Synopsis
A grandmother dies and leaves behind hours of secret film and audio recordings as well as an envelope with the words “Must read after my death,” which reveal a dark history for her family to discover.
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Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
What an anguished story it tells, of a marriage from hell. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
Did granny intend this stuff for strangers? We'll never know. File this ''therapeutic'' movie, well made and creepy, on the dysfunction-as-art shelf next to "Capturing the Friedmans." - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
The secrets revealed here are not quite as shocking as the hints of child molestation captured in "Friedmans." Still, this is an equally intriguing and unsettling look at the turmoil hidden behind the white picket fences of suburbia. - 80
Film Threat
Watching the American nightmare of Must Read After My Death play out, it's impossible not to be both horrified and powerfully moved. Impossible as well not to feel profound admiration for the artfulness with which Dews has pieced these archival cries for help into a singular creation anyone who appreciates first rate filmmaking absolutely must see. - 80
New York Daily News
Intensely compelling documentary. - 75
The A.V. Club
The relentless negativity in Must Read After My Death can become overwhelming at times, but it's undeniably mesmerizing. - 75
New York Post
As with "Capturing the Friedmans," the documentary is grueling to sit through. Yet the greasy, guilty thrill of being privy to your neighbors' most intimate dramas makes it impossible to stop watching. - 70
Wall Street Journal
Horror and social value contend for equal honors in Must Read After My Death, a frightening -- and eerily edifying -- documentary that Morgan Dews created from a family trove of photos, Dictaphone letters, audiotapes, voluminous transcripts and home movies.