Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Sweet Tooth – Netflix Originals

The main storyline behind “Sweet Tooth’ reflects aspects of today’s news headlines as it plays out ten years after what was called “The Great Crumble” where a pandemic plundered the earth’s population, mainly targeting adults, while simultaneously came the unexplained situation of most women giving birth to babies that where part human and part animal referred to as “Hybrids”. “Sweet Tooth” primarily focuses on the sheltered life of a hybrid deer-boy named Gus (Christian Convery) who is taken under the wing of a large nomad named Jeppard (Nonso Anozie) as they travel across the country to help Gus find his mother who he believes is in Colorado from clues in a photo he found after his father died from the disease.

Due to the fact that both occurred at the same time, many people blamed the hybrids for the pandemic and a group named the Last Men formed throughout the country to eradicate all hybrids, who were all only small children no older than 10 years old. Gus was raised in seclusion by his father to keep him safe from the dangers in the outside world since “The Sick” killed most adults, and unfortunately also Gus’ father when he was only nine years old.

Gus lived alone fending for himself for a year until he was rescued from some poachers trying to lure him with candy by a very large nomad named Jeppard, who nicknamed Gus “Sweet Tooth” due to the incident. Gus was no longer safe where he grew up, so he set out to find his mother in Colorado, though had no idea how to get there. Jep had survival and militaristic skills that were useful in keeping Gus alive and unharmed, and Gus kept following him until he agreed to take Gus to a train that would take him to Colorado.

They were captured by a group of teens living in an old theme park lead by a young woman called ‘Bear”. They all had animal names and trained in fighting skills to protect the hybrids from harm or capture. Their main enemy in this fight was the Last Men and upon seeing Jep had a Last Men brand on his chest, felt it was their duty to kill him even though he had been protecting Gus (who didn’t know up until then that Jep had been one of the Last Men).

Two other primary stories play out in the series. One involves Dr. Singh, who is a scientist involved with developing a cure for “The Sick” and his wife Rani, who contracted the disease but has managed to stay alive on sample doses of a vaccine being developed by one of her husband’s colleges with his assistance. Unfortunately, the cure they developed involves dark and drastic deeds, and eventually falls under the control of the ruthless “General”.

The other story involves a woman named Aimee (Dania Ramirez) who before “The Great Crumble” was a therapist the felt disconnected from everything in the world. She avoided “The Sick” and settled in an abandon zoo where she finally felt something she should relate to… the animals. One morning a basket with a baby was left by the front gate – a hybrid pig-girl baby, which Aimee took in with delight and raised as her own daughter.

Through glimpses of the past between Gus’ father and mother, clues to how the pandemic occurred and possible origins of the hybrids are revealed, and the end of the first season definitely points to a second season where the three primary stories are destine to collide in unexpected and explosive ways.

Season 1 – 8 Episodes 1Hr each

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Blue Miracle – Netflix Originals

“Blue Miracle” is based on the true story of a street kid guardian in Cabo San Lucas who teamed up with a washed up boat captain to try to save his orphanage by entering the world’s biggest fishing tournament, the Brisbee Black and Blue, that attracts the best teams from around the globe competing for millions in prizes

A hurricane struck the island just before the tournament, so Wayne Brisbee (Bruce McGill) changed the rules to waive the costly tournament fee to attract local fisherman to enter. Captain Wade (Dennis Quaid) was the only two time champion of the Brisbee’s Black and Blue and saw this as an opportunity for a third title, but was only allowed to enter if he teamed up with local orphanage owner Omar (Jimmy Gonzales) and several of the boys from the orphanage.

Brisbee put this together because he learned the Omar was over $100K in debt for the orphanage and that they were due to be evicted by the end of the month if they were unable to pay. Brisbee had called the bank on Omar’s behalf, but unfortunately was unable to help Omar, so saw the fishing tournament as Omar’s last chance to save the orphanage and keep the boys off the streets. Captain Wade was not happy with the arrangement, not wanting kids on the boat and especially one (Moco) that had stolen his watch earlier that week, but knew it was the only way he would be able to enter the tournament.

Papa Omar (as the boys called him) was a street kid himself, having lost his father in a boating accident while fishing when he was very young that made entering the tournament a huge challenge, though knew it was his only chance to raise the money he needed. Captain Wade sailed the boat into open waters, bait the hook with his lucky lure named after his wife and set the line for Moco who was chosen to be in the “fighting chair” the first day as the rules stated only one person can touch the pole to reel in the fish. After a few hours, the line began to reel out, so they called in they had a fish on the line only to find a large hunk of trash and seaweed.

