Dear Zachary: A Letter to A Son About His Father: Critic Reviews

The facts are so awful that Dear Zachary can be forgiven much of its antsiness -- as a memorial, as a condolence to Bagby's parents (who became activists for judicial reform in their late son's honor), and as a howl of grief.

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.

A true-crime story so gripping, devastating, and ultimately unforgettable that it easily trumps any thriller Hollywood has to offer this year.

Dear Zachary earns its right to engage us on a primal level, but it comes on the heels of so many films that don't, movies that...prey on modern fears and inflate third-rate material to the plane of tragedy.

What begins as a poignant tribute to filmmaker Kurt Kuenne's dead best friend snowballs into a gut-wrenching true-crime story.

A four-handkerchief documentary if there ever was one.

An undeniably shattering story, if forgivably shaky in its impassioned, therapeutic unfolding.

Know as little going in as possible. The film's tragedy predates Facebook and Twitter, but the rapid-fire way in which its memorials are edited and the scope of those offering them feels like social-network expression of grief - fast, immediate, unifying.

A powerful home movie about real-world evil and good

Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne set out to make a memorial about his best friend, Dr. Andrew Bagby, with the intention of giving the tribute to Dr. Bagby's son, Zachary, so the boy--unborn at the time of Dr. Bagby's brutal murder, would know about the father whom h

One hell of a heart-wrenchingly sad, blisteringly angry, profoundly heartfelt movie that dares you to walk away with a shrug and a glib quip.

Emocionalmente exaustivo. Nao, mais: devastador. Profundamente devastador.

The most ambitious work of its kind.

After it's through, a lot will have been said about friendship, injustice, and both faith in and letdown from the legal system, along with the intriguing thought that moral fortitude provides both its own punishments and rewards.

A documentary that never should have been made, this film is maudlin tabloid journalism thrown onto the screen. All we get in the end is a cry for revenge.

Long after the credits roll one will be rendered both empty and lifted by a bewildered family's sudden forbidden journey into the abyss of emotional darkness.

It's a brutal emotional experience.

Just take our advice and bring tissues. You're going to need them.

The phrase labor of love is so often tossed about, but Kurt Kuenne's emotionally wrenching documentary is absolutely that.

A slick account of ancient crevices in the human psyche rendered in cutting-edge cinematic style.

The most emotionally powerful film of 2008... as deeply personal as any film you will ever see.

A sincere heartfelt documentary about life, death and murder.

You have no idea how much harder Dear Zachary ends up hitting.

One of the best films of 2008.

a documentary of wrenching pathos