Must Read After My Death (2007)
76%RT Audience Score: 58%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Morgan Dews’ “Must Read After My Death” is a haunting and mesmerizing documentary that delves into the secrets of a broken family in the rigid 1950s suburban world. With a strong female voice that gives us chills from beyond the grave, the film is a searing and intimate account of an unconventional woman struggling not to lose her identity or her sanity. Dews beautifully and authentically captures and constructs poignant, tender, angry, hypnotic, innocent, taunting, honest, and true moments that are both haunting and troubling. The film is a therapeutic transformation of home movies into visual art that leaves much of the nonsense in place, not explaining or rationalizing, but showing that such inclinations can be as disturbing as the chaos they seek to fix. Overall, “Must Read After My Death” is a polarizing family secrets drama that is both enticing and revealing.
If you’re looking for a documentary that will make you feel all the emotions, Must Read After My Death is the one for you. Critics are calling it haunting, mesmerizing, and even therapeutic. It’s like a family secrets drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next revelation. And let’s not forget the strong female voice that gives us chills from beyond the grave. So grab some popcorn, get cozy, and prepare to be taken on a wild ride through the unconventional world of a 1950s suburban family.
Production Company(ies)
Miramax, Shooting Gallery
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
2007
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:NA
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
documentary, family, secrets, dark, unconventional, woman, identity, sanity, 1950s, suburban, stay-at-home moms, well-behaved children, sparkling-clean houses, searing, intimate, home movie clips, audio recordings, Morgan Dews, directed by Morgan Dews, written by Morgan Dews, produced by Morgan Dews, Alison Palmer Bourke, executive producer, Paul Damian Hogan, original music, reviewed by Nell Minow, Mark Holcomb, Ben Kenigsberg, Peter Rainer, Betsy Sharkey, Amy Nicholson, Richard Propes, Chris Barsanti, Susan Granger, Rick Kisonak, Cynthia Fuchs, Michael Sragow, genre: documentary, box office performance: N/A, budget: N/A, MPAA rating: N/A, starring N/A, producer: Morgan Dews
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Morgan Dews – Writer
Alison Palmer Bourke – Executive Producer
Morgan Dews – Producer
Paul Damian Hogan – Original Music
Director(s)
Morgan Dews
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Morgan Dews
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (5)
February 18, 2012 | Rating: A-
Nell Minow
Movie Mom
TOP CRITIC
November 18, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Mark Holcomb
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 2/5
Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
An unsettling portrait of a broken family.
March 2, 2009 | Rating: B+
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor
TOP CRITIC
A searing and intimate account of an unconventional woman struggling not to lose her identity or her sanity in the rigid 1950s suburban world of stay-at-home moms, well-behaved children and sparkling-clean houses.
February 27, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Betsy Sharkey
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Like other family doc gothics, the heart of the suburbs is-gasp!-black as bile; unlike them, however, this has a strong female voice that gives us chills from beyond the grave
February 26, 2009 | Rating: A-
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly
TOP CRITIC
These moments, beautifully and authentically captured and constructed by Morgan Dews, are poignant, tender, angry, hypnotic, innocent, taunting, honest, and true.
September 17, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
A polarizing family secrets drama whose moment of revelation is continually diverted in favor of enticing new fragments of the truth…
March 23, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com
It’s haunting and troubling, therapeutically transforming home movies into visual art.
March 8, 2009 | Rating: 7/10
Susan Granger
SSG Syndicate
It’s mesmerizing.
February 26, 2009
Rick Kisonak
Film Threat
As it makes narrative sense out of experience, it also leaves much of the nonsense in place, not explaining or rationalizing, but showing that such inclinations – by doctors, husbands, and even mothers – can be as disturbing as the chaos they seek to fix.
February 26, 2009
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
I applaud Gigantic’s desire to bring independent-film distribution into the new-millennial cutting edge. But I’ll judge its success only after the company has streamed more real, live movies.
February 26, 2009
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun…
Plot
After a relative dies, a family uncovers dark secrets about their unconventional and troubled past through home movie clips and audio recordings in the documentary “Must Read After My Death.”
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about Must Read After My Death.
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