Synopsis
In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.
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Cast
- Kurt KuenneSelf (voice)
- Andrew BagbySelf (archive footage)
- David BagbySelf - Father
- Kathleen BagbySelf - Mother
- Shirley TurnerSelf - Ex-Girlfriend (archive footage)
- Zachary Andrew TurnerSelf - Son (archive footage)
- Heather ArnoldSelf - Former Fiance
- Jon AtkinsonSelf - Friend
- Bob BagbySelf - Uncle (archive footage)
- Earlene BagbySelf - Bob's Widow
Recommendations
- 100
Premiere
Masterfully put together. - 90
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Among the most enraging (documentaries) I've ever seen, and while it's fine and heartfelt and I commend it to those of you with strong constitutions, it is the film that has finally broken me. - 90
Los Angeles Times
An undeniably shattering story, if forgivably shaky in its impassioned, therapeutic unfolding. - 83
Portland Oregonian
You can't help getting emotionally involved, and as the central outrage -- a case of judicial negligence that would seem unbelievable in a work of fiction -- plays out, you feel the pain and anger that Bagby's family and friends experienced. Then the story takes a final, horrible twist that's almost too much to endure. - 80
Village Voice
Kuenne lovingly assembles home-movie footage and new interviews, while deftly borrowing a narrative trick from fiction--the plot twist--to create a true-crime story so gripping, devastating, and ultimately unforgettable that it easily trumps any thriller Hollywood has to offer this year. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Without becoming a screed for victims' rights, the riveting film shows how in the face of terrible events a grieving parent is galvanized into activism. - 80
The New York Times
It is impossible not to be fired up by Kurt Kuenne's incendiary cri de coeur, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father. - 75
New York Post
A gut-wrenching experience.
