Thelma & Louise

Thelma and Louise are legendary for their lawlessness in this must-watch classic by Ridley Scott, 1991.

The story opens with banal domesticity in summery Arkansas. Life-long friends Thelma (Davis) and Louise (Sarandon) go through the motions of their every-day lives, fulfilling their roles as apathetic waitress and demure housewife. All it takes, however, is one fateful day for our eponymous heroines to cut all ties, eschewing their partners to escape their dim and dreary lives.

What starts out as a fishing trip swiftly descends into madness – ‘hitting the road’ now a ‘hit-and-run.’ Restlessness becomes recklessness as this dynamic duo see their lives turn upside-down, hounded by the law as they head for their Mexican sanctum. The audience encounters familiar faces along the way in the likes of Brad Pitt as ‘J.D.’ and Harvey Keitel as ‘Hal’, resulting in this cult-classic bolstered by critical acclaim. Vicious and vivacious, Thelma & Louise is at once a love-letter to female friendship and a reclamation of female rage. Fuelled by firepower, it makes for a heart-pounding tale and is a true testament to the turbulent gender politics of the previous decade. Only enhanced by its stunning cinematography, Thelma & Louise remains wholly and utterly deserving of its iconic legacy.

Martha Gibbs