In the US, a legal guardian can be granted official authority to seize the assets of the elderly for their own self-interest. In the satirical comedy I Care A Lot, we saw this this law being exploited through the eyes of a manipulative swindler but the latest film from Canadian director Karl R. Hearne takes the pensioner’s point of view.
Indie crime thriller The G follows the mysterious Ann Hunter (Dale Dickey) who looks after her sick husband and gets weekly visits from Emma (Romane Denis), their wayward twenty-something granddaughter. When corrupt businessman Rivera (Bruce Ramsay) cruelly moves her into a soulless care facility, tragedy strikes and she soon begins to plot her revenge.
Set in an anonymous suburban town during a harsh, unforgiving winter, the atmospheric noir-infused narrative is so cold you can almost see its breath. Hearne crafts a darkly comic tone with some eccentric scenes that could’ve been pulled from an early Coen brothers picture. Though it dabbles in genre tropes, the material is elevated by its no-nonsense protagonist; gruff and uncompromising, she boozes and chain smokes her way through the film and takes the spotlight in an explicit sex scene – rare for a character of her age but integral in this liberating on-screen depiction of an older woman.
A veteran character actor, Dale Dickey is known for her appearances in Winter’s Bone, Hell or High Water and Breaking Bad but rarely does she get the opportunity of a leading role. Her quietly incensed presence carries the story but is also sorely missed when the focus occasionally shifts from her. Her connection with Denis, who is also impressive, adds a gentler side to what is otherwise a po-faced tale as they both soften slightly in each other’s company.
With a pulsing synth score and its deft application of violence, Karl R. Hearne’s callous revenge flick The G turns the tables on ageism and illustrates why we shouldn’t disrespect or underestimate our elders.
Cinema Perspective 