Literally Just Pictures Of Rosamund Pike Rocking A Sharp Bob In ‘I Care A Lot’

Female movie villains are often intelligent, stylish, and charming, and make for one threatening antagonist. They can be as understated as Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or as melodramatic as Glenn Close — or Emma Stone — playing Cruella de Vil. But they’re the most deadly when they’re as realistic and manipulative as Rosamund Pike in Netflix’s I Care A Lot.

Pike has gained notoriety for portraying femme fatales ever since she portrayed the title subject of Gone Girl, but she isn’t disappearing in this movie. Her shady machinations conning the elderly out of their pensions are laid bare for all eyes to see… and who could take their eyes off of her with that sharp bob?

As Marla Grayson, Pike struts through the thriller as the shady grifter-turned-legal-guardian who might have met her match in her latest elderly mark, sporting what can only be described as a truly iconic hairdo.

10 Legal Guardian

Marla Grayson begins the movie by explaining that there are two sorts of people in the world: lambs and lions. This is the first time we meet the self-professed lioness — when she’s appearing before a judge, justifying her right to be the legal guardian of an elderly woman incapable of taking care of herself.

As viewers soon learn, whether the woman is capable or incapable of living autonomously is immaterial to Ms. Grayson. As they can clearly see by this hair, it’s all just business.

9 All Part Of The Program

It’s hard to believe that moments before arriving at her beautiful office, peering over the rims of these designer sunglasses, and flashing this smile, Marla Grayson had just been telling the disgruntled son of her latest ward that she’d rip his testicles from his body in no uncertain times.

Part of what makes Marla such an engaging villain (besides her fabulous sense of style) is that her personality can turn on a dime. As she so memorably says later in the movie, she “knows people,” and reading her audience is why she’s so good at manipulating the elderly and the court system.

8 The Mark

The scope of Marla’s criminal enterprise is vast, with the con artist juggling dozens of marks at once, slowly draining their savings accounts of money, selling off all of their possessions, and making it impossible for their relatives to contact them (or them to have contact with the outside world).

It’s easy to assume that Marla isn’t nefarious given how self-confident and charming she is, and her operations team includes care facility workers in line with her schemes and most importantly, a doctor to go on record with the state vouching for the mental decline of their patients. Looking and acting as sharp as she does,  it’s not hard to see why she doesn’t meet very much resistance.

7 Resistance Is Futile

When visiting the home of one of her potential wards, Marla opts for a more accessible ensemble. Unlike the severe style that Marla wore in the first courtroom scene, she doesn’t choose power colors like red that evoke aggression, and she doesn’t style her signature bob into curtains of fringe. Instead, she arrives in a sunny yellow blazer and makes sure there’s a slight wave to her hair.

Julia Peterson hardly knows what to do with the friendly, smiling young woman on her doorstep. She might be confused when she mentions something about a “court order,” but the paperwork just seems so legitimate, and Ms. Grayson sounds so sure. Plus, she’s brought police backup, just in case her elderly ward becomes disagreeable.

6 Talking Shop

After Marla deposits Julia Peterson into the care facility where she has direct control over her room and board, phone privileges, and visitations, she receives a visit from someone claiming to be Ms. Peterson’s lawyer. Their exchange is one of the most dynamic in the movie because it’s comprised of veiled — and not so veiled — threats and tactical strategy.

Marla is used to being underestimated, especially by men, and she lets the man know that she won’t be back down from the Peterson case. By even showing up he’s shown his hand, and she’s determined to stay one step ahead of him, especially since she has her timeless bob, and he’s wearing a sharkskin three-piece suit.

5 Death-Defying

Even when faced with sudden death after being kidnapped, Marla (and her bob) appear completely unfazed. Nikolai tries to frighten her with stories about severing a woman’s fingers for being too difficult, but it’s clear that he won’t get the satisfaction of fear from his captive.

She explains that she isn’t afraid of death because in the instant after she’s died, she’ll no longer be able to feel anything (including remorse), making it something that’s useless to worry about. Instead, she channels all her remaining energy into outsmarting him.

4 Miss Me?

It’s hard to believe that after all she went through at the hands of Nikolai, including being dumped in a lake, losing a tooth, and nearly losing her girlfriend, he’s the one in the hospital bed and she’s the one slurping the smoothie.

It’s here, looking like some sort of radiant and celestial being, that she cheerily informs him that since he’s technically a “John Doe”, she’s been assigned by the state to be his legal guardian. It’s a cruel and ironic twist of fate that’s enough to make her smile.

3 Partners

Despite professing to hate Marla (she did try to kill him, after all), Nikolai can’t help but respect her ruthlessness and determination. In order to achieve her goals, there’s nothing she isn’t capable of, and this spirit and temerity make the career criminal think that maybe there’s a future in them partnering.

As he lays out the plan for them to build a future guardian empire, viewers can see the wheels turning beneath that blonde bob, curled softly and close to her face as though to indicate that Marla has another side to her personality than remorseless sociopath.

2 Winning

Marla Grayson is above all a survivor, willing to do whatever it takes to win. She knows that life isn’t fair, and so uses whatever tools are in her arsenal to level the playing field, and she knows that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, which is exactly what she does at the end of the movie with Nikolai.

As she watches him reunite with his mother, who has spent the entire plot in the care facility that Marla put her in, it’s clear that while Marla may have had to compromise in some areas, in others she’s once again found herself on top and dominating.

1 Just The Beginning

By the end of the movie, Marla’s gotten everything she’s ever wanted; power, prestige, but most importantly to her, money. As she explains in the opening voice-over, the concept of “fairness” is something rich people invented to keep poor people poor, and only by not continuing to play by their rules can anyone escape the cycle of poverty.

Seen on a popular financial program in her white suit, her bob swept back in a bold style away from her face, she presents herself as a fearless and undaunted  “self-made” CEO, whose fame and fortune have come at the expense of the abjured, disenfranchised, and voiceless.

About The Author

Kayleena Pierce-Bohen
(1343 Articles Published)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she’s particularly proud of. When she isn’t writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she’s working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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