Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Daughter tries to save dad from greedy guardian; violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Bad Guardian
What's the Story?
THE BAD GUARDIAN says it all in the title. A polished and unscrupulous manipulator cleverly uses state laws and a wide network of informers and paid lackeys to entrap elderly people in nursing homes and legally take their belongings, homes, and money. In this case, the imperious Janet (La La Anthony) has a network of ER doctors who alert her to older people who have fallen. She feeds her wards into nursing homes, and when the nursing home owners object to her treatment of residents, she threatens to move them out to other facilities. When a healthy 80-something Jason (Eric Pierpoint) falls and ends up in the ER while his daughter Leigh (Melissa Joan Hart) is on vacation, Janet swoops in, gets the ER doc to declare him unable to care for himself, and dooms him to imprisonment in a nursing home. Leigh smells the fraud and digs up others whose parents have been similarly defrauded, hoping to expose the scheme to the media and authorities.
Is It Any Good?
If you like your anxiety served up as an 87-minute public service announcement, complete with a condescending villain and a system rigged to exploit the innocent, The Bad Guardian is for you. Many movies show educated people who have the wherewithal and time to fight back against injustice. But this one, like Erin Brockovich, showcases the grit and hard work of a waitress with a working-class family. She's doing her best to make ends meet while trying to rescue her father from exploitable loopholes in the legal system. The movie is about exploitation of older adults who are capable of taking care of themselves but are railroaded by dishonest actors. So, the epilogue outlining the threat to the elderly feels a bit off-point. It warns that 1.2 million adults and the equivalent of $50 billion in assets are under guardianship, but it doesn't note that some of those guardianships are to the adults' benefit and supervised by loving and caring family members, not exploitive at all.
Also, when the movie cites "victims of elder abuse lose $28 billion annually," it ignores the fact that there are all kinds of elder abuse, not just nefarious guardianships. But all in all, this movie is well made and provides an informative public service.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the financial incentives the law has set up to corrupt a system meant to help people in need. How can this be changed?
The movie suggests that with backup by unscrupulous doctors and judges, it's easy to have competent people declared unable to care for themselves. Do you think there should be protections built into that system?
Do you think this film is a realistic representation of the real-life problem? Why, or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : May 18, 2024
- Cast : Melissa Joan Hart , LaLa Anthony , Luis Bordonada
- Director : Claudia Myers
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s) , Puerto Rican Movie Actor(s) , Mexican Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Writer(s)
- Studios : Netflix , Lifetime
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Family Stories ( Dads , Grandparents )
- Run time : 87 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : March 24, 2026
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