Too much of anything is good for nothing

Is it possible for a con person associating with an elders’ home to locate rich and lone people as worthy assets with an intention of robbing their wealth? Is it also legitimate for a legal person to pronounce a senior in the society as a person suffering from dementia and recommend his or her isolation in an assisted living facility? Can the law recommend these assets to be managed by a guardian?

Whether such things may or may not happen in a decent society, watching a movie having a similar plot could be food for thought for any layman. How some societies treat the elderly community is sometimes hard to digest. A movie made on these lines has been released in February 2021.

“I Care a Lot”, a movie made by English director Jonathan Blakeson as a mystery dark comedy revolves around such a story. Blake’s first feature film was ‘The disappearance of Alice Creed’. ‘I Care a Lot’ stars English actress Rosamund Pike as the con artist Marla Grayson with Eiza Gonzales as her lesbian lover. Not so tall Peter Dinkage and academy award winner Dianne Wiest as Jennifer Peterson bring more muscle to the cast.

This is basically a story of ‘hunter becoming the hunted’.

The film starts with a crazed man trying to get into an elders’ facility to see his mother being kept there. But his entrance is denied by the authorities. In anger and in dejection he calls the person responsible (Marla Grayson) “Bitch” and curses her to death.

Marla Grayson runs a center that specializes in court-appointed guardianships of seniors. She teams up with a doctor to diagnose perfectly physically and mentally healthy seniors as people having dementia. Then she gets the court to appoint her as the particular senior’s official guardian. Once the seniors are taken to the facility, Grayson makes sure they do not have access to phones, internet or with the outside world. Then she starts her cruel game. She systematically steals the seniors’ movable and immovable assets and savings.

In one occasion she tells her lesbian lover Frank, “I am no lamb. I am a lioness. I’ve been poor but it didn’t agree with me”.

Grayson’s coldhearted acts take a different turn when she confronts an old lady called Jennifer Peterson. Though Grayson customarily tries to pretend as Peterson’s guardian angel it doesn’t work well at all.

“Me? My name is Marla Grayson. I am just someone who cares and I am your guardian”, says Grayson to Jennifer Peterson at her residence, when asked by the latter who this beautiful stranger really is.

Taking Peterson to the elders’ facility eventually becomes a nightmare for Grayson as the former happens to be an imposter having an alter ego of a rich lady. In the mid part of the story, weary of the resistance by this senior, Grayson happens to ask Peterson who she really is;

“I will be the worst mistake you ever made”, Peterson tells with a cruel grin. The old lady also calls Grayson as her guardian robber.

Rosamund Pike’s portrayal of Marla Grayson in the movie would make the viewers shiver with fear. She is the devil incarnate who at times appears as a business magnate and a passionate (Lesbian) lover.

Until the mid-parts the film maintains a certain pace that keeps the story on a higher pedestal. However, in the latter part it becomes a heartless battle between arch rivals. Grayson seems invincible and plays the god. She plays her game so well not knowing the danger looming around the corner. Will Marla Grayson survive her death? See this Netflix movie.