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Morgan Dews’ documentary “Must Read After My Death” is so unique that I can't compare it to anything else I've seen. The subject matter in and of itself is far from unique; it’s essentially a portrait of a troubled marriage and a family on the verge of emotional collapse. Compelling and heart wrenching, but hardly unheard of. The way the film is edited, however, is another matter entirely; Dews constructs a narration track from a comprehensive series of Dictaphone letters, phonograph messages, and reel-to-reel diaries, most recorded by his grandmother, Allis, throughout the 1960s. There are no interviews with family members, friends, or associates, nor are there instances of people in the present day looking back on their lives; in spite of the fact that the audio recordings are spliced together, Allis is essentially allowed to tell her own story, and she does so in the moment.

The film begins with phonograph messages, which were recorded as a way for Allis and her husband, Charley, to communicate during his extended business trips to Australia. What they say to each other is surprisingly candid, more so, I suspect, than many married couples could tolerate. Both are unflinchingly honest about their extramarital affairs; “You probably don’t really quite agree with my philosophy on love and sex,” Charley says early on, not seeming to care one way or the other about how his wife feels. Allis, meanwhile, is stuck in her Hartford, Connecticut home with four children. She loves them, certainly, but by her own admission, she was never the domestic type. It makes you wonder, then, why she wanted to get married and have children in the first place.

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