Roman and his sweet old mother are tied in with organized crime.
Marla is obviously an odious, if driven, parasite who exploits the most vulnerable members of society. So, spoiler alert, there are no good guys in this movie. And criminals are exactly what these lawbreakers are, however well tailored their clothing or sophisticated their methods. To whitewash these crimes as “white collar” and therefore less important minimizes the suffering of the victims of these more sophisticated criminals. Victims of violent crime suffer fear, anxiety and despair – but so do people whose financial lives have been destroyed and who have lost hope for the future. I think our society somehow perceives so-called white-collar crime as being somehow less serious than other crimes. Sweet old Jennifer seems to have connections with some very dangerous members of the Russian mob – most notably, her son Roman (Peter Dinklage), who wants his mother back, right now. When Marla finds Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), a seemingly perfect target, she bites off a lot more than she can chew. Now that she has the ability to manage their assets, she drains their bank accounts. They get the unsuspecting elders admitted to care homes with Marla as their legal guardian. She and a team of corrupt doctors, officials, and care home workers find wealthy seniors who don’t have attentive families and then proceed to exaggerate their illnesses. Ripping off the elderly ought to be an express ticket to hell, but that’s never stopped Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike), who has made a fortune exploiting people in her guardianship service.