Thelma & Louise is a 1991 American buddy comedy-drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. The film stars Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon as Thelma and Louise, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unforeseen circumstances. The supporting cast includes Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, and Brad Pitt. Filming took place in California and Utah from June to August 1990.
Following its premiere at the 44th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 1991, Thelma & Louise was theatrically released in the United States on May 24. It became a critical and commercial success, receiving six nominations at the 64th Academy Awards, with Khouri winning Best Original Screenplay. Scott was nominated for Best Director, and both Sarandon and Davis were nominated for Best Actress.
Thelma & Louise has influenced other artistic works, and became a landmark of feminist film. In 2006, the American Film Institute ranked it 78th on its list of most inspiring films. In 2016, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
A musical based on the film premiered in September 2026.
Plot
Friends Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer set out for a weekend vacation at a fishing cabin. Thelma, a housewife, is married to disrespectful and controlling carpet salesman Darryl, while sharp-tongued Louise works as a waitress. When Louise arrives to pick her up, Thelma confesses she was too timid to ask Darryl if she could go. So, she left him a note instead, as he has already left for work. Thelma has packed Darryl's gun in her purse and shows it to Louise, who admonishes her for bringing it.
The pair stops at a roadhouse bar. The waitress brings them drinks paid for by Harlan, a regular at the bar. Thelma is happy to have the attention of a man other than Darryl and dances with him, despite Louise's disapproval. When Thelma says she feels sick, Harlan takes her outside to the parking lot and tries to rape her. Louise intervenes with Darryl's gun and threatens to shoot him.
As Thelma and Louise walk away, Harlan yells that he should have continued the rape, which causes Louise to fatally shoot him in a fit of rage. The two women immediately drive off. Thelma wants to go to the police, but Louise fears that no one will believe a claim of attempted rape, as Thelma was seen drinking and dancing with Harlan and they would be facing a murder charge. She tells Thelma she is going to flee to Mexico.
At a gas station, Thelma calls Darryl, who demands that she come home immediately. She tells him off and lets Louise know she is coming to Mexico. J.D., a handsome and charming young drifter, approaches the women asking for a lift out west, and a reluctant Louise allows it when Thelma takes a liking to him. Louise contacts her non-committal musician boyfriend Jimmy, asking him to wire her life savings to her, without saying why.
Jimmy surprises Louise by delivering the money in person. He becomes angry in the hotel room when she does not answer his questions, and she goes to leave. Jimmy then apologizes and gives Louise a diamond ring, prompting her to question his timing. They spend the night together.
Meanwhile, J.D. talks his way into Thelma's room. She learns he is a convicted armed robber who has violated his parole. They have sex, the first time Thelma has had an enjoyable sexual experience.
The following morning, Louise tells Jimmy she will not marry him. Jimmy leaves, devastated. Thelma later tells her about her night with J.D. Louise panics when she realizes Thelma left him alone with the money, so the women run to the room, discovering he has stolen Louise's savings and fled. Louise is distraught, so a guilt-ridden Thelma takes charge, later robbing a nearby convenience store using tactics she learned from J.D.
The FBI closes in on the duo after witnesses at the bar identify Louise's 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible. Led by Arkansas State Police Investigator Hal Slocumb, the police question J.D. and tap into the phone line at Darryl's house. Slocumb sympathizes with the pair's situation and understands why they did not report Harlan's killing. During a few brief phone conversations with Louise, Hal expresses his concerns but is unable to persuade her to surrender.
Later, Thelma and Louise are pulled over by a New Mexico state trooper for speeding. Knowing he will soon discover they are wanted for murder and armed robbery, Thelma holds him at gunpoint and locks him in the trunk of his police car. Driving further west, they encounter a foul-mouthed truck driver who repeatedly makes obscene gestures at them. They pull over and demand an apology from him. When he refuses, they fire at his fuel tanker, causing it to explode.
The FBI locates the women, who lead them on a high-speed chase. They are finally cornered, only 100 yards from the edge of the Grand Canyon. Hal arrives on the scene, but the women refuse his last attempt to talk them into surrendering. Rather than be captured, Thelma proposes that they "keep going". They kiss and hold hands as Louise steps on the gas and, as Hal desperately pursues them on foot waving at them to stop, they accelerate over the cliff and fly off to their deaths.
Cast
Production Development The idea for Thelma & Louise originated in early 1988 when Callie Khouri, then a music video producer, was driving home from work to her apartment in Santa Monica. She spent the following six months working on her first screenplay, which drew inspiration from her own experience and her friendship with country music singer Pam Tillis. She had intended it to be a low-budget independent film, directed by herself and produced by fellow music video producer Amanda Temple (wife of British filmmaker Julien Temple).
After shopping the project around and finding no takers, Temple showed the script to her friend Mimi Polk Gitlin, who ran Ridley Scott's Percy Main Productions (later Scott Free Productions). Gitlin showed the script to Scott, who expressed great enthusiasm for it. He agreed to produce the film and bought the film rights for $500,000. Pathé Entertainment, then led by Scott's friend and collaborator Alan Ladd Jr., came on board as a co-producer and financier.
