Dick Johnson Is Dead

PG-13

2020

1 hr. 29 min.

Documentary

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99%

101 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

A filmmaker and her elderly father stage his death in various ways to help them face his inevitable demise.

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Critics Consensus

Dick Johnson Is Dead celebrates a life with bittersweet humor and grace, offering a deeply resonant perspective on mortality in the bargain.

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Jeff M

This is a documentary that will hit many different people in many different ways depending on their past and present life experiences. Without getting too personal, in some ways I am living out a bit of what is happening in this movie and found parallels that are eerily accurate, including a need to help figure out the TV that happened just a few hours earlier today. As a result, this was a rather extraordinary experience for me. I'll be honest - when I first read the description of this movie, it sounded a bit off kilter, and I think it could have gone terribly wrong in numerous ways. But director/daughter Johnson is a smart cookie and finds a beautiful balance between the pain and the humor. While I expected to be moved - and I most certainly was - I was surprised by how often I smiled and laughed throughout. And it helps that Dick Johnson is just the loveliest man ever, a kind and gentle soul whose smile lights up a room and whose spirit is inspiring to us half his age. There are moments here I will truly never forget, and I'm not being hyperbolic. I think this will touch anyone who has gone through or is going through the experience of having an elderly parent or parents. Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, I'll be thinking of Dick Johnson for a long time to come.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

Jerry K

Other than the staged death scenes (which were fun), the film is simply boring and unentertaining. This would have worked much better as a short film.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/29/23

Full Review

Donald J

Darkly comedic and emotionally tear-jerking at the same time, cinematographer-turned-director Kirsten Johnson creates a hilarious and welcoming atmosphere in Dick Johnson that documentarians will do well to follow in the future.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/08/23

Full Review

Oscar Javier N

It is really a beautiful documentary that hits a chord in terms of the relationship we have with the inexorable aging and an intimate look at Alzheimer's. Really a film that tells in a humorous way the inevitable farewell of our parents

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is a morbid yet quite profound documentary, for those not ready to face or accept death, it can be quite daunting and disquieting, however Dick and Kirsten through their feeling of acceptance, were able to somehow make the whole idea of death comforting and tender. This documentary shows how significant the present is, the little moments matter and they stay with us forever. It can be quite a hard topic to watch, but the producer was able to make it bearable with little splashes of humour, love, acceptance, friendship and peace.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

tom e

Very creative project, mostly well done though I thought some of the skits were over-played. Perhaps for me the topic was too close to my path and the emotional memories impacted me too much to appreciate the actual movie.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Kirsten Johnson

Director

Dick Johnson

Self

Nels Bangerter

Screenwriter

Katy Chevigny

Producer

Marilyn Ness

Producer

Megan Ellison

Executive Producer

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Dick Johnson Is Dead: Trailer 1

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Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

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

Feb 9, 2022

Full Review

Hannah McGill

Sight & Sound

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.

Feb 7, 2021

Full Review

Tim Grierson

Screen International

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.

Feb 7, 2021

Full Review

Ryan McQuade

InSession Film

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...

Apr 4, 2024

Full Review

Amy Smith

InSession Film

In what is easily the best documentary of 2020, Kirsten Johnson is able to approach a subject matter such as the inevitable death of her father, Dick Johnson, and have fun...

Mar 1, 2024

Full Review

Greg Carlson

Vague Visages

Johnson brilliantly arranges and organizes the vignettes that account for her unique 'living obituary.'

Feb 7, 2024

Full Review

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Synopsis

A filmmaker and her elderly father stage his death in various ways to help them face his inevitable demise.

Director: Kirsten Johnson
Executive Producer: Megan Ellison
Screenwriter: Nels Bangerter
Production Co: Netflix, Big Mouth Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Macabre Images|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 2, 2020

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