Review of Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) by Alex M — 15 Jun 2014

I have no words. Holy shit. This film absolutely devastated me; after watching it, I felt completely broken inside. Dead. How could so much injustice happen to one family? I still cannot believe it. Shirley Turner is a monster.

.. Yet to say Dear Zachary is an awful, evil film would be a mistake - it is a beautiful tribute to the lives of Andrew Bagby, his son Zachary, and Andrew's amazing parents. Kurt Kuenne has skillfully crafted one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.

It is both parts a loving tribute to a fallen friend and a crime thriller with an awful twist. The movie is so expertly crafted and edited that I often forgot I was watching a documentary. Somehow, Kuenne is able to keep his audience at the edge of their seats - it's never boring, and almost always heart wrenching.

I'm just glad that the Bagby family got a proper tribute. While Kuenne takes time to focus on the life of Shirley Turner, this is not a movie about that monster of a woman - it is a movie about a man, his son, and the family and friends that loved them.

I simultaneously lost my hope in humanity because of the injustice of the case and then regained my hope in humanity upon seeing all the family and friends that loved and cared and adored the two deceased Bagby family members.

This might have been the most emotional movie I ever watched, and it's certainly the best documentary I've ever seen. Thank you, Kurt Kuenne, for this amazing movie. Thank you.