Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) uses the legal system to get assigned as the guardian to vulnerable and unsuspecting seniors. She claims to care but in reality, it's a legally sanctioned scam to kidnap these perfectly functioning seniors and milk their net worth. Marla and her lover henchwoman Fran (Eiza González) have their sights set on their next victim, Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest). At first, she seems to be a cherry prospect and then, her Russian mob boss son (Peter Dinklage) shows up.
This movie takes an outlier premise and pushes it slightly into unreal territories. I'm willing to buy the general premise of elder abuse but there are problematic overreach. It could be solved if the judge had been bribed and the seniors have no family to fight for them. I can't see any judge willing to keep these seniors from their immediate family. These issues make the main premise problematic. The Russians are also problematic for a different reason. They are generally stupid and aren't doing reasonable things.
I love Dean Ericson going to Marla's office which is probably the best scene in the movie but it's really stupid to not at least forge Jennifer's signature on a retainer agreement. Apparently, he's fine with being a mob lawyer threatening to kill people but forgery is too illegal for him. The first target for the mob is obviously the doctor. They have to force her to recant her diagnosis before faking her suicide. In fact, they should force her to out her fraud with Marla as the reason for her suicide. Instead, they decide to shoot up an old folks' home and the security guard shoots first. There is no reason to go nuclear right off the bat and alert the feds which is the last thing they want. Also, why would the security guard shoot first and am I to believe that the guy gets taken down by a bag over his head? All of this is a little silly in a bad way. Later, Fran should be dead. There's no point not killing her off. A gas explosion would not suggest suicide when her face is beaten to a pulp. It's a murder either way and they may as well truly murder her. Despite all the nagging problems, I like two villains facing off against each other. I like Pike and Dinklage. There is a fun tension with them for the most part. More could be done with Wiest. She could take over if she's allowed to. At least, she gets to choke a B out. This movie would work a lot better if the writer thinks harder and works over the script.
This movie takes an outlier premise and pushes it slightly into unreal territories. I'm willing to buy the general premise of elder abuse but there are problematic overreach. It could be solved if the judge had been bribed and the seniors have no family to fight for them. I can't see any judge willing to keep these seniors from their immediate family. These issues make the main premise problematic. The Russians are also problematic for a different reason. They are generally stupid and aren't doing reasonable things.
I love Dean Ericson going to Marla's office which is probably the best scene in the movie but it's really stupid to not at least forge Jennifer's signature on a retainer agreement. Apparently, he's fine with being a mob lawyer threatening to kill people but forgery is too illegal for him. The first target for the mob is obviously the doctor. They have to force her to recant her diagnosis before faking her suicide. In fact, they should force her to out her fraud with Marla as the reason for her suicide. Instead, they decide to shoot up an old folks' home and the security guard shoots first. There is no reason to go nuclear right off the bat and alert the feds which is the last thing they want. Also, why would the security guard shoot first and am I to believe that the guy gets taken down by a bag over his head? All of this is a little silly in a bad way. Later, Fran should be dead. There's no point not killing her off. A gas explosion would not suggest suicide when her face is beaten to a pulp. It's a murder either way and they may as well truly murder her. Despite all the nagging problems, I like two villains facing off against each other. I like Pike and Dinklage. There is a fun tension with them for the most part. More could be done with Wiest. She could take over if she's allowed to. At least, she gets to choke a B out. This movie would work a lot better if the writer thinks harder and works over the script.