Alternative Character Interpretation: Possible for all three of the adult Adlers (including Diane). The courtroom sequence really brings this to light when the respective legal counsels for Frank and Eveyn paint the other side in the worse possible way.
Is Frank's insistence that Mary not be enrolled in the Oakes Academy genuinely in her best interest or is he subconsciously trying to do what would anger his mother the most? Remember that this guy also left his academic job to work as a boat repairer although it wasn't strictly necessary to give Mary a good childhood. He was also especially worried, because Mary's mother committed suicide after completing her life's work, because that had been her only focus in life. It's clear that he cares about Mary, but how much his own prejudices are driving his decisions is up for debate.
Is Evelyn just trying to live her dreams of academic distinction through her daughter (and now granddaughter) or does she genuinely believe that any person in charge of rearing a genius has a wider responsibility to society to keep the genius on the right track? However, considering that Frank managed to buy her off with the promise of publishing Diane's work, in effect cementing Evelyn's academic legacy in exchange for Mary's custody. It leans towards the former then the latter.
Was Diane's troubled life a result of her mother's excessive control of her life or did she really have a "laundry list of problems", as Evelyn puts it? Frank, too, acknowledges at one point that Diane could be "difficult" and "not think things through." However, we learn Diane committed suicide in despair, after completing her life's work, a task Evelyn made Diane focus on over everything else. Evelyn's look of guilt shows that she knows her actions helped make Diane the troubled person she was.
In the beginning, Mary complains that she looks like a Disney character. The movie is produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures, which would be bought by Disney in 2019.
