Thelma & Louise is a 1991 road film starring Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise . Thelma & Louise is a 1991 film co-produced and directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri , the film 's plot revolves around Thelma and Louise 's escape from their troubled and caged lives . It stars Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise , and co-stars Harvey Keitel as a sympathetic detective trying to trace them as they go on the run after killing a rapist .