Dick Johnson Is Dead

Kirsten Johnson's inventive docufiction project gets a sturdy transfer and some perceptive extras courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

Rather than positing better ways of processing death, this film celebrates our inability to do so: inventive as we are, we are no match for it.

For those who have watched loved ones fight a losing battle with Alzheimer's, the movie might seem unappealing, but Johnson's deeply compassionate, even hopeful tone could be a balm for her fellow grievers.

There is something pretty special about watching this family experience the subject of death together. Death doesn’t have to be a lonely, sad process; it can be one of joy, double fudge chocolate cake, and spending as much time as you can...