I appreciate movies like “The Bad Guardian” (2024) because they possess the power to drive home the idea that they set out to deliver in a simple, straightforward way. These films always find a way to leave you informed, paving a path for you to learn more about the topics at hand in the future. Directed by Claudia Myers, “The Bad Guardian” (2024) zooms into a very specific area of social injustice – court-appointed guardianship for older citizens in the US – no matter how watered down the complexities may be. It is a rollercoaster of emotions, managing to hinge itself on the central father-daughter relationship. If you have recently watched the film, let’s do a quick deep-dive into it:
The Bad Guardian (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film opens with a family vacationing in an isolated cabin when Leigh Delgado (Melissa Joan Hart) and her husband, Luis (Luis Bordonada), enter the cabin and ask the children to pack up. She informs her kids that her father (their grandfather) isn’t picking up calls. She is concerned and asks her family to hustle so that they can reach her father’s place before it is dark. Luis is hopeful that this is a false alarm until they reach his house, realize that there’s a power outage, and spot some blood stains on the floor.
The police further inform them that there’s no trace of Leigh’s father in the house, but something doesn’t sit right because his car is parked outside the house, and his keys are still at home. While the family is looking for him, Leigh’s daughter seems to be watching a video that is proof of the bond that the whole family shared with Leigh’s father, Jason. Just as they sit around the next morning making ‘Missing’ posters, the detective in the case informs Leigh that Jason has been found.
The family drives to Shadyside Assisted Living only to find out that Jason had accidentally slipped and was bleeding from his head while Leigh and her family were vacationing and decided to call 911. He didn’t have his phone or her number by heart, so he couldn’t call to inform them. Janet Timms (La La Anthony) is the woman, Jason informs them, who brought him here. When Leigh and Luis meet her there and decide to talk to her, they receive the shock of their life – the court has appointed Janet temporary guardianship of Jason. Janet informs them that the Delgados won’t be able to take Jason home without her permission.
This leaves the Delgados curious and thinking, but they haven’t yet acted on it. However, the concern for her father starts affecting Leigh’s performance at work, even if it means that she is defending herself against some untoward advances from a diner at the restaurant where she works as a waitress. Leigh receives a call from the court and immediately rushes there, only to find out that Janet has appealed to the court for permanent guardianship of Jason Davis. She tells the court that it is her professional opinion and presents evidence to the court to prove that Jason overspends in animal charities, is mentally incapacitated, and his daughter has a proven criminal record of theft, which makes her not qualified enough to be her father’s guardian.
She tries her luck unsuccessfully at several government offices and is ultimately informed by a lawyer that permanent guardianship is very difficult to refute and may take years. Besides, she learns that now her father’s money is no longer his; in fact, he would not be allowed to make any decisions regarding his healthcare, and the guardian is unlikely to pay any money to remove herself. Further, it is clear from this conversation that she and her husband are not in the best place financially. Jason informs Leigh that he was threatened to do as Janet said otherwise; she would call the cops on him.
In the next few days, Jason bonds with his roommate, who helps siphon his healthcare records from the nurses at the center. On the other hand, Leigh figures that Janet has raised everything that belonged to her father’s house up for auction. When Leigh protests, Janet tells her that she needs the money for his medical expenses, while the latter insinuates that Leigh was siphoning money from Jason. Janet promises that she is a neutral party who only wishes the best for Jason, but Leigh is not ready to give up without a fight.
Back at the center, Teresa checks up on Jason, who now complains of a little hardness in his right foot. Later, Teresa informs Leigh that the center and the pretense of aligning caregiving needs for the older people were all a hack for her to expand her business. Janet charged for every phone call she made and accepted, including the ones to Leigh. Leigh starts to understand how the healthcare facility was actually contributing to the deterioration of her father’s health. In one instance, she finds out that he was drugged and that Janet has closed down all of Jason’s bank accounts.
