MBTI Type: INFJ

Though much of Betty’s motivations are disguised throughout the majority of the film, her narrative and outlining of what she did to gain Roy’s trust and affections reveal she is highly calculating, and does not care much for “boring details.” She entrusted the investigation to the boyfriend of her grandson, who gathered information, came up with the details of who she should be in order to hook his interest, and then helped her arrange a domestic life that Roy would not suspect. But shades of her natural intuition do shine through; she does not see the point in living in, or dwelling on, her past. She tells Roy “I forgave you long ago,” and convincingly makes future plans with him. She also uses her insights into him to improvise in the moment, such as when he makes a romantic move on her by asking her if she feels “lonely” at night. She pieced together his motivations without asking him for his rape of her in their teen years as retribution for her sisters’ spurning of him, turning her father into the Gestapo and getting him murdered as a “childish recrimination for being humiliated.” She envisioned the confrontation she wanted, and made it happen. Much like Roy, she can pretend to be whatever she has to be, if the situation calls for it. She can smile into the face of her rapist, flirt with him, make plans for their combined futures with him, and utterly convince him that she is being conned—all while conning him in return. Betty is warm, gregarious, charming, and assertive. She has no trouble putting her feelings into words, in feigning whatever emotion she knows he wants in return (such as empathy, as he “struggles” up the front steps of his house), and coolly rebuffing his sexual advances. Part of her self-analysis taught her that she needed no revenge for the awful things he did to her as a child, but she did need to face him, and tell him the truth, to confront him… and then she could move on.Betty shows poor sensory awareness, miscalculating him at the end (leading to a struggle / scuffle with him almost killing her in the process) and puncturing her hands when she tore up the carpet to get at her childhood hiding place.

Enneagram: 6w5 sp/so

Betty is warm, approachable, and likable from Roy’s point of view, a woman who is cautious and interested in other people, but who keeps some secrets close to her heart. She easily befriends and charms him, making him believe in her story, without ever allowing him to get too close. Her big  reveal at the end shows how she has analyzed what happened from a detached perspective and forgave him a long time ago, but still wants to understand how and why it happened, and make the person responsible pay for his sins. Though willing to confront him in person, she also has her family waiting for her outside in case she needs help—and when she cannot find her cell phone, and Roy intends to hurt her, she becomes visibly frightened without her usual support system. Her “grandson” often pops in to make sure she isn’t alone too much with Roy, whose romantic overtures she rejects by being sensible but firm. Her pretense sometimes slips and reveals that she’s scared under the surface; at the end, hearing screams from the lake, she hurries out there to make sure her granddaughters are all right, and cautious them to be careful, because “the water is deeper than it looks.” Though she also cares about being moral herself, she doesn’t mind walking away from a house where Roy is being hurt because he refuses to give up his cash. She has a playful side, but is also introverted and difficult to get to know, with a lot of secrets.