As our parents reach their twilight years, there’s a sinister system that acts like a vulture, ready to take advantage of them. Juliette Fairley exposes this corruption in her short film Fatal Negligence.
Georgina Dillard (Juliette Fairley) hasn’t been allowed to see her father in weeks. Ben Dillard (Ajene D. Washington), a partially blind military veteran, has been placed in an assisted living facility under the court-appointed guardianship of his girlfriend. Every time Georgina tries to visit, they turn her away. Meanwhile, Ben is being starved and cut off from the medication that’s treating his failing eyesight.
Desperate to see her father again, Georgina hires private investigator Larry Limine (Behzad Dabiri) to find out what’s really happening. Larry goes undercover, working his way past the reception desk. And soon it becomes clear that Ben’s isolation isn’t an accident.
“…a partially blind military veteran, has been placed in an assisted living facility under the court-appointed guardianship of his girlfriend.”
Writer/director/star Juliette Fairley’s Fatal Negligence brings awareness to a sinister, yet legal, abuse of our senior citizens. The setup is infuriating and sadly all too common. Ben Dillard is locked away in a nursing facility, and his “girlfriend” is given court-appointed guardianship while she and the facility’s staff quietly siphon off his savings. The message is that the situation is real, and Fatal Negligence urges you to contact your legislators to fix the system.
It’s also clear Fairley is working with almost nothing. An office building stands in for a nursing home. The acting is uneven in spots, too. But I’m not going to hold that against Fairley. You work with what you’ve got, and what she’s got is a cause and a camera. The only weakness here isn’t ambition; it’s budget.
What matters is getting the word out. Who doesn’t hate watching the innocent get taken advantage of? Fatal Negligence is pushing all the right buttons.
For screening information, visit the Fatal Negligence official website. Fatal Negligence won the 2026 Chain NYC Film Festival’s award for Best New Work!
"…a system acts like a vulture, ready to take advantage..."
