Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is a 2008 American documentary film conceived and created by Kurt Kuenne.
Kuenne’s close friend Andrew Bagby was murdered by Shirley Jane Turner after he ended their tumultuous relationship. Shortly after she was arrested, she announced she was pregnant with Bagby’s child, a boy she named Zachary. Kuenne decided to interview numerous relatives, friends, and associates of the dead man and incorporate their loving remembrances into a film that would serve as a cinematic scrapbook for the son who never knew him.
I finished watching this documentary last night at 2:11am. It had been recommended to me by my friend Braden about a year ago. But I have a tendency to put recommendations off for a long time for one reason or another. I don’t know why I’m like that. But last night I felt compelled to start and finish it, and I’m so glad that I did.
Now it’s my turn to recommend it to anyone who hasn’t taken the time to watch it yet. I feel like I shouldn’t go into any further detail but to say that it is a film that is definitely worth watching.
Martin Tsai of the New York Sun said the film “has so many unexpected developments that it plays like a first-rate thriller … and the film is so unsettling that it will stay with viewers for a long time.”
