For all their ambition, sometimes films that take an unusual approach to storytelling don't work terribly well. Morgan Dews' family memoir, "Must Read After My Death," which draws heavily on tapes and films his grandmother left behind is an exception.

When Dews' grandmother Aliis died in 2001, she left behind a trove of Super 8 home movies and audio tapes that recounted her life and her family's story. These tell the story of Dews' family.

Initially, we get the sense theirs is everyone's story: a family celebrating birthdays and parties and the ups and downs of life together.

But as the film unfolds, without an external narrator, we realize that Allis -- who endured her husband's drinking and philandering -- and her family knew a lot about pain. One of her sons was wrongly committed to a mental institution, for example.

Many viewers will immediately think of "Capturing the Friedmans," and there are similarities, but that film felt like it chronicled a really different family. Here, we get the sense that if Dews' family is not our family, it is likely our neighbor's.

For the filmmaker, the movie wasn't optional. Once he heard the tapes and saw the films, he was drawn in.

"When I heard them I was pretty shocked. It was the first time I ever heard my grandfather Charley's voice, In fact, Allis had adamantly refused to talk about him," he's said.

"When I listened to the tapes, they clearly revealed that my grandparents had had an open marriage from the time they got married in '46. I asked my mother about it, and she sort of looked at me blankly and said, 'I thought you knew...'."

He also thought the story had lessons for others.

"My feeling was that the issues my film deals with -- marriage, infidelity, alcoholism, raising children, psychiatry and psychoactive prescription drugs and women's roles in society -- are still extremely contemporary."

"Must Read After My Death" opens digitally everywhere on Friday.

The public can access the film at giganticdigital.com beginning Feb. 20 at 9 a.m. The film opens theatrically in New York on Friday, too. An unlimited viewing ticket is $2.99 and is valid for three days.