The second day the team showed up in matching team polo shirts and Wiki was chosen to reel in the fish. Two of the boys got in an argument at the bow of the boat at the same time that a real fish got hooked on the line, but because Omar and none of the other boys knew how to swim, Captain Wade had to abandon showing Wiki how to reel in the marlin and dive in the ocean to rescue the other two boys. Unfortunately, the line snapped, the marlin got away and after hours of waiting without any success, they returned disappointed in themselves and unsure about competing the third day as Captain Wade decided it was a good time to drink his worries away.

Omar brought Captain Wade some homemade Mexican hangover food, and shared his financial troubles about the orphanage. Captain Wade was committed to helping Omar and showed up to the orphanage with a plan to hide previously caught marlin under the boat when the head out for the third day and to put it on the line when the boys were distracted thinking it could get them 3^rd or maybe even 2^nd place. Though Omar was conflicted, he agreed, but when it came time to fake catch the fish he dumped it over the side.

Captain Wade was distraught, but Omar knew he did the right thing and just a short time later and quite by surprise they hooked a marlin, which Omar reeled in after 40 minutes in the “fighting chair” that was big enough to actually win the tournament and save the orphanage.

Runtime: 1hr 36min

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Two Distant Strangers – Nefflix Originals
4 out of 4 palm trees

In “Two Distant Strangers”, which won this year’s Oscar for Film Short, a young black man wakes up after an evening with a girl in her apartment to find himself stuck in a time loop, causing him to have a deadly run in with a white police officer over and over again regardless of his actions.

Carter (Joey Badass) felt he had one of the best nights in his life after waking up with Perri (Zaria) in her apartment. Wanting to get home to take care of his dog, he came out of the building and accidentally bumped into a man causing him to spill his coffee on his shirt. Carter apologized and offered to buy a new coffee, but the guy just walked away angrily, which caught the attention of Officer Merk (Andrew Howard) standing nearby. Merk approached Carter, who was very cooperative and even apologetic for the incident. Then Merk questioned Carter about his hand rolled cigarette and Carter replied with a bit of a smart-ass remark which seemed to anger Merk, who then grabbed Carter and pushed him up against the wall.

Similar to the incident with George Floyd, Merk had a control hold around Carter’s neck while two other officers attempted to restrain him. A woman who had a street stand and saw the whole thing continued to say that Carter didn’t do anything as she filmed the event with her phone. Merk continued the strong hold on Carter’s neck and though Carter said over and over he couldn’t breathe, Merk didn’t release his hold until he realized Carter was dead.

Carter immediately woke up in Perri’s bed, and initially thought it may have just been a bad dream until he started seeing and hearing the exact things that had taken place the day before. He decided when he walked out he would be careful to avoid the guy with the coffee and to also hide a large amount of cash that Merk found suspicious on their first encounter, however it didn’t work. Merk attempted to detain Carter, but he broke free and started running down the street and was shot several times and killed by Merk.

The next two times the loop repeated, Carter decided to just leave his belongings in Perri’s apartment and make a run for it, but each time Merk shot and killed him without cause. It seemed Merk pursued Carter and killed him no matter what he did, so Carter decided to just walk out the front door and approach Merk to explain what had been happening.

After having a moment to process it all, Merk told Carter that considering his past was a sign of his future it was a good idea for him to just get out of there, and Carter felt he had finally gotten out of the loop with Merk. Unfortunately, Carter walked into an alley where there was another police incident happening and as two suspects ran past him, the cops mistook Carter for being part of it and shot him.

After 100 times, Carter convinced Merk to give him a ride home and on the drive they both shared a very insightful discussion about their individual situations, and though it seemed fine, Merk mercilessly shot Carter in front of his home. When he woke, Carter told Perri what had been happening and realized that his repeating situation was the only conclusion for a young black man in America, but said that one way or another he was going to get home to his dog. The end credits start with a list of over 60 names (just a few of the many individuals including George Floyd) who had been in similar situations as Carter in real life who lost their lives in senseless lethal acts and misunderstandings with police, asking people to say their names and remember their names.

