The Guardian, a Vietnamese vengeance horror thriller available on Netflix, perfectly illustrates the murkiness of the glamour business. It centres on a backup playback vocalist who seeks recognition and the name she believes she deserves with the aid of occult forces and a Kumanthong doll. The story also incorporates the idea of betrayal to illustrate how greed can corrupt even the most good-hearted people and turn them into traitors. Let’s investigate further.
The Guardian Plot Summary
The closing titles of The Guardian show a 25-year-old famous pop singer named Lam Phuong committing suicide in her home after some perps leaked her sexually explicit video on social media. The fact that Phuong died while holding her cherished guardian, a Kumanthong doll named Yuki, raises several questions.
Nguyen Mai Ly, a young girl who used to perform as a backup singer on Phuong’s records, learns of Phuong’s passing as the news spreads like wildfire. Detective Manh approaches Ly and leads her to the police station for a quick questioning as part of the initial inquiry. Ly alerts Manh to certain texts discovered by the police on Phuong’s phone. The evidence indicates that Ly was there at the party where Phuong was drugged, raped, and videotaped alongside Phuong. The police ask Ly for assistance in finding Phuong’s killers, but Ly replies that she has no memory of the incident.
Later, when Ly is present at Phuong’s funeral, Mr. Tran Ngoc begs Ly to assist the police but Ly refuses and leaves. Suddenly, Ly receives a text message from an unknown sender threatening to reveal the party’s secret or face more consequences.
Ly competes at a singing competition six months later, but she comes in last. But Mrs. Do Thanh Tam, an unsettlingly wealthy woman she meets at the competition, will forever alter Ly’s life. Mrs. Tam notices Ly’s Kumanthong doll and tells her about how to call it, which will improve Ly’s lot in life. Ly muses for a moment before deciding to call forth her doll and see a revered Vietnamese shaman. Ly becomes an overnight celebrity, just like her idol, Lam Phuong, when her soul connects with her Kumanthong doll (Na). However, there is always a dark side to everything nice, and for Ly, this is just the beginning of her life’s miseries.
What happened at the party with Lam Phuong?
Ly met Nguyen Vinh Cuong, the son of a real estate magnate, and his close friend Ngoc Thien after Lam Phuong’s theatrical performance. They offered Ly a song that would instantly make her famous in an effort to seduce her. The cunning persons invited Ly to a party and requested that she bring Phuong during their smooth conversations.
Ly pushed Phuong to come to the party because she thought that Cuong would help establish her career as a musician. Cuong and his friends gave Ly and Phuong drugs at the party. They raped Ly and Phuong and videotaped the act while under its effect. Cuong wanted to make Phuong his slave, so he started blackmailing Phuong after the encounter. Cuong wanted Phuong to do as he asked, but when she refused, he published the tape to ruin her career.
Why did Ly hide the truth about Cuong?
Ly eventually made the decision to tell the authorities the truth about the party because she felt responsible for Phuong’s suicide. Cuong, however, sent her a text at that particular moment and extorted money from Ly. Cuong and his friend also videotaped Ly at the celebration. After six months, when Ly rose to fame as a musician, Cuong and his pals began extorting Ly to come see them.
Ly was convinced that Cuong would expose her footage if she alerted the authorities or Khanh to these threats. Her musical career would end as a result of the video’s negative effects on her public image. In her greed, Ly made the decision to conceal the fact that she would never be able to fulfil her ambition. For six months, the Phuong prep team was free to wander before ultimately posing a threat to Ly once more. Ly determined to exact revenge this time because she thought her Kumanthong doll (Na) had occult abilities.
Did The Kumanthong Doll have occult powers? Who Killed Vinh Cuong?
Ly sought assistance from Mrs. Tam when Cuong started extorting money from her once more. The Sam-sat-yam rite, which was orchestrated by the occult sister, saw Baby Na, Ly’s Kumanthong Doll, get a fresh sacred demon soul named Roc-sam-long. To guarantee that the young demon obeyed Ly’s orders, the shaman linked Roc-sam-long to Ly’s soul. Later, Ly prayed to Demon Baby Na for protection from Cuong while sacrificing an innocent creature with the aid of an enchanted knife.
Cuong was brutally murdered the following day, and Ly thought Baby Na did it to keep her safe. Ly intended to get rid of her Kumanthong doll, but all of a sudden, she received a call from an anonymous number with her exposed photo. Ly gave up the picture of Cuong’s pals because of fear of losing her material goods. In a pickup that was parked in a parking lot, the two were discovered dead.
