A Closer Look: Analyzing the Controversy and Audience/Critic Divide of J Blakeson’s ‘I Care a Lot’

Netflix’ “I Care a Lot” released last week, and it has taken the Internet by storm. The reviews have been some of the most divisive I’ve seen in a long time, some people absolutely despising it and others praising it. Even Rotten Tomatoes had a huge gap: the critics gave it mostly good reviews, resting at 81%. But the audience, however, felt very differently. The audience reviews are at a mere 36%, a range I’ve never really seen in these big-budget Netflix movies. So what made “I Care a Lot” so divisive? 

The plot is rather dark and disturbing. Marla (wonderfully played by Rosamund Pike) is a glorified grifter: she is a court-appointed guardian for elderly people who aren’t able to care for themselves. Once she has them in her clutches, she ships them off to an old folk’s home and takes every penny they have. Additionally, most of these residents are perfectly capable of looking after themselves. 

Ten minutes into the film and you know she’s one of the evilest characters in film. Not poorly written, mind you. On the contrary, the writers have to be incredibly skilled to make us hate a character with such a passion. It’s an interesting choice to have such a dislikable protagonist. I figured that there must be someone we root for, right? Nope. The closest we come to a likable character is a human-trafficking mob boss played amazingly by Peter Dinklage. 

This is where a vast majority of criticism comes from. People drone on about how horrible everyone was, and therefore that makes it a bad movie. I couldn’t disagree more. I think that the notion that all protagonists have to be someone we like is an extremely misguided one. “Take Good Time,” for example. Robert Pattinson’s character was a horrendous person, and he only got worse through the course of the film. This didn’t make the film worse at all, though. In fact, extremely flawed characters make for great storytelling, because the audience wants to know more about how they got to be the way they are. By forcing us to choose between the lesser of two evils, “I Care a Lot” strips us from our morals and makes us question if we’re on the right side. 

Another reason people dislike the film is because of Rosamund Pike’s character specifically. Throughout the film, Marla throws out some feminist quotes and ideas. It was a rather undercooked plot point, as it was never really incorporated into her motivations. It would be interesting if she was using her ideology as an excuse for her horrible actions, but it didn’t really go anywhere. Still, that didn’t stop audiences from review bombing the movie because of this. People were hating the few lines about feminism, and that was enough for them to hate her and the movie. 

It seems these people completely missed the point of the movie. They seem to think that we’re supposed to be on her side. The audience is supposed to hate Marla because she’s a horrible person. Not because she’s a feminist. Again, that could’ve been an interesting element of her character, but they didn’t capitalize on it. 

There are some people on the opposite side of the spectrum, however. I truly believe this movie did not try to glorify her. The same can’t be said for a majority of audiences, though. Many people on social media continue talking about how great and powerful she was, and how she’s an entrepreneurial icon. I personally think that’s kind of effed up, considering there was barely a notion of sympathy for her character. 

Now, “I Care a Lot” is far from a perfect film, and lots of criticism is valid. I personally think the third act left a lot to be desired, and that some of the situations were a little too implausible. But when there’s such a gap between critics and audiences, you begin to think that there’s a little more than a flawed plot. Movies like this divide people for all the wrong reasons, while true flaws are left in the dust.