We soon come to know from Leigh’s findings that Janet may be running a profitable business of her own, connecting the dots to how everyone – from the realtor to the county judge – was known and on good terms with her. Leigh reaches out to a local TV reporter with the story. Together, they set out to research the many wards under Janet and their experiences to develop a story for the channel. However, Janet visits Leigh and tells her that she has found out about her investigation into her affairs, warning her about the consequences. Later that evening, while Leigh is driving back home from work, she meets a minor road accident and suspects foul play.
Teresa, a kind-hearted nurse from the center, has been cooperative from day one in helping Leigh understand Jason’s deteriorating health. She is caught slyly passing on information about Jason to Leigh and is soon terminated from her service. On the other hand, Leigh trespasses into the center one night to meet her father but is turned over to the police instead. Later, she is also thrown out of her job, and tensions start running amok in her family as they are finally stretched out. In the middle of this, Jason calls Leigh from the hospital to inform her that Janet had approved an amputation procedure for his foot in two weeks since it was less costly than stem cell medication. With all possible doors closing in on them, Leigh only has one way out now – to get up and act on her findings.
Is Janet really a bad guardian?
When Janet is first introduced in the film, she seems to be Jason’s well-wisher. However, her intentions are soon laid bare when Jason informs Leigh that she has threatened him not to protest against her or that she would call the cops on him. Further, Leigh finds out that she was running a whole syndicate where everyone – from the founder of the assistance facility to the real-estate agent (her brother) – was making money from her exploits. That she is powerful is clear since Janet tries to harm Leigh and possibly gets Teresa killed in a car accident for siding with Leigh and her investigation. She can most rightly be described as a parasite whose aim was to suck Jason’s money and life out of him. She is the perfect prototype of a bad state-appointed guardian.
What inspired The Bad Guardian (2024)?
Before the film ends, the audience is presented with statistics that state that there exists approximately 1.2 million adult guardianships and over 50 million in assets under guardianship arrangements in the US alone; victims of elder abuse lose 28.3 million dollars annually, out of which over 70% of the assisted living facilities are solely interested in their profit. “The Bad Guardian” (2024) is clearly drawn from the many situations in which the guardianship arrangement in the US needs to come to the limelight.
The Bad Guardian (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
One night, Leigh tells Luis that she has plans to extract Jason from the center by hook or by crook and drive him away into another state where the guardianship would not be binding on him. They enter into a fight where Luis points out that she is starting to behave more and more recklessly and not bothering her family at all. In fact, she is later told by her son that she needs to actively do something, just like she would always advise him to, in order to get out of this rut and successfully rescue Jason from Janet’s guardianship.
Even the journalist she was collaborating with tells her that the piece they are doing won’t be enough to move the court. Leigh also finds out that Teresa has died in a car accident, so she insists the police look into it and claim that Janet must be at the center of it all. Later, she visits a promising witness in Janet’s case and asks her – a lawyer – to help her fight for her father’s safekeeping.
The latter tells her that she doesn’t have the license to practice anymore but promises to show Leigh how to best represent herself in front of the judge during an emergency hearing. On the other hand, at the center, Jason watches his roommate breathe his last while no one comes for help despite ringing the bell for help. He calls Leigh the next morning and pleads with her to help get him out. The journalist also informs Leigh that the news channel dumped the story, clearly indicating that influential powers were at play here.
Mr. and Mrs. Delgado decide to pay a surprise visit to Janet in her office, telling her that they are ready to drop all charges and investigations against her only for her father’s freedom. Janet doesn’t budge but, in a moment of weakness, confesses that the county judge wouldn’t dare go against Janet since he was up for re-election. Back in the court, Leigh presents the judge with a recording of her conversation with Janet in her office, forcing the judge to finally give her a fair opportunity to present her case in front of him.
She argues that her father and so many other older citizens under Janet’s guardianship had lost their assets and their lives suspiciously within a short period of time. The court successfully grants Leigh her father’s guardianship, but Janet loses the battle. The film ends with a picture of a happy Delgado family, which has reunited in Jason’s house for his birthday. At the party, Jason raises a toast to this renewed life thanks to his caring daughter, Leigh.
“The Bad Guardian” (2024) aims to draw some attention to the abuse of power and resources by the state-elected guardians for senior citizens in America. In that, it succeeds.
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