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Thelma (2017), dir. Joachim Trier

The Norwegian film Thelma, directed by Joachim Trier and co-written with Eskil Vogt, is nearly flawless in every aspect. It succeeds where many others in its genre falter. First and foremost, the film plunges into the subconscious with such force that I found myself reaching for a few volumes of Jung from my bookshelf.

Thelma (Eili Harboe) moves away from her parents’ home in a small town to study biology in Oslo. She befriends a few fellow students, but one in particular, Anja (Kaya Wilkins), catches her attention. As Thelma begins experiencing epileptic seizures and ominous black birds hurl themselves at windows, things take a strange and gripping turn. When the friendship between the girls becomes something deeper, Thelma’s rigid Christian upbringing can’t handle it without resistance.

Although the film’s thematic thread is fairly clear—essentially a coming-of-age story—Trier layers it with family drama, tragedy, and the paranormal. One can even trace subtle lines of ancient folklore and Christian iconography throughout. A snake slithers across the floor and later across an elderly woman’s neck. Is this the sly, deceitful serpent of paradise—the very Devil? Or is it logos, a symbol of reason and understanding detached from the Christian context? Or perhaps the healing serpent of Asclepius from ancient Greece?

It’s precisely this duality, symbolism, and openness to interpretation that makes the film so captivating—it allows for free associations and the generation of personal meaning. One doesn’t need to scratch far beneath the surface to find C.G. Jung, whose own journey delved deeply into the psyche, even to the point of psychological collapse. If we consider Thelma’s character arc through this lens—her internal conflicts, family dynamics, and her erotic love for Anja—a rich psychological contradiction emerges that serves the film remarkably well.

Furthermore, the way Thelma’s inner world manifests externally through unexpected, involuntary catastrophes brings us closer to Jung’s theories.

Jung wrote the following about the Transcendent Function:

“It is a psychological function that arises from the tension of opposites... It is transcendent because it emerges spontaneously from the unconscious, manifested through symbols—dreams or visions... when inner conflict arises from instinctual rebellion against the ego’s oppressive control.”

While Jung emphasizes the repression of emotion, Trier pushes even further—and the result is appropriately cathartic.

In the end, Thelma is a film that offers an abundance of material to unpack. Trier’s brilliant use of flashbacks gradually unfolds new dimensions of the story, tightly interwoven with the whole, right up to the final frame. Jakob Ihre’s cinematography is excellent, and the performances by Eili Harboe and Kaya Wilkins are spot-on.

Dare I say it: there’s a pinch of De Palma here..yes i can!

—

Mika

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