A crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears.
Pam says:
J. Blakeson writes and directs this crime thriller with the most unlikely villains and victims: an elderly caregiver, Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) and wealthy elderly people. But in her greed, Marla targets the wrong victim, Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest) and finds herself digging a deeper and deeper hole. Marla’s nerve and cunning perseverance may not be enough to save her life.
This is a true thriller because of the plausibility of the situation. Court ordered emergency guardianship resulting in becoming an unwilling resident in a nursing home while all assets are liquidated to “pay” for “care.” Where the film takes a left turn is at Preposterous Path during the third act as we meet Roman Lunyov (Peter Dinklage) and his band of merry men who will stop at nothing to save Ms. Peterson from her confines. While this may push the plausibility limits taking away credibility from the story, it does amp up the thrill-ride as Marla flips a switch from flight to fight.
Pike’s steely edged character portrayal is chillingly real as she hunts for prey and mercilessly devours them. Dinklage is type cast here, but finds a way to bring more personality to the character, but it it Weist that has the most fun as the the cat who swallowed the canary. By the time the film has gone down a more traditional path of crime thriller, it’s too late as we are already hooked with the storyline and with a brilliantly satisfying ending, we can forgive him for this.
Available on Netflix
3 1/2 Stars
