Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) Poster

Parents Guide

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Certification

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Certification

Sex & Nudity

  • There is nothing sexual
  • A photo visible for about a second contains a naked baby in a hospital setting. Not sexual, but is still nudity.
  • Comedic sexual references occur mainly in the first half of the documentary. Examples of these references are; discussions of "the pill", yelling about male genitalia, a joke about a man kissing his male friend. More serious sexual references comes in the allegations of a person being sexually crude, show with videos of the person being physical with theirs partner, and a couple discuss their attempts to become pregnant.
  • A woman makes allegations that an elderly couple were feeling a baby inappropriately. The same couple also make a statement how they could be child predators, but is used as an example to prove a point rather than a confession.
  • There is no sex or nudity in this film

Violence & Gore

  • A couple reminisce about planning to kill themselves.
  • There is a casual reference to how a person wanted to "wring his neck" in frustration. This is a joke.
  • A man discusses his desire to kill a woman. He describes his fantasy of going to the woman as his wife is sleeping and kill her, returning home without his wife knowing. He ultimately did not kill her.
  • Lots of discussion about acts of murder.
  • Actual photos from the crime scene are shown towards the end of the film. They aren't extremely graphic, but some blood is visible.

Profanity

  • 14 uses of "f*ck" (plus 2 written), 10 uses of "b*tch", 4 uses of "ass" or "asshole", 2 uses of "goddamn", and 1 use of "sh*t", "bastard" and "christ" each.
  • There is cursing in this movie (8-10 F-Words).

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

  • Photographs show people drinking and with cigarettes.
  • Some scenes involve characters drinking beer in a harmless fashion.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • This film is not graphic, but it is very emotional in nature. Many scenes in this film may enrage or mildly disturb viewers.

Spoilers

The Parents Guide items below may give away important plot points.

Violence & Gore

  • The discussion of Andrew Bagby's murder is intense. Early in the documentary it is described in detail, illustrated by clips of Andrew as a child as well as phone calls from his alleged murderer. Later in the film, images of the body are shown (although it may be a dramatic recreation), where closeups of his bloody head, body and crotch are shown flashing between image and a black screen, so they can be easily missed.
  • Murder-suicide is discussed containing a baby.
  • It is stated that a "mentally fit" woman had attempted suicide before, and while imprisoned was placed under suicide watch.

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

  • Near the end of the film, a major character uses prescription drugs to kill herself and another.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • The documentary includes emotional details surrounding the death of a 13 month old baby. This includes a close-up shot of his face when his body was in a casket.
  • Dear Zachary is a very depressing film, with moderate discussion of a woman committing suicide with a baby strapped round her chest. The discovery of this is INCREDIBLY SHOCKING AND DEPRESSING and will 100% make you cry, especially knowing what the politicians said about the murderer (who was apparently not mentally ill). After the discovery, some incredibly intense and distressing music plays as images off a newspaper is shown in red as the screen violently shakes, making it more depressing.
  • An elderly couple describe their experience and regrets from cremating their son, and how they rectified the mistakes with their grandson. Extremely emotional.

See also

Taglines | Plot Summary | Synopsis | Plot Keywords


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