Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 11 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 39 Ratings

  • Summary: Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is a uniquely intense and personal documentary about the murder of Kurt’s oldest friend and the unbelievable legal and emotional madness that ensued. (Oscilloscope Pictures)
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 11
  2. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Reviewed by: Jenni Miller
    100
    Masterfully put together.
  2. Reviewed by: Scott Mendelson
    90
    The film's overall result is a document of towering, devastating emotional impact.
  3. Without becoming a screed for victims' rights, the riveting film shows how in the face of terrible events a grieving parent is galvanized into activism.
  4. Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    50
    The way Kuenne presents the material, with an aggressive style that lingers less than a second on most shots, it's impossible not to feel emotionally exhausted.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 17
  2. Negative: 2 out of 17
  1. Few films could posses this much content to make you so angry, then show you how you can put a stop to it. Kurt Keunne tells a daring, personal story about a family. At first, it has nothing to do with you, but by the end, it will be your business. Expand
  2. This piece of documentary is the most mind-blowing true-crime movie I have ever watched. It promotes not only the love in the family but also ones who're out there and truly love you for being you. This film shows how the devil like Sheril Turner still exists in the community and able to live with the normal people or the kindest people like Dave and Kate due to the rubbishness l of the legal system and public authorities in New Foundland.
    (Heartbreaking, Deavastating emotional impact, Gut-wrenching, Mind revolution)
    Expand
  3. BrandenR
    6
    People were going crazy over this movie. If this movie was just about Zachary. It would have worked. It just a horrendous way of film making. The overly dramatic music, the overlapping voices, talking head after talking head, the manic editing. It was tragic subject inside an awful filmmaker. Expand
  4. DylanL
    2
    The story here needed to be told: it is tragic and saddening. The storytelling is simply the worst I have experienced in years. Why this guy thought he had to create this pathetic atmosphere with the editing and music and the questions he asked is beyond comprehension. At moments where the story is genuinely shocking and you need some time to reflect on the enormity of what has happened this director is making a collage of soppy pictures in embarrassing sequence with terrible fake music and at one point trying to make his crap editing evoke rage when everyone needs a moment to take in something quite incredibly shocking. A very important story, ruined. Read the book by the Mr Bagsby instead. Expand

See all 17 User Reviews