Tessa Thompson’s Unlikely Film Obsession: The Flop That Changed Cinema
Tessa Thompson reveals her enduring passion for a once-maligned cult classic, exploring how its initial failure paved the way for its lasting impact on filmmakers and audiences alike.
For someone who’s spent years at the heart of blockbuster franchises, Tessa Thompson has never been one to chase popular opinion. Her career has seen her leap from the Marvel juggernaut to more intimate, critically lauded projects—her turn in Nia DaCosta’s Hedda even earned her a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama in 2026. Yet, not every project has been a triumph. She’s weathered the odd misfire—The Marvels and Thor: Love and Thunder spring to mind, neither exactly a feather in Marvel’s cap. Her foray into the Men in Black universe didn’t fare much better, with Men in Black: International leaving audiences cold and a sequel now in the works, presumably to set things right.
Despite the occasional critical drubbing, Thompson seems unfazed by the whims of reviewers. In a recent chat, she confessed a particular fondness for a film that was, at first, universally dismissed.
“It was universally panned [when it came out],”
she recalled of Harold and Maude.
“It took almost a decade before audiences got it, and now, the film has a cult following, and it’s been influential for so many directors that we know and love…”
From Box Office Bomb to Cult Phenomenon
Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude is hardly your standard coming-of-age tale. The story follows Harold, a young man with a rather morbid fascination with death, and Maude, a 79-year-old Holocaust survivor who’s determined to squeeze every last drop out of life. Their unlikely bond, bridging a yawning age gap, offers a peculiar meditation on mortality and joy. When it first appeared in cinemas in 1971, critics were baffled. The film’s pitch-black humour and offbeat romance didn’t land, and it languished in obscurity for years.
Yet, time has a habit of rewriting reputations. Today, Harold and Maude is hailed as a classic, its once-maligned eccentricities now celebrated. The film’s blend of dark wit, memorable characters, and a surprisingly uplifting finale eventually won over audiences and critics alike. In 1997, it was even added to the US National Film Registry, a nod to its enduring significance.
Personal Inspiration and Lasting Influence
Thompson’s admiration for the film runs deep—so much so that she named her production company Viva Maude, a tribute to Ruth Gordon’s unforgettable character. For Thompson, Maude is a twist on the familiar ‘manic pixie dream girl’ trope, but with a subversive edge.
“For my money, she’s one of the first occurrences of this trope,”
Thompson observed.
“This woman who comes into a depressive man’s life and turns it around with her zest for life and vivaciousness. But she herself disrupts the trope because she happens to be a woman in her late 80s who also has a death wish.”
It’s a reminder that the films we cherish aren’t always the ones that arrive to fanfare and applause. Many of the most revered works in cinema history were, at first, met with indifference or outright hostility. Context, as ever, is everything. Had Thompson encountered Harold and Maude in its original era, she might have shared the critics’ confusion. Now, though, she counts herself among its most ardent admirers.