{"id":42528,"date":"2026-07-13T00:45:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/?p=42528"},"modified":"2026-07-13T00:45:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:45:41","slug":"death-boom-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/movies\/death-boom-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"DEATH BOOM: Caskets, Cremation, Composting, or a Pizza to Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Thanks to DEATH BOOM, it\u2019s nice to know that filmmaker Eli Roth has not one, but two preferred methods for disposing of his earthly remains. The first is human composting, preferably with a pizza tossed in alongside him. The second is a bit more elaborate: put his rotting corpse inside a Zoltar machine on Hollywood Boulevard where, for the price of a quarter, the curtains part to reveal his decomposing body complete with bugs, fungus, and rot.<\/p>\n

Leave it to Eli Roth to put the fun in funeral.<\/p>\n

But leave it to Roth, director Jessica Chandler, and the fascinating new documentary DEATH BOOM to also find the inevitable connection between the Baby Boom and what is now the unspoken \u201cDeath Boom.\u201d All of us born during the Baby Boom years are now entering the Death Boom years, with more than one billion people projected to die over the next 15 years. The problem is that our current funeral and death care systems aren\u2019t prepared for what\u2019s coming. And neither, it seems, are many of us.<\/p>\n

Narrated by and featuring Roth, DEATH BOOM dives into the business of death, examining not only the traditional funeral industry but the physical, financial, political, religious, and environmental considerations surrounding what happens to our bodies after we die. And while that may sound morbid, DEATH BOOM is anything but. Eye-opening, informative, thought-provoking, frequently surprising, and thanks to Roth, often wickedly funny, the documentary encourages us to start thinking and talking about something that every one of us will eventually face.<\/p>\n

There is only so much ground available for cemeteries and traditional burials. One fascinating segment addresses the stacking of caskets, with graves dug deep enough to accommodate double- and even triple-decker burials. But land availability is only one part of the equation, and DEATH BOOM quickly opens the door to questions about the expense and sustainability of conventional funerals, embalming, burial, and flame cremation.<\/p>\n

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A real strength of DEATH BOOM is the range of death care professionals, funeral personnel, scientists, advocates, and innovators with whom Chandler and Roth speak. Equally important is how these individuals are presented. Rather than relying solely on a parade of formally staged talking heads, Chandler takes us into their respective environments, giving us a tangible sense of who these people are, what they do, and the different approaches being developed for handling the human body after death.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, the first half of DEATH BOOM moved a bit slowly for me, largely because of my own longstanding curiosity about funeral practices and the amount of information I have already devoured on the subject. For those unfamiliar with the mechanics and economics of death care, however, much of this material may prove revelatory. Nevertheless, some tightening in the first half could give even greater breathing room to the documentary\u2019s increasingly fascinating second half.<\/p>\n

And fascinating it is.<\/p>\n

Beyond traditional casket burial and flame cremation, DEATH BOOM explores alternatives such as natural organic reduction\u2014human composting\u2014water cremation, and natural or green burial without a traditional coffin or burial vault. The deeper the documentary digs, the more intriguing it becomes, challenging long-held ideas about what we are \u201csupposed\u201d to do with a body after death and asking whether there may be more economical, environmentally responsible, and personally meaningful alternatives.<\/p>\n

Structurally, Chandler and Roth smartly divide the documentary into almost chapter-like sections devoted to different aspects and methods of death care. But DEATH BOOM does not stop with the mechanics of what happens to a corpse. It ventures into the political, religious, financial, and environmental forces surrounding death and the resistance to newer alternatives.<\/p>\n

Particularly interesting is the intersection of politics and religion, including a segment involving proposed Texas legislation concerning alternatives to traditional burial and flame cremation and the opposition such measures can face. The documentary also raises intriguing questions about the influence of established institutions and industries when new death care practices threaten longstanding traditions and financial interests. The Catholic Church, with its extensive cemetery holdings in the United States, figures prominently in this discussion and left me wanting the filmmakers to dig even deeper into the financial and political dynamics at play.<\/p>\n

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Equally compelling are the environmental considerations. Embalming involves chemicals and bodily fluids that must ultimately be disposed of, while traditional flame cremation creates emissions and consumes significant energy. By placing these issues alongside newer alternatives, DEATH BOOM encourages us to consider not merely what happens to us after death, but what our chosen method of disposal may leave behind for the living and for the planet.<\/p>\n

For the more squeamish among us, be forewarned: this is an Eli Roth documentary about death. Yes, there are corpses. Yes, there are close-ups of body parts and decomposition. And yes, we even visit a body farm where actual human remains are studied in various stages of decay. \u201cBones\u201d fans may recall the series venturing into similar territory, albeit with some fantastic makeup effects. Here, the bodies are real.<\/p>\n

But Chandler never allows the documentary to become oppressively grim or gratuitously grotesque. Animation and graphics add welcome visual color and a lighter touch, helping make the information accessible while balancing the inherent starkness of death and decomposition. As the documentary moves into its final third and explores composting and natural burial, Brennan Full\u2019s cinematography becomes increasingly verdant and warm, visually reinforcing the idea of the body returning to the earth rather than simply being sealed away from it.<\/p>\n

Editor Chris Cavanagh does first-rate work weaving together an enormous amount of information, personalities, procedures, politics, science, and humor. The editing is clean, cohesive, and varied, complementing both Chandler\u2019s chapter-like construction and Full\u2019s equally varied cinematography. While the first half could benefit from some tightening, the second half is chock-full of compelling information and ideas that leave you wanting even more.<\/p>\n

And then there is Eli Roth.<\/p>\n

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Roth is the perfect guide through DEATH BOOM. His calm voice and easy cadence as narrator and interviewer give the documentary a welcome accessibility, while his innate curiosity and macabre sense of humor prevent the subject from ever becoming funereal. He is engaged, inquisitive, respectful, and frequently very funny, particularly when he gets physically involved in exploring his own postmortem possibilities.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to human composting.<\/p>\n

There is something wonderfully, quintessentially Eli Roth about watching him climb into a human composting vessel and then becoming positively delighted upon learning that, when his time comes, he can apparently take a pizza in with him.<\/p>\n

But beneath the humor is the real achievement of DEATH BOOM. This is not simply a documentary about dying. It is a documentary about choice\u2014how we choose to leave this world, what happens to our bodies when we do, what our deaths cost those we leave behind, and what impact our final decisions may have on the planet.<\/p>\n

The Baby Boom changed the world.<\/p>\n

Now the Death Boom may change the way we leave it.<\/p>\n

And if Eli Roth has anything to say about it, apparently we can take a pizza with us.<\/p>\n

Directed by Jessica Chandler<\/p>\n

Narrated by and Featuring Eli Roth<\/p>\n

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by debbie elias, 07\/01\/2026<\/p>\n

DEATH BOOM is currently on the festival circuit.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n