[Thelma] features one of the best horror-movie tropes: the second-act research scene in which the protagonist tries to figure out what's going on. No movie can be all bad with one of those scenes, and Thelma's already pretty good.
As a hushed, haunting portrait of a young woman reconciling daughterly duty and her own incipient power, "Thelma" feels like a stylish, timely allegory for the present moment.
The exquisitely shot Thelma operates on a level of dreamlike metaphor in which the basic notion of escaping the grip of childhood is mixed with dark imagery of infanticide, self-destruction, and plain old poor impulse control
Trier has found a new way to depict and talk about these emotions and experiences that most human beings know and can never really get over. His way is cold, deadpan, extreme, and very Scandinavian, and it's effective.