Huyen, Ly’s best friend, visited Mrs. Tam at her apartment around this period and discovered that her entire character was a cover. Huyen had a hunch that Tam might be associated with the Shady Kumanthong Group. Prior to continuing her investigation, someone attacked Huyen, who required medical attention.
Khanh’s name was used when Ly faced Tam, despite Ly’s conviction that she had never given Tam his name. Ly stormed into her home and tore off Baby Na’s head because he thought the whole thing was a set-up. Ly discovered a pinhole camera and microphone in the doll that was recording all of her prayers and the sacrificial photos. Khanh contacted Ly at the end of The Guardian and confessed to her that he killed Cuong and his pals in retaliation for the loss of his fiancée, Phuong.
Why did Phuong s family design a ploy?
Nguyen Mai Ly withheld Cuong’s identity for a variety of reasons, including fear and avarice. Khanh, Phuong’s fiancé, and Phuong’s parents, on the other hand, wished for retribution. Mr. Tran Ngoc, Phuong’s father, questioned Ly about the sources of the footage leak, but Ly steadfastly declined to provide any information. So, the family planned an elaborate scheme to trick Ly into telling them what had happened.
To entice Ly, Mr. Tran Ngoc set up a musical competition at her college. Mrs. Do Thanh Tam, Phuong’s long-distance mother, approached Ly during the competition and explained the Kumanthong Doll’s powers. She had come to town to attend Phuong’s wedding. Ly went to the shaman to call out her own Kumanthong Doll because she admired Phuong and wanted to be successful singer like her.
Soon after the summoning, Khanh arranged to meet Ly and provided her with a singing opportunity, fulfilling Ly’s ambition. When Ly began to believe Khanh and Baby Na, Khanh sent her anonymous blackmail threats to compel her to contact Tam once more. The shaman, Phuong’s uncle, installed a pinhole camera and a microphone inside the doll at this time. Khanh tracked down the killer and killed Cuong when Ly placed Cuong’s photograph in front of the doll. He removed Ly’s image from Cuong’s laptop and gave it to her blackmailer in an effort to get her to reveal the identities of the other two people. Khanh eventually carried out his vengeance by killing Cuong’s companions. Ly was led to believe that the doll had magical abilities by the family, who also planned to have Ms. Nam, Phuong’s aunt, serve as the maid in Ly’s new home. The Kumanthong Doll was, in fact, a fraud.
The Guardian Ending, Explained Did Police Arrest Khanh?
Khanh told Ly that she was his final victim, whose demise would put an end to the retaliation. Ly, however, changed his mind. She begged Khanh to confess in front of everyone one final time. Ly informed the audience of her live video stream that Phuong attended the Cuong party at her urging. Ly lured Phuong into a trap because she was so desperate to become well-known. Maybe Phuong would still be alive if she hadn’t been so greedy. In essence, Ly took responsibility for Phuong’s passing.
Khanh changed his mind and decided against killing Ly after hearing the confession. He wanted her to carry remorse with her for the rest of her life. But Ly had had enough already. She frequently had visions of Phuong’s ghost, which disturbed Ly’s serenity. Ly pursued Phuong’s ghost to the balcony railing at the end of The Guardian, where he leaped out. That day, Ly passed away along with her dreams. She paid a price for keeping the facts hidden and having lofty dreams.
Detective Manh discovered blood evidence from someone other than Ly when looking into the triple homicide. Manh was positive that Phuong’s fiance owned it. Khanh functioned as Phuong’s protector throughout the movie and occasionally made suggestions that Phuong’s soul still belonged to his beloved. Detective Manh ultimately detained Khanh for the three homicides.
Huyen lost her best friend Ly, who was blindly and voraciously for success, recognition, fame, and glamour. Ly’s journey taught Huyen a valuable lesson. By the end of her undergraduate career, Huyen had established herself as a popular influencer, most likely thanks to Ly’s possible contribution to her success. Huyen wasn’t Ly, though. Huyen was given a modelling opportunity by a well-known agency as the movie came to a close. She declined, though, saying that she needed to concentrate on her academics.
The Guardian, a movie by Victor Vu, conveys a significant 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.
Victor Vu’s The Guardian, also known as Thi n Than Ho Menhin in Vietnamese, is a 2021 revenge thriller. Netflix offers a streaming version.