Scott considered four people for the role of director, all of whom turned down the opportunity. Gitlin has said that three of the candidates were Bob Rafelson, Kevin Reynolds and Richard Donner. Scott was reluctant to direct the film himself but eventually took on the role, having been persuaded by Michelle Pfeiffer.
Casting Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster were originally chosen for the leads; both accepted their roles with enthusiasm. During pre-production the two dropped out, with Pfeiffer going on to star in Love Field and Foster in The Silence of the Lambs. Pfeiffer later said she regretted passing on the film. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn then offered to play the leads, but Streep dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, while Hawn was not considered right for the part (a year later, in Death Becomes Her, Hawn and Streep played the lead roles). Geena Davis (who had been pursuing the lead role for nearly a year) and Susan Sarandon were ultimately chosen. The two took extensive driving and shooting lessons in preparation for their roles.
Scott convinced Harvey Keitel to take on the role of Hal, the sympathetic Arkansas detective. The two had previously collaborated in Scott's feature directorial debut, the 1977 film The Duellists. Davis recommended her ex-boyfriend Christopher McDonald for the role of Darryl, Thelma's controlling husband. Scott wanted Michael Madsen for Harlan, Thelma's would-be rapist, but Madsen was unwilling; he eventually played Jimmy, Louise's boyfriend. Brad Pitt auditioned for the hustler J.D.; Scott thought he was "too young" for the role so they moved on, and the part was offered to William Baldwin. Pitt eventually secured the role after both Baldwin and his replacement dropped out. Christian Slater, River Phoenix, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Grant Show, John Mellencamp, Dylan McDermott, James LeGros, and Dermot Mulroney were also considered for the role of J.D. Davis tested scenes with Clooney, Show, Ruffalo and Pitt, and advised the directors to choose Pitt.
Filming
Principal photography for Thelma & Louise began on June 11, 1990, and concluded on August 31, 1990. Although the setting for the film is a fictional route between Arkansas and the Grand Canyon, it was filmed almost entirely in California and Utah. The primary filming locations were rural areas around Bakersfield, California and Moab, Utah. The Grand Canyon scenes were filmed just south of Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. Parts of the film were also shot at Shafer Overlook, Monument Valley, La Sal Mountains, La Sal Junction, Cisco, Old Valley City Reservoir, Thompson Springs, Arches National Park, and Crescent Junction in Utah. Of filming his love scenes with Davis, Pitt said that it was awkward being nearly naked with everybody standing.
Soundtrack Pete Haycock on slide guitar contributed to Thunderbird, the theme music for the film. In addition to Glenn Frey's "Part of Me, Part of You", which became the film's primary theme song, the soundtrack included songs performed by Chris Whitley ("Kick the Stones"), Martha Reeves ("Wild Night", written by Van Morrison), Toni Childs ("House of Hope"), Marianne Faithfull ("Ballad of Lucy Jordan", written by Shel Silverstein), Charlie Sexton ("Badlands"), Grayson Hugh ("I Can't Untie You from Me"), B. B. King ("Better Not Look Down", written by Joe Sample and Will Jennings), Michael McDonald ("No Lookin' Back"), The Temptations ("The Way You Do the Things You Do", written by Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers), and Johnny Nash ("I Can See Clearly Now").
Release Thelma & Louise was screened out of competition as the closing film at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. Theatrical release was delayed due to financial turmoil at MGM-Pathé. The film eventually opened in American theaters on May 24, 1991 and was a box office success, grossing $45 million within the country.
Home media The film was released on VHS on January 8, 1992 by MGM/UA Home Video. It proved especially successful in the home video market; with 380 000 copies being shipped throughout the United States, it became the most rented movie of 1992.
In February 2023, The Criterion Collection announced the film would be joining the collection in May that year.
Reception
Upon release, Thelma & Louise received largely positive reviews, which several publications described as "rave". Janet Maslin of The New York Times had only praise for the film in her review:
Roger Ebert also praised the film, writing, "What sets Thelma & Louise aside from the great central tradition of the road picturea tradition roomy enough to accommodate Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, Badlands, Midnight Run and Rain Manis that the heroes are women this time: Working-class girlfriends from a small Arkansas town, one a waitress, the other a housewife, both probably ready to describe themselves as utterly ordinary, both containing unexpected resources." He added, "This film shows a great sympathy for human comedy", and "Sarandon and Davis find in Callie Khouri's script the materials for two plausible, convincing, lovable characters. And as actors they work together like a high-wire team, walking across even the most hazardous scenes without putting a foot wrong." However, Ebert deducted half a star from his four-star review on the basis of "the last shot before the titles begin. It's a freeze frame that fades to white, which is fine, except it does so with unseemly haste .... It's unsettling to get involved in a movie that takes 128 minutes to bring you to a payoff that the filmmakers seem to fear."