The movie, Dear Zachary A Letter to a Son About his Father is a heart wrenching documentary about murder. The emotions shown are real and will play in your mind forever. They retell the story as if you knew him personally. The director and narrator a friend of Andrew Bagby, Andrew's father, tells the story perfectly. This movie will emotionally tear your heart in two, this movie will make you feel loss and introduces a cause worth fighting for. The seething anger that this movie shows and the resourcefulness of the parents is awe inspiring. The love shown through Bagby's friends to his parents letting his parents know that they still have kids even though Andrew is gone. The parents even recollect how they thought about committing suicide. The movie has many elements however it uses a lot of jump cuts to show how everyone who was a part of Andrew Bagby's life was affected. The movie opens with people naming characteristics of Mr. Babgy with words such as he was kind, intelligent, funny. The parents are shown and are crying the dad is seething that his son was murdered. The director interviews friends from med school, high school, and even family. The way this movie flows is exquisite. The music in the background sets the tone and since the narrator is the director and Bagby's friend he already establishes his ethos.The movie was about Andrew Bagby who was in a relationship with Shirley Turner. As their relationship grows distant Turner murders Bagby. The raw footage and reactions are almost unbearable to watch. The movie is uncomfortable to watch and makes you question how criminals are dealt with. The parents are the heroes of this story fighting for change always being proactive. Shirley Turner could get out of jail two times on bail for murder. The system allowed her to kill not only Bagby with no repercussion but the kid that Turner had with Andrew Bagby. The system in Newfoundland Canada must be changed and Andrew Bagby's parents are fighting for this to happen. The call to arms in the movie moved me in a way I didn't think was possible in a documentary. The movie uses footage not only of interviews but of the real-life situation what was playing out while the director was filming it. The firsthand account of Zachary's death even surprised the viewer. Every person, every situation seems so tangible. We even get to see how Bagby grew up because of the director making movies with his friends as a kid.In conclusion, this movie was a roller coaster of emotions that I cannot recommend enough. The director being so close to Bagby as a friend made the film from just a tribute to a masterpiece. Dear Zachary A Letter to a Son About his Father was meant for Bagby's son so he could know about his dad but was taken to soon. Is there any justice in the system to find out more follow Katie and David Bagby's story and fight to remove bail from murderers.

Dear Zachary is the story of several people: of Andrew Bagby, one of the kindest people you could know, murdered in cold blood; of Shirley Turner, Andrew's ex-girlfriend and accused murderer, with a share of documented mental issues to boot; of Zachary, the child of Andrew and Shirley that never saw his father alive; and of Kate and David, the parents of Andrew, forced to suffer the loss of their only child and the faults of the legal system afterward.If you haven't seen the movie, stop here and go watch it, it is an absolute must-see for both the grim story and the expert direction that knows just how to play with your emotions. I won't be spoiling anything, but reading anything more than the above prior to watching the movie is unnecessary and should be avoided.With that out of the way, Dear Zachary is an intense, emotional documentary, serving as a scrapbook for the titular Zachary Turner about his murdered father Andrew Bagby. But what opens as a portrait of apparently the nicest man to ever live pans out into the aftermath of his murder and the legal entanglements of persecuting Shirley Turner, Andrew's ex-girlfriend and accused killer. There isn't much room for argument either, especially in filmmaker Kurt Kuenne's eyes; the evidence and documentary is overwhelmingly stacked against her as the prime suspect, but as the movie will note, "the law is slow."This movie is very black and white, no gray area, with Shirley Turner being our villain of the picture. I'm not implying innocence- it's pretty obvious she did it, and her mental health issues are apparent both through actions and history. But instead of focusing on her guilt, the movie casts the real guilt on a legal system that fails to provide justice. It's all the true crime of a story you'd see on Investigative Discovery, but with plenty more pathos, a better production value, and a bigger purpose in mind.It's clear just how much heart and effort Kurt Kuenne put into this movie, how close it is to him and the pain he felt just trying to bring it to life. This work shows through his tightly wound editing and pathos-fueled direction, bound to pull out some feelings of grief and anger from the stoniest of hearts. But I wouldn't call this humanity at it's worst, and the movie tries it's hardest to be both black and white, not too much one or the other.Dear Zachary is a portrait of humanity at both it's cruelest and it's kindest. It's not stimulating a discussion on morality, instead set on archiving the failure of a legal system to detain and protect others from a clear and present danger. But without fail, Dear Zachary maintains the focus on the effect of loss, as well as the influence and effect we have on others. It's an emotionally charged film that will show you the worst, but leave you remembering and appreciating the best.

