FILM REVIEW: Dear Zachary (2008)

I don't usually cry at movies. It would take a genuinely stunning and emotionally moving film to make me at least shed a tear. So when I watched Dear Zachary, I didn't expect myself to not only shed a tear, but let out a full blown, totally embarrassing cries. That's just how heart breaking this movie is.

Dear Zachary is a documentary film directed, written and produced by Kurt Kuenne. The main point of this documentary is simple; Kurt intended to document the memories he had of his childhood best friend, Andrew Bagby and turn it into a cinematic archive. Andrew Bagby was a doctor who was murdered by his ex-girlfriend, Shirley Turner. 

The film starts with footages of Andrew acting in Kurt's short films. When you first watch this movie, it's hard not to get sweet, nostalgic feelings from watching footages of Andrew, even though the audience did not know him personally. Along with Andrew, the audience are also introduced to his loving parents, David and Kathleen Bagby. They were once a happy, endearing family who wanted nothing but love from each other. And along with the nostalgic feelings, there's also an alarming reminder that Andrew, the sweet, charming and all around a nice fella is tragically murdered. 

The movie then takes a different turn by revealing that months after Andrew was murdered, Shirley Turner confessed that she's pregnant with Andrew's child. It makes me sick to my stomach that a monster is carrying the only child of a man who will never get to meet his own kid. As the movie continues, you can't help but to feel an insane amount of hatred towards Shirley Turner and you want to shower Andrew Bagby's family and friends with love, because after such tragic incident they needed love now more than ever. 

With the birth of Zachary Turner, the movie starts to feel like a true-crime documentary rather than what the director intended to make it as cinematic scrapbook for Zachary Turner who will never get to meet his father. The movie shows the endless court battle between Andrew's parents fighting their rights over Zachary with Shirley, because they want to make sure what happened to their son will never happen to their only grandchild. 

By the end of this film, I was left with swollen eyes and countless questions about how cruel a person, and the justice system can be. The fatal twist of this movie is one of the most heart breaking things I had seen in my life, and it's hard to decipher if this was all true. The nostalgic trip I took with Andrew and his parents suddenly all felt vague to believe. How do you balance your emotions when this movie successfully splits your feelings between strongly feels the never-ending love parents gave to their only son and on the other hand, we have to deal with the monstrous and purely evil intention of a mother who was supposed to shower her child with hugs and kisses? I guess I will never know, and this tragic reality breaks my heart to pieces.