAgeStory, as Thelma has just left home for the first time and discovers her sexuality by feeling attracted to another woman, which she struggles greatly with.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Thelma masturbates while having her erotic dream about having sex with Anya.

* OverprotectiveDad: Thelma’s dad and mom regularly looks over her schedule and he calls her every night to make sure that she eats or doesn’t give in to hedonistic practices. They may be protective and watch carefully over their daughter but they are shown to be emotionally distant.

*** [[spoiler:Then to kill her father, who surely enough was repressive, but was like that only because he wanted to avoid seeing his daughter replicate what she did with her baby brother, and does so by burning him alive in the same lake where she killed her baby brother. And then makes a half-hearted try to find his body, giving up as soon as she remembers her hot lover (who she couldn't have, if she followed his father's decisions).]]

*** But, even more, we see the difference with what happens to Anja. [[spoiler: Thelma kills her baby brother and her father, but "only" make Anja disappear. Eventually Thelma can fix the last action, but is unable (or unwilling) to fix the others two. And she doesn't care too much, either.]]

** Anja wearing a black swimsuit and Thelma wearing a white nightdress and with the last swimming pool scene which reminiscent of the yin yang symbol.

* ComingOutStory: Alongside the ComingOfAgeStory, as Thelma has just left home for the first time and discovers her sexuality by feeling attracted to another woman, which she struggles greatly with.

* InTheBlood / ItRunsInTheFamily: Thelma’s grandmother has demonstrated that she has similar powers to her. Their abilities are also shown to be manifested in females only.

* DoubleStandard: At least according to some viewers, and maybe even according to the author, she is not a VillainProtagonist. Now:
** Theo, a six year old boy truly wants to [[spoiler: kill his newborn baby sister because she annoys him crying here and there]]; Theo is now a straight teenager who [[spoiler: discovers his powers, kills his mother who, even being repressive, was trying to prevent Theo from possibly harming more people]]. Theo, after he learns that maybe [[spoiler: he brainwashed the first hot girl he liked, to make her his girlfriend]], doesn't give a damn and goes along with that. Evil. Evil. Evil.
** [[spoiler: The same things, reversed, are done by a lesbian? She is only trying to free herself from under the repressive thumb of a patriarchal, religious society. Hell, she even has a black crow following her? That is not a sign she is evil or the [[Film/TheOmen Antichrist]], but some nice thing that should remind us about nature, Wicca and how nice the old beliefs are]].

* VillainProtagonist: Arguably against the author's will, who probably wanted to write a metaphor about old beliefs vs Christianity. But the result, oh dear... Everything here needs a spoiler, sorry.
** [[spoiler: When Thelma really, truly desires something, she can make that happen. What does she really desire?]]
*** [[spoiler:To start with, when she is around six, to kill her newborn baby brother, who probably annoyed her with his crying here and there, in a gruesome way, and she makes him drown under an iced over lake.]]
*** [[spoiler:Then to kill her father, who surely enough was repressive, but was like that only because he wanted to avoid seeing his daughter replicate what she did with her baby brother, and does so by burning him alive in the same lake where she killed her baby brother. And then makes a half-hearted try to find his body, giving up as soon as she remembers her hot lover (who she couldn't have, if she followed his father's decisions).]]
*** [[spoiler:Of course, one could argue that most of the bad things happen when she is sleeping or without her knowing her powers, but, to start with, to truly want to kill your baby brother just because he annoys you is undoubtedly a mark of evil.]]
*** But, even more, we see the difference with what happens to Anja. [[spoiler: Thelma kills her baby brother and her father, but "only" make Anja disappear. Eventually Thelma can fix the last action, but is unable (or unwilling) to fix the others two. And she doesn't care too much, either.]]
*** To put the cherry on the top, there is the chance that Thelma has (unconsciously) [[spoiler:brainwashed the same Anja into loving her, and the movie ends with Thelma "calling back" Anja from where she was, and making out with her, without any remorse or worry about that possibility.]]
** The only decent act Thelma does is [[spoiler:to heal her mother]].

* ComingOfAgeStory: A horror-filled version.

* DoubleStandard: At least according to some viewers, and mabye even according to the author, she is not a VillainProtagonist. Now: Theo, a six years old boy truly wants to [[spoiler: kill his newborn baby sister because she annoys him crying here and there]]; Theo is now a straight teenager who [[spoiler: discovers his powers, kills his mother who, even being repressive, was trying to avoid that Theo could possibly abuse more people]]. Theo, after he learnt that maybe [[spoiler: he brainwashed the first hot girl he liked, to make her his girlfriend]] doesn't give a damn and goes along with that. Evil. Evil. Evil.
** [[spoiler: The same things, reversed, are done by a lesbian? She is only trying to free herself from under the repressive thumb of our religious and male-dominated society. Hell, she has even a black crow following her? That is not a sign she is evil or the [[Film/TheOmen antichrist]], but some nice thing that should remember us about nature, wiccan and how cute were the old beliefs]].

* VillainProtagonist: Arguably against the author's will, who probably wanted to write a metaphor about old beliefs vs christianity. But the result, oh dear... Everything here needs a spoiler, sorry.

*** [[spoiler:To start with, when she is around six, to kill her newborn baby brother, who probably annoyed her with his crying here and there, in a gruesome way, and she makes him drown under an iced lake.]]
*** [[spoiler:Then to kill her father, who surely enough was repressive, but was like that only because he wanted to avoid to see her daughter replicate what she did with her baby brother, and she kills him burning him alive in the same like where she killed her baby brother. And then makes a half-hearted try to find his body, giving up as soon as she remembers her hot lover (who she couldn't have, if she followed his father's decisions).]]

*** To put the cherry on the top, there is the chance that Thelma has (unconsciously) [[spoiler:brainwashed the same Anja in loving her, and the movie ends with Thelma "calling back" Anja from where she was, and making out with her, without any remorse or worry about that possibility.]]

* SuddenlySexuality: {{Played with}} and PlayedForDrama in a surprising way. Anja has a boyfriend when she meets Thelma but, within days of meeting her, she's broken up with him and is walking to Thelma's apartment. [[spoiler:Thelma's father tells her that he thinks Anja never loved her, she just wanted it so badly she "made it true". However, it is still possible that Anja had a sexual epiphany or that she was always bisexual.]]

** Traditional male and traditional Female displays in society.