- 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.
- Poised with sharklike self-assurance, Marla Grayson is a professional, court-appointed guardian for dozens of elderly wards whose assets she seizes and cunningly bilks through dubious but legal means. It's a well-oiled racket that Marla and her business-partner and lover, Fran, use with brutal efficiency on their latest "cherry," Jennifer Peterson - a wealthy retiree with no living heirs or family. But when their mark turns out to have an equally shady secret of her own and connections to a volatile gangster, Marla is forced to level up in a game only predators can play - one that's neither fair, nor square.—Netflix
- Let's face it, seemingly kindly and empathetic Marla Grayson, an impeccably dressed court-appointed guardian, is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Having developed an elaborate network of callous care home directors and unscrupulous doctors, Marla and her equally stylish girlfriend and partner in crime, Fran, locate affluent seniors, and when they take charge of their property and finances, they rinse them for every penny. Then, lovely Mrs Jennifer Peterson enters the picture, a perfect, sweet cherry with no strings attached, and a clueless judge grants ruthless Marla full guardianship. The thing is, Marla cares a lot; however, so does helpless Jennifer's anonymous and extremely dangerous protector. Poor Marla, what have you got yourself into?—Nick Riganas
- Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) is a con artist who makes a living by convincing the legal system to grant her guardianship over elders she pretends cannot take care of themselves. She places them in an assisted living facility, where they are sedated and lose contact with the outside world. She then sells off their homes and assets, pocketing the proceeds. She and the court deny a man, Mr. Feldstrom (Macon Blair), access to his mother after he attempts to force his way into the assisted living facility. Marla argues in court that she is a professional caretaker, and she pays herself by selling assets. Plus, she protects the invalids from their own kids, who can many times be greedy. He later threatens her outside the courthouse, saying that he hopes she is killed.
Dr. Karen Amos (Alicia Witt) informs Marla about a wealthy retiree with no apparent partner or close family who they can exploit named Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest). Marla and her business partner Fran do a detailed surveillance of Jennifer and figure out that she owns a house, has good insurance, and 3 separate bank accounts, all earning monster interest. A judge appoints Marla guardian after she and Dr. Amos falsely testify that Jennifer suffers from dementia and confusion. Marla moves Jennifer into assisted living (Confiscates her phone) and immediately gets to work selling Jennifer's furniture, car and home. While rooting through Jennifer's possessions, Marla discovers the key to a safe deposit box containing a watch, gold bars, bank notes and hidden diamonds, which she takes and stashes away.
As Marla's girlfriend and business partner, Fran (Eiza González), helps renovate Jennifer's house for an eventual sale, a man named Alexi Ignatyev (Nicholas Logan) arrives in a cab and claims that he is there to pick up Jennifer. Fran informs him that Jennifer has moved. Alexi returns to his employer, Roman Lunyov (Peter Dinklage) greatly distressed. Roman, a crime lord, is revealed to be Jennifer's son. He threatens Alexi and orders him to investigate what happened to Jennifer. Mafia lawyer Dean Ericson (Chris Messina) offers to pay Marla $150,000 in cash to release Jennifer, but she refuses, only willing to do it for $5 million. He threatens Marla and takes her to court. The judge dismisses the case as he cannot prove Jennifer hired him.
Fran discovers "Jennifer Peterson" is an identity stolen from an infant who died of polio. When Jennifer refuses to tell Marla her real identity, Marla teams up with property manager Sam Rice (Damian Young), having many of Jennifer's basic needs withdrawn. Roman, finding his mother's safe deposit box rifled, sends three thugs to Jennifer's facility to take her. This violent effort fails, and Marla helps police apprehend one of the men, Alexi. Fran's police contact informs them that Alexi is the sibling of two other mafia bosses who supposedly died in a fire. Having failed to rescue his mother, Roman has Amos killed at her office. After hearing the news, Marla and Fran move into one of the unsold properties of their previous victims. At the facility, Jennifer attacks Marla and is moved to a psychiatric ward.
Marla is kidnapped while Fran is attacked in their home. Marla is brought before Roman, where she asks for $10 million for Jennifer's release. He refuses, and his associates knock her out with chloroform and send her in a car into a lake. She escapes and returns home to find Fran beaten unconscious as gas fills the house. They narrowly escape an explosion and flee to another unsold property, where Marla shows Fran diamonds she has hidden there. She offers Fran a choice: they can use the diamonds to start a new life elsewhere, or they can get revenge.
Marla and Fran track down Roman and kidnap him. They force drugs into Roman's body, burn his car, and leave him on a forest trail, in such a way that he would be discovered, high on drugs and with no identification: ironic, since "Jennifer Peterson" had stolen her identity. Sure enough, Roman is discovered by a jogger, precipitating his "rescue". With no identity, Roman is designated a "John Doe" by a judge, who appoints Marla as Roman's legal guardian. Marla visits Roman and offers to release him and Jennifer from her guardianship for $10 million. Instead, Roman offers her a partnership in a global business based on her scam. She accepts and, using his money and connections, quickly becomes a powerful, extremely wealthy CEO. Roman is reunited with Jennifer, while Marla marries Fran.
While leaving a TV interview about her success, Marla is shot by Feldstrom, who tearfully reports that his mother died alone in the assisted living facility because no one would let him see her. As Feldstrom is arrested, Fran cries out for help and Marla dies in her arms.
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