The Guardian is a 2021 horror film about the death of a young pop star which means her backup singer finds herself living a parallel life. But is her success earned, or is it being aided by occult forces?
Directed by Victor Vu from a screenplay co-written with Kay Nguyen. The Vietnamese production stars Truc Anh, Amee, Salim and Samuel An.
Reviews:
“Victor Vu’s film, The Guardian, gives out an important message. It believes that for every artist, the days of obscurity are his/her best teacher, and one should never forget the lessons learned in them.” Digital Mafia Talkies
” …as much as I enjoyed some of the twists, I absolutely loathed the final “message”. Essentially, it seems to be shaming young girls into focusing on school instead of chasing their dreams […] As a horror movie, it did have a few moments that made me jump a little. As a thriller, it was hardly very thrilling.” Heaven of Horror
“Thiên Than Ho Menh is an effective horror, revenge-thriller that will keep you guessing. There are not a lot of movies that can effectively juggle the different parts of a movie like this but this one does a really good job at doing what it’s supposed to do – keep you scared and guessing.” Leisure Byte
“It’s too bad the plot was such a trainwreck because The Guardian is beautifully shot and seems to have had a decent budget. If they had delivered a film that matched its description they might have managed to give Netflix another breakout film. Instead, it’s a dull and disgustingly smug and moralistic thriller that lacks thrills or characters you’ll care about.” Voices from the Balcony
Trailer:
Clip:
Release:
In Vietnam, the film was released on April 30th 2021. The Guardian was available for streaming on Netflix on December 16th 2021.
Original title:
Thiên Than Ho Menh
Technical details:
2 hours and 4 minutes