Review: Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

To summarize Dear Zachary is to essentially destroy what makes it an amazing documentary film. So we will keep it very brief, and just trust me when I say that there is a lot more offered in this film that what I describe here. But don't google the story. Watch the film.

In 2001, a popular medical resident, Andrew Bagby, is murdered. His ex-girlfriend is charged with the crime. Not long after, Andrew's parents are informed that the woman is pregnant with Andrew's son, Zachary. What follows is one of the craziest, most uncomfortable documentary film's I have seen. Andrew's parents are forced into strange, and awkward situations with the woman who murdered their son so they can see their grandson.

The film itself is the story of this struggle, but it is also a memoir directed towards Zachary, about his father. Through interviews with Andrew's friends, family, and co-workers, DIrector Kurt Kuenne attempts to reconstruct the portrait of a man, and father, for Zachary, as a means of knowing his dad.

The result of the film is something of a cliche - it will make you laugh. Cry. Piss you off. Everything is at play here. But I must say that after having seen thousands of movies, fiction, and non-fiction alike, few films have had such a strong, lasting effect as Dear Zachary. A punch in the gut that you feel long after the closing credits.

It's currently on Netflix. Check it out.