Her Last Will (2016) User Reviews

Sucked in against my "will"

[gee-15 · 5/10 · 14 August 2017]

This is not the type of movie I generally watch but I was channel surfing and found myself drawn in by the sheer awfulness of the characters (NOT the sheer awfulness of the acting...I thought the actors all did just fine playing their despicable parts).

Plot summary: Three children of a wealthy woman hire a woman with a shady past (who desperately needs the money) to help them drive their mother insane. The hired woman is ostensibly the "heroine" but...frankly, I think it's a movie with a "protagonist" but no hero. To say anything more would reveal too much of the twisty plot but suffice to say, things are not as they appear initially.

Ultimately, I found the film just a bit too mean-spirited for a whole-hearted recommendation but it's definitely not boring!

Well Done, Mother

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 3 December 2016]

Somewhere in or around Pasadena, CA, wealthy matriarch Harriet Sansom Harris (as Dina Stratton Cotton) is awakened in her mansion by a ghostly male voice. She grabs a knife for protection, looks around the house, and accidentally slashes her daughter's arm. The next morning, Ms. Harris is confronted by her three grown children. The siblings are concerned (and one is wounded). Womanizing leader Patrick Fischler (as Gill), unhappily gay Michael Graziadei (as Harold Cotton) and bored partying Fiona Dourif (as Iona Cotton) want to know why mother went sleepwalking with a knife. They question Mama Harris' mental state but, when she exits a scene, the three siblings exchange giddy glances. Something is rotten in Pasadena...

One week earlier, in another part of town, we meet financially desperate Rya Kihlstedt (as Margaret "Maggie" Rayfield). She receives a job offer from Mr. Fischler and Mr. Graziadei. When their mother starts giving her fortune away in $5 million doses, the brothers offer Ms. Kihlstedt $90,000 to drive the old woman insane and gain control of the estate. Watching the alternately creepy, sad and bored looking kids try to drive their mother crazy is more fun that it should be. Like a "golden age" movie star regulated to old lady TV roles, Harris is a delight. Director Anthony DiBlasi guides the cast with ease and Adam Barber's music highlights their movement. They show a quick, low budget TV movie can be quite good.

****** Her Last Will/Beneficiary (11/25/2016) Anthony DiBlasi ~ Rya Kihlstedt, Harriet Sansom Harris, Patrick Fischler, Michael Graziadei

Pulp Fiction, Done Well

[TheJonesBones · 7/10 · 14 March 2022]

This is a story about greedy children driving mom crazy to inherit her fortune. While the plot is a revisitation, this film is well done.

Rya Kihlstedt menaces as Maggie, the troubleshooter hired to do the dirty work to the old bat (Harriet Sansom Harris as Dina Cotton), while Patrick Fischler (Gill Cotton) plays the diabolical, dominant oldest sibling to Fiona Dourif (Iona Cotton), the neurotic, overindulged sister, and Michael Graziadei (Harold Cotton), the weak and ineffectual but almost humane youngest brother.

You'll enjoy a few unexpected plot twists in the climax, and the conclusion will make you grin - albeit evilly. (Insert wicked laughter here.)

So, if you're looking for a solidly entertaining indie film, you found it, but be warned - you'll want to arrive armed when you show for the reading of Her Last Will!!!

Good drama/suspense film

[catfanatic888 · 7/10 · 23 January 2022]

Desperate relatives do desperate things in this little gem. Excellent cast plays their parts very well. Give this a chance and hide your will with your attorney. Yikes!

Surprisingly Good!

[saysjenn · 8/10 · 16 May 2022]

NO SPOILERS!! This movie was a total surprise to me and I don't know how I never heard of it. It is a creative domestic thriller with lots of twists and turns. It has some laughs here and there but make no mistake, it's a dark story! I highly recommend it!

Brilliant!

[raquelzepeda · 10/10 · 21 January 2022]

Brilliant film! A "Hitchcokian" thriller with all the trimmings. Extreme wealth controlled by Dina Cotton, a strong-willed and very unlikable matriarch surrounded by three greedy, ungrateful adult children: Gill, Harold, and Iona. Yes, it is a family setting.

Tired of their mother's stranglehold on their inheritances, the children look for someone to "Gaslight" their mother. Maggie, a former military special opps soldier, reluctantly accepts the work in order to help her foster mother who is struggling.

The story culminates on the night of Dina's birthday party. That's when all hell breaks loose. These evil children have designed a Machiavellian plot that forces Maggie into hiding.

The chase begins and there is twist upon twist. As a family drama, you will wonder if this is about nature versus nurture. Like any great thriller, you will see that the ending is truly ironic. This is where nurture and nature work together for justice in a cold and cruel world. Excellent ending.

Dina and Her Tony

[lavatch · 8/10 · 21 April 2020]

"Her Last Will" is a crackling good yarn about family dysfunction, which turns quickly into dark comedy. Three nasty children of a wealthy philanthropist, Dina Cotton, conceive a diabolical plan to drive their mother insane and thereby prevent her from donating her fortune the local philharmonic society.

The three heirs include an inebriated Iona, the soft male Harold, and the major schemer Gill. The most interesting character in the film is Margaret (Maggie), the ex-Iraq War vet who had been dishonorably discharged after her participation in the Abu Gharib atrocity. Maggie is struggling to get her life in order after a string of run-ins with the law and her ill-starred military career.

Maggie has made great strides in her recovery, due mainly to the support she received from a kind woman running a half-way house. But the temptation is too great to make a bundle paid by the heirs to mastermind driving Dina batty. It turns out, however, the Maggie has a change of heart, and the home stretch of the film is her improvised plan to turn the tables on the three snarky heirs.

The acting was first-rate, and there were invariably moments of the dark humor and clever twists. It was especially the revelation about Maggie's birthright that was the surprise of the film. The screenplay was lively and creative. There were also inventive special effects in giving the impression that the deceased Vietnam War vet Tony Picuirro, the love of Dina's life, had come back from the grave. Still, the film belonged to Maggie for the see-saw development of a character with a conscience.

Strong

[catpantry · 10/10 · 15 February 2020]

When the women was hired to deal with their mother (think this is right) she set up shop in the basement and would tweak the house foundation. The mother would spend time down there to (tossing her second thoughts around, not really caring that her house was being redone). She had a hiddin tatto of the bumb who would watch people assemble the titanic.