Deborah Louise Robinson’s documentary focuses on a significant problem that is silently growing with alarming speed: financial elder abuse.
As a larger segment of the U.S. population becomes older, a new wave of predators is beginning to target their savings. Many of the victims are either afraid to report this exploitation out of fears of violent repercussions or embarrassment for their newfound unpleasant circumstances, while others are hesitant to sound the alarm because they are being preyed on by family members.
But reporting such actions is no guarantee that the guilty will be apprehended: filmmaker Pamela S.K. Glasner recalls with amazement how the police refused to arrest a man with no connection to her family who forcibly coerced her Alzheimer’s-afflicted father into granting him power-of-attorney status. Also interviewed is film legend Mickey Rooney, who speaks passionately about his experience as the victim of financial theft.
The film offers advice on how to spot the warning signs that an older adult is becoming the target of potential embezzlement, and it details how to block such efforts from evolving into extensive financial transactions. This is an extremely upsetting film, to be certain, but for many viewers it might prove to be one of the most valuable nonfiction films they will see.