"Dear Zachary" rises above any documentary. It transcends all of them, and calling it a documentary almost seems to be an insult. And please don't read this review or any other review before watching it. Go in as blind as possible."Dear Zachary" is a film that Kurt Kuenne began making in 2001 after he received the news that one of his best friends, Andrew Bagby, had been murdered. Since it was made by one of the victim's best friends, it gives it a much more personal standpoint than the distant point of view of the normal documentary. He began it to learn about the things he'd never known about his friend, and to make "one last film with him", as a sort of tribute. And just like that, he set out to meet everyone that had ever cared for Andrew. However, as many events began to occur over the course of the film, it began to be about so much more, and of course when Andrew's murderer and ex- girlfriend, Shirley Turner, was announced pregnant, Kurt knew he would be making "A Letter to a Son About His Father".The way the film is structured and edited makes it very emotional and somewhat intense. Many relating interviews are inter-cut and sometimes the audio will be overlapping to show the universal experience people had with this man, and who he really was. It also makes the pace of the film overall very fast, but some interviews are so heart-rending that they seem to go on for very long. Oh, and that's another thing: this film is SAD. REALLY, REALLY SAD. This film will play your emotions like a flute. You will be angry, depressed, happy, melancholy, and then sad again. But it's also incredibly beautiful and inspiring in a way no film that I've seen has ever been before.The film shows the infuriating injustices in the court system and the government. And one big problem, among others, is how impersonal it is. The lawyer simply recites the most obscure laws to try and defend their client, with no real empathy for the victims. And since the judge doesn't seem to care much either, she simply allows this. Both of those positions possess a lot of power, but neither of them seem to realize what is on the line. They don't think about the lives behind the people in the court, and this leads to a serious abuse of their power. It makes me think too. When I see that a murder happened in the news, I simply say "that's awful" and move on with my day. I never thought about the families of the victims, or the people that he/she affected. This film is so much more than a tribute. And I'm not talking about the bits of political commentary in it. That's not what this film originally set out to do, and in the end of the day it's only really a side effect of what it really does. It not only made me think about others' lives more, and the people that care about them, but about me, and my own life. It made me think about the people I care about, and the people that care about me. It made me realize how many people each person affects, and how precious life really is, and how abruptly it can end. It's a morbid thought, but the people you love most could be gone tomorrow suddenly.I don't think a film will ever truly be able to tell the full story of a man's life, and who he was, and who he cared about and who cared about him, and why. But this is about as close as any film will ever get to doing that.

10/10I never cried watching documentary until I watched this one, and when I have finished watching it, I watched it again. That is how good this documentary is. I even feel sad while writing this review, and I watched Dear Zachary 2 weeks ago.Unlike other documentaries, this documentary is very personal. The first reason Kurt Kuane made this is for Zachary Turner, the son of his dear friend who is murdered. You can feel how emotional Kurt Kuene narrated it.Dear Zachary at first wasn't intended for public viewing. Even so this documentary is well made, well written, and have great score. Greatest documentary I ever seen.The fact that I didn't know anything about Zachary Turner case, make this documentary feel like thriller with shocking twist. More shocking than most thriller out there.If you haven't watch this, you should. It works better if you didn't know anything about this case. You will end up in emotional roller coaster with this documentary.I am glad they pass Dear Zachary bill in Canada, I hope it could reduce the pain that Kate and David Bagby feel because of this tragedy.