I understand I am a little late to the party on this one, and I'm relatively glad that I didn't see this until 10 years had passed since my own brother took his life (instead of just 4), because I would probably hold a lot more anger in my heart for those that made this film. When you live through something like that, you always have that notion of the hard reality of suicide lurking in the back of your head. A so-called documentary of a man's decision and final journey isn't a voyeuristic journey to you, it is maybe an answer. Maybe a little more understanding about something that blew a hole that will never heal through your family and through your life. You hope for a little more closure than you had before watching. Instead, you get an awfully- acted, completely scripted, contrived, pretentious piece of garbage that feels so good about itself because it tries to bring some kind of awareness to the dark and uncomfortable subject of suicide? I'm guessing that is the point? But it's also why I ask why. Why was this produced? I'm giving a benefit of the doubt here and will go on this: perhaps the director, writer or producer was personally affected by suicide, and this is a coping mechanism (although it seems really unlikely, given the mess they created). If that's the case, I'll give them a pass. Everyone deals with their own demons. If that's what they needed to do, then so be it. I guess maybe it raises some awareness? Doesn't seem like it to me, but maybe it reaches some people. However, if they are trying to bring some kind of awareness to a subject they are pretty clueless about (which kinda seems to be the issue), then they should realize they created an insulting piece of trash that does nothing to even try to create an understanding on such a painful subject, and completely succeed in sucking any kind of substance out of a person who would contemplate such an end to his or her own life. I mean, really. Boo. Hiss. I can't believe this film had such positive reviews. Why?

So when it comes to Daniel Stamm films, the first I saw was the Last Exorcism. I undervalued this film because I saw it in theaters (The only of Stamm's films to go to theaters) and because it was during the whole string of horribly made unoriginal "exorcism" movies. After watching again, it actually isn't that bad. His newest film "13 sins" is based off a foreign film but is by far his BEST and way better than the Last Exorcism and A Necessary Death.Anyways, this review is about A Necessary Death (obviously). I definitely suggest a watch, because it is engrossing and gives an interesting fake documentary take on suicide in the genre of "horror." I said I would not include spoilers in this review, but the only place the movie fails is within the fact that a little over halfway through, you know EXACTLY how the film will end and the plot-twist/"oh wow" moment will unfold. Literally about 45 or 50 minutes into the movie, I said to myself, "Oh, well *this* (to avoid spoilers) will happen and the credits will roll." Sure enough, that it was exactly what happened. Overall an above average movie. Definitely worth a watch! Unfortunately, it is just PREDICTABLE. Like I said, give his newest film "13 sins" a chance and it is definitely his best piece to date.

A short premise is a film crew are making a documentary about suicide, and they are following someone around, documenting the persons final days being alive, showing how this person lives, getting to know the person, the persons family, reasons why, etc. All up until their final act, suicide. The film is made as a 'found footage' film, or made to look as real as possible.I think there were some 'twists' added into the flow of the story that weren't needed. Ones that made it seem as more of a 'theatrical' story. Some of them were a bit mediocre, and just in my opinion, could have been left out to make the film flow a bit better.The one thing that really threw my train of thought off, was the ending. I won't spoil the ending they used, and please don't look up detailed info on the film if you are planning on seeing it/buying it. But the ending they used in the final cut of the film, was unnecessary and was again, a bit 'theatrical', which put me off, and my reaction would have been a lot better if they hadn't used it. It took away from the 'real' feeling the film is supposed to give. I say this because, on the DVD, there is an alternate ending. The alternate ending should have been the final ending of the film, not the one they used. The alternate ending made a much better end to the story and film, and made much more sense.Overall, I do recommend seeing this, just don't read too much on it, some things may get a bit ruined if you do.

I saw this movie at the SXSW film festival, and I found it to be a fascinating, nuanced examination of many interesting issues: the relationship between filmmaker and subject, the ethics of suicide, and much more...however, one thing about this film really makes me angry: It is essentially being marketed as a documentary, a la "Blair Witch Project", but it is in fact a work of fiction. This movie is good enough to stand on its own, but I guess for publicity purposes, they are trying to fool people into going to this movie thinking it is real--which cheapens the movie significantly.I would recommend the film, but I hope that people realize going in that it is not a documentary--it is emotionally powerful enough without resorting to such cheap shock tactics.