Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) has certainly built quite an empire for herself, and amassed a level of comfortable wealth of which many would normally be nothing but envious. However, her procedure for reaching this point are far from conventional, since she is in a line of work that allows her the freedom to secretly assert her unorthodox methods. She is a professional legal guardian, working with medical practitioners as well as the court, who assign her to the elderly and disabled who are in need of a legal guardian to take care of their finances and look after them, making sure that they lead comfortable lives. It’s an admirable line of work – if someone takes it seriously, which is far from what Marla has done for years. Her modus operandi is simple – she makes connections with a plethora of crooked doctors, who point her in the direction of wealthy senior citizens, who they write off as being too feeble or unstable to take care of themselves, which is when Marla steps in and is assigned as their guardian by way of a court order, which allows her full-control of their homes, assets and essentially their entire lives, which she always decides to help them waste away by throwing them in an array of retirement homes, where they are going to spend whatever time they have left, isolated from the outside world. However, it turns out to be the most unsuspecting victim that proves to be the biggest challenge for Marla, which occurs when Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest) enters into her life – and rather than being the kindly old lady she seems to be, she is instead hiding several secrets that make Marla realize that she has finally gotten herself into some very deep trouble, from which there isn’t any known escape – but her experience has given her a world-weariness that allows her to outsmart the goons that are soon trying to eliminate her, on behalf of a particularly malicious crime boss (Peter Dinklage), who has a strong connection with Jennifer, and will do anything to protect her, even if this means ordering the violent death of the person who orchestrated the manipulation of the wrong old lady.

I Care a Lot is quite a complex film, but one that breezes by without much effort. The most recent directorial effort from J Blakeson, who may have made his first truly great film after a few failures, this is a fascinating piece of contemporary storytelling, a seamless blend of pitch-black comedy, psychological thriller and social satire, all of them layered on top of one another, forming a towering dark comedy that takes on some very serious issues with poise and a sardonic sophistication that we don’t see from even the most effective dark comedies. Not a perfect film at all, but rather one that wears its heart on its sleeve and embraces its muddled, over-the-top ambitions with a particular kind of sincerity that is both refreshing and revolutionary in its own way. Not necessarily one that lends itself to much attention based on the premise (which makes it appear like a mildly amusing but otherwise inconsequential crime comedy, the likes of which we’ve certainly seen in different forms before), but rather a film that slowly emerges as a compelling piece of cinema, where all the known rules are casually broken in favour of delivering something that the audience can not only be entertained by, but also outright terrified. I Care a Lot takes on some disconcerting ideas that are very much rooted in reality (to the point where the most effective moments in the film are those in which it is at its most darkly harrowing, in between the sequences of more unhinged comedy that the film thrives on), and reconfigures them into this daring, provocative story of abuse and manipulation, which Blakeson explores perfectly in every scene, each one layering on more meaning and revealing an additional set of clues that give is invaluable insights into the process of decoding the many puzzles that form the basis of this film.

At the centre of I Care A Lot is an incredible performance from Rosamund Pike, who finally seems on her way to achieving what she has been teasing for close to a decade now – transforming into one of the most reliable actresses working today. In this film, Pike isn’t only giving a great portrayal of the main character, but instead delivering a full-bodied movie star performance, the kind that defines one’s career and pushes them into the mainstream. Pike is already a part of the cultural zeitgeist for several of her films, but I Care A Lot seemed to be one entirely intent on cultivating her brilliance in front of a camera, harnessing her madcap energy and very peculiar elegance in the creation of a very strange but incredibly compelling anti-heroine who is amongst the most interesting characters Pike has played in her already impressive career. She simply commands every frame of this film, bringing such a vivid complexity to a role that could’ve easily have been given to someone already consolidated as a major star, who would’ve given a fun performance, albeit one that lacked the nuance Pike brought to it. Matching her throughout the film is Dianne Wiest, who is giving one of her most entertaining performances, doing something different from the soft-spoken, warm older women she has tended to play regularly for the past two decades, and instead taking on a far more interesting role in the form of the sinister Jennifer, who is the indirect catalyst for an endless amount of chaos that the characters have to endure. It takes a lot to find the humanity in characters that populate a film like I Care A Lot, which has a story that seems more aligned with the spectacle and intelligence of the premise than it does the character – but Blakeson’s development of these characters shows a keen understanding of how even the most pedestrian thrillers need some degree of complexity in their central figures, and it’s through this dedication to doing something different that we find this film really thriving.