Runtime: 30 min

by Shirley Lorraine

A Peek at the Process

The Rubicon Theatre recently presented a unique opportunity. A virtual plays-in-progress event was held to show how a musical is put together. From the beginning.

The free (donations encouraged) event was a Vimeo presentation available for the asking by reservation.

Narrated by the book author, Jonathan Prince, attendees were treated to POSEIDON: The Musical, Act 1 sing-through. Music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa were lively and kept the action moving along.

The premise is not new, a play about putting on a play, but the presentation was certainly different. Action segues from a present-day theater company planning a production of a version of the Poseidon Adventure, to the 1979 action film for background and reference. As Prince narrated, he noted that each actor portrays not only their current character, but also several characters from the film.

Prince described each present and past character in detail, noting slight changes to their roles and introducing the songs. The actors themselves all participated from their respective homes or venues and all displayed charm and beautiful voices. The cast was an impressive mix of Equity actors with lengthy credits.

The problem I had in watching the event was that Prince, in his enthusiasm, went through the information so quickly I found it more than challenging to keep up and keep track of the characters shifting between the two different eras.

Personally, I think I would have preferred a succinct synopsis of the original, followed by a synopsis of the changes and introduction of the songs. It got quite confusing, to me, flitting back and forth between the now and the then. It made me wonder if folks unfamiliar with the film would make sense of all the information. It is possible that in this discussion, the director/writer was simply attempting to thoroughly fill in all the gaps. In the end, background knowledge may not be essential to enjoying the story.

Post showing of Act 1 as it is currently outlined, the video continued with an informative and illuminating discussion among the creators and actors. They spoke of which songs they liked performing and why, their opinions on the direction some of the action took, and more. Act 2 is still in the works and may be presented in a similar fashion later. It will be interesting to see which songs and ideas make the cut, which get moved around in the script, and which disappear from the final script. Even though I probably missed some information, I did enjoy learning about the process.

Rubicon strives to bring theater in all forms to their audiences by holding talkbacks with the actors during regular productions, youth instruction, classes, and unique opportunities such as this one. I appreciated being “on the inside” from the sidelines.

If health trends continue the current course of diminishing impact (and we hope they will), live theater will once again be an option soon. Please save a seat for me.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
The Handmaid’s Tale – Hulu Originals

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is the story of a dystopian future involving the former United States that is destroyed in a time of plummeting birth rates by a totalitarian society known as Gilead, ruled by “traditional values”. They captured all fertile women, forcing them into a life of sexual servitude to create the children they themselves could not conceive. Though June’s (Elizabeth Moss) husband tried to get her and her daughter to Canada, June was captured and sent to a reform camp lead by sadistic Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) where women are tortured into being Handmaids owned by rich couples and sexually assaulted under the pretense of bringing God’s children into the world.

The Handmaids were not allowed to use their original names, rather given the name of the Commanders of their assigned households, so June became Offred, the Handmaid of Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski). Gilead also claimed the children that Handmaids had prior to the takeover and gave them to prominent families, including June’s daughter Hannah. Even wives were not allowed to read or educate themselves, a difficult scenario for former academic and activist Serena Joy, who ended up losing half a finger as punishment for reading books.

June had a best friend Moira (Samira Wiley), who was also captured by Gilead, but was able to escape to the city, and found herself becoming part of the Jezebels – a group of women the Commanders came to the city to have sexual rendezvous with outside the knowledge of their subservient wives. Moira eventually escaped the Jezebels to Canada, where she reunited with June’s husband Luke and both worked relentlessly to find and rescue June and Hanah.

Nick (Max Minghella) was Commander Waterford’s driver, and unknown to them was a eye/spy for the head group of Gilead’s Commanders. June and Nick had exchanged looks and passing words to reveal there was a romantic connection between them, though was something absolutely forbidden under Gilead rule. Due to the fact the Serena Joy was desperate to have a child, and thinking that her husband Fred may actually be sterile, she secretly asked Nick to impregnate June though let all believe it was Fred’s child.

June finally had her child, which Serena Joy named Nicole, and got her out to Canada with a Handmaid named Emily (Alexis Bledel) she helped to escape but would not join due to her commitment to rescue her own daughter Hannah. Fate did bring Hannah back to June for a brief time, but was unable to escape Gilead and eventually ended up being tortured back in line and assigned to a new Commander. All these events only fueled June’s commitment deciding she would try to save as many children as she could with the help of the other Handmaids and ended up getting 86 children on a plane to Canada, though was shot during the ordeal.

