Profoundly disturbing and at the same time, oddly moving, Mommy Dead and Dearest chronicles one of the strangest mother/daughter relationships on record, ultimately leading to a shocking murder. The most amazing thing about this film is that the story is told by the actual participants in the murder — and presented in a pastiche of selfies, taped police interrogations, surveillance video, and prison interviews, making the viewer feel almost as if they are present as the crime is committed and in its immediate aftermath. Unlike so many of today's documentaries, this one eschews the endless drone shots flying over the scene of the crime, the lingering but meaningless long shots of empty streets and wilting flowers. The focus is 100% on the principals of the story. The editing is lean and clean. This is documentary filmmaking at its finest.
Review of Mommy Dead and Dearest
