Is “I Care A Lot” based on a true story? Is the Netflix movie real?

Those who are aware of the increase in cases of guardian abuse in the United States know that Netflix I care a lot is based on a true story about thousands of seniors getting ripped off of their savings by people like Marla Grayson.

I care a lot, which premiered on Netflix on Friday, February 19, follows a con artist named Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike), who makes a living by persuading a judge to appoint her as a guardian of seniors living alone on the pretext that they can’t afford take care of it. of themselves. Marla has the help of a doctor, who informs her of the wealthy elderly patients she can exploit. The doctor then testifies in court about how these elders cannot take care of themselves, which convinces the judge to appoint Marla as guardian.

After that, Marla takes the seniors to an assisted living facility, removes their cell phones, cuts off contact with their family and the outside world, and sells their home and belongings for her own profit. Ultimately, Marla earns billions of dollars on her business but is gunned down by the son of an eldest son she defrauded who died before his family could see her one last time.

So how real I care a lot and can this really happen to the elderly? Well, according to the film’s director J Blakeson, this happens more often than people know. “In Marla’s approach, a lot of things unfortunately happen. It’s true in the fact that there are a lot of these predatory guardians who pray over the vulnerable and the elderly, and sort of imprison them in these guardianship and kind of strip their lives, ”he said. to Collider in February 2021. “Real life stories are really quite heartbreaking and horrible, so unfortunately, yes, it does.

Blakeson went on to explain the inspiration for Marla, who was someone who didn’t look like the usual con artist but was still a criminal behind the surface. “One thing that we talked about while we were making the movie, I told Rosamund about it, you kind of get a feel for it, but that didn’t really make the final movie, that is, if you met Marla in real life, say a party or something, you’d just think, “Well, she’s very attractive, very well organized, well dressed.” She seems to have a great, caring relationship with her girlfriend. She has great taste. Her office is beautiful and she is quite intelligent. She looks [like] a really great person. And then you asked him: “What do you do for a living?” “, He said. “She said, ‘Well, you know, I take care of the elderly.’ And you think, ‘This lady is awesome! She is a saint! “

He continued, “But, you know, part of this stuff of people looking at the world like they’re good people doing good things, but actually there’s a lot of bad things under the hood, I think this is something very true of this world. and it’s true of a lot of different people in positions of authority who get away with a lot because people just trust them because, “Oh, this is the guy we know!” So there’s that element that wasn’t really part of the movie, but I think that’s very true.

Blakeson did not reveal if there was anyone who inspired Marla’s character, but viewers noted the similarities between Marla and a guardian named April Parks, who was sentenced to serve 16 to 40 years in prison. and to pay over $ 500,000 in compensation in 2019.. Parks was described in the 2017 New Yorker article, “How Seniors Lose Their Rights,” which featured in a 2020 episode of Netflix. Dirty money.

The article focuses on Rudy and Rennie North, a retired couple from Nevada who married for 57 years before Parks arrived home in 2013 and forced them to move to an assisted living facility. Parks, who had taken control of hundreds of neighborhoods over the years, had filed an emergency petition to become Guardian of the North without their knowledge. As seen in I care a lot, the emergency petition allowed Parks to become the Northerners guardian without even appearing in court. To convince the judge, Parks presented a letter from a physician assistant who had an appointment with Rennie. The letter said the couple could no longer take care of themselves.

After 10 minutes, Parks became the Nord’s permanent guardian, allowing him to sell their property, change their insurance, and force them to see new doctors who prescribed them strong tranquilizers and pain relievers. The couple’s daughter, who was unaware that her parents had been sent to a privacy center before arriving home and seeing their house empty, turned to reporters who were investigating abuses in the guardianship system.

Ultimately, Parks, her husband, her attorney, and the head of the office were all indicted on charges of perjury and theft in 2017. The case revealed that Parks had worked with medical institutions and lawyers to find future clients and told the doctors what to write. their court notes to make sure she got guardianship. She has pleaded guilty and is currently serving her sentence. “She wasn’t a guardian to me,” one of Parks’ former quarters told the Las Vegas Review Journal in 2017. “She didn’t protect me. As each day passed, I felt like I was in a grave, buried alive.

The newspaper reported that nine people spoke at the Parks hearing in 2017, including relatives of former deceased in Parks custody. A victim, Larry Braslow, told the judge that a decades-old family address book went missing while his mother, Ruth, was in Parks’ care. Braslow also told the judge that his father’s foot suitcase, which contained military uniforms and other accessories, was also missing once Parks took over the property.

The court found that Parks was the guardian of 50 to 100 elderly or mentally disabled people before his arrest. She has faced more than 200 charges. The newspaper also reported that Parks, who was shackled as her victims spoke in court, kept her head turned away from her victims during her hearing and kept her face that way.

I care a lot is available to stream on Netflix.