Season 4 opens with three episodes where at this point a few brave Handmaids work to save June’s life and evade capture. Nick became a prominent Commander, though finds himself constantly challenged by the conflict of doing his duty and wanting to protect June. Fred and Serena Joy were tricked into crossing the Canadian border and captured, turning on each other while both being held facing various criminal anti-humanitarian charges for their roles in Gilead.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is filled with gripping, edge of your seat moments that often feel paralyzing and hopeless, though somehow it’s clear June will not give up until she saves herself, her daughter and all the Handmaids she became the incidental leader for along the way.

Rated: TV-MA
4 Seasons – (10) 1hr Episodes

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Finding Ohana – Netflix Originals

In “Finding Ohana”, a young Hawaiian girl named Pili (Kea Peahu), who was a geocaching champion, becomes a real life treasure hunter after finding the journal of a fabled sailor while visiting her grandpa in Hawaii. The journal showed where the treasure was hidden from a ship named the Peruvian that was sunk off the Hawaiian coast over 200 years ago. With the help of her older brother Ioane (Alex Aiono), and new friends Casper (Owen Vaccaro) and Hana (Lindsay Watson), Pili uses her treasure hunting skills to lead them all on a great adventure exploring the beauty of Hawaii as well as learning about its sacred culture and traditions.

Pili’s mother Leilani (Kelly Hu) left Hawaii and moved to New York when Pili was a baby and her brother Ioane was very young due to their father passing away while serving in the military. It had been over 10 years since Leilani saw her father, who lived on the Hawaiian land their family had for generations in the house he built himself. Due to her dad having a heart attack, Leilani returned to Hawaii with Pili and Ioane to help with his recovery.

Pili and Ioane were both unhappy to be away from the big city life in New York, with all its conveniences like WiFi, which was not working at Papa’s house that was well out of cell reception range as well. This left them with a lot of frustration and time on their hands, but that was quickly solved with Pili when she found the journal in her grandpa’s old bus of a sailor named Monks that led to a long lost treasure.

Pili’s Papa (Branscombe Richmond) had a young friend named Casper, who was a bit quirky (like taking his cat everywhere a wagon) that quickly became fast friends with Pili and was able to share some other details he knew about Monks’ journal and the hidden treasure from a sunken ship called the Peruvian.

When Papa discovered Pili had taken the journal, he decided to take her on a boat trip to the island that was shown in one of Monks’ drawings, and then also showed her that the very gold coin he wore on a necklace was part of the map to the treasure of the Peruvian. Unfortunately he fell and was injured, leaving Ioane to take care of Pili while their mom was at the hospital with their grandpa.

Pili snuck out and set off with Casper to find the treasure, while Ioane went looking for them with their other new friend Hana, who he had a crush on. Together they all overcame unforeseen challenges and their own fears to find the treasure, only to discover is was in a sacred tomb guarded by the Night Watchers, which were the ghosts of Hawaiian warriors that marched at night and protected the island. After all they experienced, they chose to follow tradition and leave the treasure, just as they discovered their Papa had done years ago.

“Finding Ohana” is filled with thrills, adventure, history, majestic scenery and heartwarming family moments. It’s also amusing the way the historical reenactments are done using proper sets and costuming, but using the dialog and lip syncing of the person telling the story in the present moment, similar to the “Drunk History” series.

Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2h 3m

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
Amazon Originals

“The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” is the story of a charismatic teenager Mark (Kyle Allen), who was stuck in a time loop endlessly living the same day. He was quite content with how he had perfected his never-ending day until he met Margaret (Kathryn Newton), who was also stuck in the same time loop. As they set out together to find all the tiny little things that make a perfect day, they also find some romantic chemistry and a special insight that could help them escape the day, if indeed that’s what they each actually want.

Mark was a carefree teenager who was conscientious and seemed to have quite a synchronistic morning catching the toast out of the toaster as well as the cup that fell off the table before hitting the floor. He also seemed to have psychic knowledge of people and events that happened throughout his day, but this was all due to the fact that he was stuck in a loop reliving the same day over at the stroke of midnight.

