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“She was again let go on $75,000 sureties, not one penny of which had to be paid. And with that, the Government of Canada let a probable premeditated first-degree murderer walk the streets again. ” – Kurt Kuenne
Number of Times Seen – 6 (11 Oct 2015, 11 Jan 2016, 24 Jul 2017, 30 Dec 2018, 12 Jan 2020 and 3 Mar 2022)
Link to original review – Here , Here , Here, Here and Here
Brief Synopsis – Documentary about the director’s best friend who was murdered to be used as a memorial to him for his infant son to get a chance to know who his father was.
My Take on it – This is a film that I came across by accident 6 years ago and was blown away with it the very first time I saw it and thru every subsequent time since.
On my site, I have reviewed over 500 documentaries in the past 9 years and I can honestly saw that this is probably still my all time favorite because it is so powerful to watch no matter how often one does so.
It’s hard to find a more personal film than this one and that helps make things even more poignant to watch this story unfold.
I love the way that movies like this can start off in one direction and due to life, that original vision gets veered off track.
Despite that happening often here, it still finds its voice the whole way thru.
After having seen this, I decided to track down even more of the works of Kuenne and even had email and twitter conversations with him about how much this film meant to me.
I can’t even begin to try and imagine the emotional impact this film must have on Kurt especially if I am always brought to an emotional apex when I watch this and I never knew any the people here and more importantly, I never lived and breathed this story.
Kuenne uses a fast pace to tell this story and because they is so much to take in the entire way through, that actually helps keep the story even more focused for the viewer.
I feel that this movie does an amazing job telling the viewer who Andrew Bagby was and he would probably be so proud of his friend for telling this whole gut retching story step by step as a possible learning tool for people in the future.
This is a MUST see film both for its message and as an example of how to make something so personal resonate with the audience over and over.
Highly Highly Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – In 2013, the Director of this film Kurt Kuenne, posted a video on his YouTube channel talking about what happened after the movie. This includes his and the grandparents activism to change the bail law in Canada. Video title The Legacy of Dear Zachary: A Journey to Change the Law (2013). (From IMDB)
Rating – Oscar Worthy (10/10) (no change from original review)