gabethurau

There were a couple of creepy visuals in the whole movie, but nothing really made me feel all that tense.

For anyone who is a fan of the horror genre, you have seen this movie before. Seriously. If you have seen the Autopsy of Jane Doe, you have seen most of this movie. Or if you have watched any of the dozens of Exorcist spin-offs, you don't need to watch this one.

There are many of the same tropes you'd see in a typical possession movie- but done lazily.

The acting wasn't terrible, but the writing and directing was uninspired and in no way scary or original.

All in all, this movie gets 3 stars for making me and my friends laugh at just how unnecessary the majority of the movie was.

I think what's most impressive about the movie is how well Sam Rockwell and Paul Walter Hauser worked together.

Another great aspect of the film was the exploration of truth from opposite spectrums:

Richard was an idealist who believed (still believes?) that authority and lawfulness is the highest form of good.

The FBI agent (Jon Hamm) and journalist (Olivia Wilde) found that absolute truth was irrelevant - instead, they opted for a "good enough" angle to fill the void left by the suspect at large.

It was interesting to see a momma's boy with arrested development stick to his guns and become the hero he had always imagined himself to be. Only for that to turn into a sobering nightmare about the non-fixedness of law.

Recently finished my second watch. I first saw Dear Zachary 6-7 years ago.

Although I was not as impressed with the directing this time around, the delivery is still effective. I still don't know what to make of a few of his directorial choices, but I think more than anything, I now understand that he tried to capture the emotions he was experiencing throughout the timeline of what happened.

So, the jump cuts and speedy dialogue ramping up in tempo. The red flashes of the camera (when everyone is seeing red), the calm waves and soothing music when there are melancholic remembrance from family members - all of it sometimes feels random, but so too are emotions.

As the filmmaker relives his grief and then is presented with brand new grief to interrupt the closure process, it all feels messy and visceral at certain moments- and that's arguably how it's supposed to be.

He get the random, racing thoughts of grief right. He gets the waves of calm that transfer to immediate anger right.

Overall I'm not so sure I agree with how he presented the...well you'll know when that bombshell drops...but overall, this documentary took a lot of work, heart, tears, sweat, editing, and care. It's definitely worth a watch.