Mark learned to embrace the situation by believing he was meant to do something good, like cure cancer which was too difficult to do in just one day, so he focused his efforts on the little things like stopping someone from getting bird poop on their head. Of course it took dozens, maybe even hundreds of repeat days to get the timing right, but Mark seemed to be doing well in discovering little things that he could effect in positive ways with each repeat day.

The only downside Mark found in his repeat day was that it was the day that his father Daniel (Josh Hamilton) decided it was time for him to have a talk with his son Mark about what he planned to do with his life and future – a talk Mark had to experience over and over again, though in his reality there was no future, just the same day.

One day when Mark was working out how to get a girl interested in him by saving her from getting a beach ball smacked in her face at the community pool, another girl that was never in the loop before stepped in the way, deflected the ball and walked out of the pool to the convenience store across the street. Mark was shocked and knowing that there was something that changed, followed her over to the store to see if he could learn anything.

As it turned out, Margaret was also aware of the time loop, but had her own way of dealing with the day and left Mark to search for her for several days until he found her again to share a plan of together finding all the little perfect things they had each found in the loop. Mark was an artist, so drew a new map each day of the town and places they found in hopes of finding a pattern to break the cycle. Little did he know it was Margaret’s geometric theory that would become the key to understanding everything.

“The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” is similar to “Palm Springs” with its “Groundhog Day” scenario of being stuck in the same day, but instead of the being hedonistic and hopeless, it focuses on the simple heart-felt moments many people miss in daily life and finding ways of making the best of the situation by making positive impacts with each same day they do over.

Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1h 39m

by Shirley Lorraine

Still Streaming and Dreaming!

The lifting of restrictions may finally be on the horizon. Anticipation is palpable in the theater community as news of potential reopening of Ventura County stages appears to be able to become a reality this season, albeit at reduced capacity to start. Keep checking the websites of your local theater companies for individual progress. They are all struggling and need our support to reopen.

In the meantime, caution is still being used as some theaters continue to present distanced events.

Get in your car and go there –

Conejo Players offers What’s Love Got to Do With It? a musical exploration of relationships, as a drive-in theater event this coming weekend, March 26-28. Performances will be held in the Conejo Players’ parking lot at 351 South Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks and will sell out quickly, no doubt, as distanced car-park spaces are limited. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets vary in price depending on car spots available. Hurry to www.conejoplayers.org to see the “seating” map and secure your tickets.

Stay at home and enjoy –

This year, Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center celebrates 25 years of bringing high quality arts of all types to Simi Valley.

It was a smash hit a few years ago and will hit the funny bone hard now as the SVCAC’s 2018 production of the lively musical Sister Act comes into your home as On Demand Streaming March 26 through April 25. This feel-good, high-energy musical is chock full of dancing, Motown, soul and disco music, and top-notch performances. Tickets for a single streaming or a household viewing are available at www.svvac.org.

A note from behind the wings – Do you have, or know someone who has, at least two years of Technical Theater experience seeking a job? The City of Simi Valley is recruiting for a Technical Theater Coordinator for the Cultural Arts Center. Apply now through the arts center website or at www.simivalley.org. It’s a great opportunity for a qualified individual, but hurry – the application window closes very soon.

Wait – there’s more.

A YouTube search of county theaters yields offerings of many types, from full performances, to auditions, discussions, teaser snippets and much more. Camarillo Skyway Playhouse, Rubicon Theater, Ojai Art Center, Moorpark’s High Street Theater, Santa Paula Theater Center and Elite Theater all have fun videos to enjoy. Check them out.

And Finally –

Actors are eager to get back on stage, writers want to see their works come alive, and devoted theatergoers are pining to attend live theater. Count me among them. Effusive applause all around for the efforts made by all the theater companies, directors, actors, and technicians who have met the challenges posed by video performing in pieces (i.e. everyone streaming from their homes) over this past year. Keep up the good work – we look forward to attending in person soon.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
My Octopus Teacher
Netflix Films – 2021 Oscar Nominee

“My Octopus Teacher” is the incredible true story of diver Craig Foster’s unique experience with an octopus in a kelp forest off the coast of South Africa that opens viewers’ eyes to secluded and mysterious sea world, while also revealing how connected things truly are and that our worlds are more similar than most would imagine.

About 20 years ago, Foster was on a project making a film with his brother in the central Kalahari, where he witnessed the incredible skills of some of the best trackers in world that were able to follow incredibly subtle signs in nature and find hidden animals in the landscape. Foster could see the trackers were inside the world around them while he was outside, and had a deep longing to be inside that world.

