Review of 'My Dead Dad': Making one’s bones after death
A grief-stricken woman takes her father for one last trip despite him being in an unusual condition.
My Dead Dad: Making one’s bones after death
Cast: Olivia Gray Konrath, Dr. David Hunt, Christopher Gray, Erin Konrath, Peter Gray, John Paul Konrath, Nicola Gray, Aquinnah Gray, Louis Gray, Lily Konrath, Emmet Konrath, Camryn Konrath, Trish Law (all as themselves)
Critic’s Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
Directors: Erik Osterholm, Abby Ellis
Duration: 25 minutes
Genre: Documentary Short, Comedy, Drama
Language: English
Release Date: 2024
What’s it about?
A grief-stricken woman takes her Dad for one last trip despite him being in unusual condition.
Review:
How does one come to terms with the death of a loved one? Well, here’s a most unusual documentary which presents a rather bizarre option. Playing out with equal doses of sentimentality and dark humour, this film has Olivia Gray Konrath inviting the audience on a peculiar family holiday. This trip includes herself, her brother Peter, her Aunt Erin... and her deceased father Christopher Gray!
Yes, her dead Dad is very much on the passenger list, but not in the form of a decaying corpse. Rather Olivia makes no bones about the fact that she is transporting the skeletal remains of the Dear Reparted. Forget about people embalming and preserving human bodies. This dead person has been stripped down to his calcium core. So is this in accordance with the old man’s wishes or is it his daughter’s idea?
Never really interested in her Dad’s profession as a critique of architecture, Olivia is now filled will the desire to make up for lost time. And going by the subject of this documentary, it’s apparently not too late to do so. Having studied the totality of concrete structures, Mr. Gray is now on his way to be studied by others. But before he reaches this destination, Olivia is determined to spend quality time with the bony entity.
By taking her Pop touring aboard different modes of transport, Olivia feels she is doing justice to what she calls his “quirky” personality. She even places occasion-appropriate attire on the lifeless humanoid, perhaps to draw out the colour and vitality that his living precursor was known for. There is even an odd but moving scene when Olivia introduces her bemused toddlers to their “Grandpa”.
One would think that forensic anthropologist - Dr. David Hunt - who completed the transformative treatment, would come under scrutiny by the authorities. But apparently this is too crazy a case to be deemed illegal. Regardless, this strange journey is one cathartic way to offset familial grief. Will this weird but emotional true story set a precedent for other people suffering from loss? And if ashes can be scattered, why can’t skeletons be going places as well?
