I only feel compelled to write about this in attempt to try to make sense of it in my own head. If you haven’t seen the film Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, it is one that leaves you emotionally disturbed, questioning life, and looking for justice. Kurt Kuenne made this personal documentary film, about his childhood friend Andrew Bagby who was murdered at age 27 by his ex-girlfriend Shirley. Kurt initially decided to make this film as a tribute to his best friend. The two grew up together and Andrew was always featured in Kurt’s films. When Kurt found out that Shirley was pregnant with Andrew’s baby, the film’s purpose evolved into a message for Andrew’s son Zachary, about his father’s life. I have to say; I heard nothing about this film before seeing it, and I was entirely surprised how the tragic events wreaked havoc on Andrew’s friends and family and how things somehow took a turn for the worse. I felt like this much evil could not exist, that this wasn’t something that could happen in real life. And yet, it did, and it does. This film takes us into the lives of people affected by murder. Andrew’s parent’s not only lost a son, but also had to patiently wait as his murderer was let out of jail on bail, as she retained custody of their only grandchild. Despite their fear that Shirley would harm the child, they continued to wait, hoping for the day when she would be accused and put behind bars and they could have custody of their darling grandbaby. That day never came. The goal of this film eventually became to change policy in Canada, to prevent something this horrible from happening again. The goal of the film became to show people what happened, and to motivate them to push for change, to make the world a safer place.

I’ll let you see for yourself what happens, but this film left me surprised, hurt, outraged, scared, and searching for understanding. I still can’t quite understand it, but I try to look at the positives. This film reveals that despite experiencing incredible loss, people can uplift others. They can fight for change, and save others. There is still hope. As I was watching this film I thought that if this happened to me, I would want to kill myself, but Andrew’s parents demonstrate that love brings hope despite the evil in this world. They show their selflessness in not killing themselves because they know it would be devastating to all the people who care about them. If these people can keep on living, anyone can. Even though it hurt to watch, I’m glad I saw this film because it made me really appreciative of all the love and the people I have in my life.