After that Foster went through two years of pressure, family issues and fatigue from long shoots and put down his camera not wanting anything to do with film making or editing anymore. He returned to his childhood home on the coast on the tip of South Africa with his family to try to put the pieces of his life back together again. Taking inspiration from his childhood and from the master trackers, Foster knew he needed a radical change and returned to the ocean.

Foster was a free diver and after a year began to crave the cold waters and three dimensional forests that lie below the surface, where he found peace swimming freely through the kelp. Foster knew having a scuba tank would impede his movement through a kelp forest and did not wear a wet suit to be more like an amphibious animal and closer to his environment.

After about a year of immersion in his sea life, Foster picked up his camera again and began filming the exotic and strange underwater world he had come to know, which helped him to get back to the filmmaking life he loved. He described this underwater world as being much more extreme than the maddest science fiction, and again found joy in capturing it on camera.

While diving in a special secluded area in the kelp forest, a pile of nearly 100 shells and stones lying in the sand caught his eye, which shortly thereafter fell apart to reveal an octopus that quickly swam away. Foster followed her back to her den and got a unique feeling that there was some connection between him and the octopus.

Foster decided to visit the octopus daily and after about a week had his first physical contact with her that grew into a beautiful connection they shared daily for nearly an entire year, which is the approximate lifespan of an octopus. Believing in letting nature take its course, Foster helplessly witnessed some challenging things in the natural life cycle of this octopus he had come to care for and know intimately.

“My Octopus Teacher” is an incredible documentary that has as many edge of your seat moments as an action thriller and through his experiences with the octopus over the course of a year, Foster unveils the physical and emotional connections shared by all living things.

Runtime: 1h 25m

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
I Care a Lot. – Netflix Originals

Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) was a well-respected professional guardian that was regularly appointed by the courts to look after seniors who were thought to not be able to look after themselves. Unfortunately, Marla was actually a scam artist who preyed on the elderly, using doctors to get seniors committed to facilities and to then liquidate their assets to pay for her services and for the care facilities she was working with to imprison vulnerable seniors.

The doctor Marla was working with provided her with a “cherry” client named Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest). With a court order in hand, Marla showed up at Jennifer Peterson’s home saying she had no choice but to go to the facility and take it up later with the judge. The facility gave Jennifer a warm welcome, but took her phone to prevent her from contacting anyone.

Jennifer Peterson was actually the mother of Russian mobster Roman Lunyov (Peter Dinklage) living under an assumed name to keep her safe from her son’s enemies. Roman sent an attorney to get his mother released, but that didn’t work. Next he sent some men undercover on a tour to break out his mother, which also failed. Feeling desperate, Jennifer attacked Marla, giving Marla the ability to move her to a mental facility even further away from her son’s reach.

Roman captured Marla instructing his men to kill her and make it look like and accident. They drugged her, put her back in her car as if she was drinking and driving, and drove the car into the quarry. Instead of drowning, Marla miraculously escaped and went back to the house to find her girlfriend Fran severely beaten, both barely escaped the house before it blew up.

They couldn’t go on the run without resources, however Marla had the bag of diamonds she stole from Jennifer’s safe deposit box and had a plan. Fran helped Marla track Roman to his office, where she tased his security guard and drugged Roman. They took Roman to a park, drugged him to stay asleep and left him naked on a trail to be found by strangers. Due to state that Roman was found, he was taken to the hospital and seeming unstable and without any ID was considered a John Doe, which left legally him in the care of a court appointed guardian, Marla.

Marla told Roman the only way he would get his life, his mother and diamonds back was to pay her the 10 million she wanted. In a strange twist, Roman said that even though he hated her, that he wanted Marla to go into business with him financing a countrywide guardianship corporation with his wealth and business structure and both would make billions.

Marla took the deal and they immediately began exploiting seniors across the country with the model Marla used to victimize Roman’s mother. Marla got national attention and she and Fran began living the indulgent life of wealth that Marla had always wanted, but it seemed karma would provide a last twist of fate.

“I Care a Lot” constantly leaves viewers feeling powerless with the expressed collaborative exploitation of elder care, and Rosamund Pike is superb in her role as Marla Grayson, garnering her the “Best Actress” award at this year’s Golden Globes.

Rated: R
Runtime: 1h 58m