There is an insidious brilliance to I Care A Lot that feels somehow unprecedented, even in a cinematic landscape that has found itself preoccupied with a distinct brand of psychotic thrillers, where the rules of the genre are thrown out in favour of some truly bewildering choices that keep the viewer engaged and captivated. Many thrillers manage to successfully capture our attention, but it requires something special to hold it – and I Care A Lot has this elusive quality, which the director employs in some key areas, especially in the moments that contain the most unsettling twists. Somehow combining the trashy fun of pulpy 1990s psychological thrillers with the sleek, neon-lit urbanity of more modern entries into the genre, Blakeson extracts an endless stream of potential from a premise that appears vaguely interesting in theory, but flourishes into a truly deranged dark comedy that none of us will be able to predict, whether it be the major plot development, or the smallest details (particularly those that seem like throwaway jokes, but end up being pivotal moments in the progression of the story). There’s a great deal of value in a film being able to make use of its resources without becoming excessive, but still giving the audience something memorable and entertaining, while not letting us off the hook entirely. Not many thrillers are able to evoke such vivid emotions in the viewer, and even when it becomes decidedly less humorous in the third act (which descends into complete, unmitigated chaos in the best way possible), there is a sense of darkly comical wit that constantly taps us on the shoulder and reminds us of the unhinged absurdity appearing before us – it’s a fascinating subversion of many of the tropes of a genre that has been revolutionized, but can still be considered guilty of reiterating some of the most hackneyed tricks seen over the years.

There’s a malice that pervades every frame of I Care a Lot that feels both unsettling and very refreshing, since there is something quite refreshing about a film that constructs characters that are not only complex, but also deeply unlikable, but still endearing enough for us to become invested in their journey. Perhaps it is a sign that Pike and Wiest were doing incredible work that their respective roles came across as so compelling, despite being absolutely atrocious in both personality and behaviour (which was clearly by design), or the strong script that Blakeson put together that gets beneath the skin of these characters and makes them so fascinating. It never sells out and gives us the redemption that a more commonplace thriller would – every twist involving these characters makes them more despicable, each passing moment developing them into these monstrous individuals that show very little empathy for anyone around them, which makes the central concept of the film (as reflected in the title) all the more ironic, since there is very little care being taken in this film, with the exception of the self-care that each of these characters engages in, serving their own interests and ignoring the fact that they’re not the only people with needs. The characterization feels very much aligned with a kind of heightened reality that allows this film to carefully curate some disconcerting ideas without becoming too misanthropic – even when it is showing the success the morally-corrupt main character would amass subsequently, the film avoids positioning her as too distant, keeping her just charming enough for the viewer to want to see her succeed, if only for the sake of giving us the chance to decode exactly what it is that makes her such a mesmerizing character.

I Care a Lot is the kind of film that has a very serious message, but it isn’t solely invested in being a morality tale, with the vast majority of what makes this such an interesting story coming from how apathetic it can be about some bleak subject matter, while not abandoning hope entirely. The final few scenes are absolutely staggering in how dark they are, which is only made worse by the realization that this may not be too far detached from reality after all, with the likelihood being that such actions still persist, and this film only captured one of the many ways those who have the resources can manipulate the weak and vulnerable for their own personal gain. A fascinating departure from the traditional format of an unlikeable protagonist seeing the error of their ways and improving on their actions, and a film that shows that sometimes a lesson doesn’t have to be learned, with the resolution to I Care a Lot being both harrowing and oddly satisfying, since it hints at the fact that redemption isn’t always possible – sometimes, a person can just be despicable and, instead of learning their lesson, face the wrath of the person who they crossed in the past. If there is ever a film so intently focused on showing the extent to which one can experience karmic retribution, especially those who make a living out of manipulating others, then I Care a Lot is certainly a fierce contender for that position. It’s funny, dark and brilliantly satirical, carrying an undercurrent of despair that never quite abates, especially as it ventures deeper into the pitch-black soul of its main character, who proves to be quite a formidable anti-hero, never afraid to make us dislike her, and in the process becoming the centre of one of the more memorable dark comedies of recent years.