'I Care A Lot’: A peek into a chilling alternate reality
A movie where the tally of good people stands at zero, this gripping psychological thriller will put your anger to the test as the despicable operations of Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) unravel.
In this R-rated Netflix original, she is a grade-A con artist with questionable ethics, to say the least, with a booming racket in guardianship where she targets the helpless elderly, deems them mentally unsuited to take care of themselves alone and becomes their legal guardian to exploit their wealth. Her accomplices include a devious doctor who helps her attain vulnerable seniors, named Dr. Karen Amos (Alicia Witt) and an enabling business partner, Fran (Eiza Gonzalez), who participates in her conniving schemes throughout.
It showcases a chilling alternate reality where doctors, caregivers and businessmen are willing to conduct immoral deeds for money.
At the movie's climax, the duo gets an opportunity of a lifetime in the form of a 'cherry', who in this regard is named Jennifer (Dianne Wiest), happens to be deemed as a jackpot in their line of business, due to being a wealthy elderly with zero familial attachments. As Marla successfully seems to take control of her newly acquired ward's life, things start taking a turn for the worse.
In a series of unprecedented shifts from what might seem like light comedic jiffs to absolute scarring events, the story in itself is a wild ride throughout. A big seller for the movie is of course the character of Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, whose character reveal kept the viewer anticipating for more.
While the series of events that transpire seem too horrifying to be true, it brings up a question of the possibility of guardianship fraud being an actual real-world business. The double-sided nature of Marla Grayson is concerning, with one side being that of a public persona who people look up to with high regard as a real-time guardian angel, as she successfully made people believe that she advocates for the rights of the elderly and is merely there to care for those in need, making it seem like an all-inspiring story from the outside. However, this leaves her inner sociopathic fraudulent side hidden in the shadows through her innate trait of being a pathological liar.
After two hours of non-stop evil and violence, some might even successfully list out a hundred other things they'd rather be watching in that given time instead. However, in its extremely twisted manner, the story brings out a message of caution. It showcases the vulnerability certain people possess and how open they are to being exploited by evil people in the real world.
This also entails a message that seems rather misleading as it deemed hard work and resilience to be useless factors in achieving success, rather advocating that bending the rules and playing it unfair was the way to go.
Regardless, the ending gives its viewers a glimpse of hope, showcasing how the consequences of your actions will always catch up to you in the end.