Recently, I experienced a death in the family, and while helping to arrange the funeral and burial, I found myself confronted with the surprisingly complex—and often costly—logistics that surround death. It’s a reality most of us rarely discuss, let alone prepare for, until we’re forced to experience it firsthand. Those experiences were fresh in my mind when I sat down to watch a documentary at Tribeca that promised to examine the business of death in America. More than that, the film explores a looming demographic shift that could place unprecedented strain on an already burdened system, as 1.75 billion Baby Boomers worldwide are expected to pass away over the next fifteen years.
Directed by Jessica Chandler and narrated by horror auteur Eli Roth, Death Boom begins by laying the groundwork with a brief history of humanity’s steadily increasing population, culminating in the post-World War II Baby Boom (The world population is expected to reach 10.4 billion by 2100). From there, the film examines the immense strain the COVID-19 pandemic placed on the systems responsible for death care and burial, exposing just how unprepared they were to handle such overwhelming volume.
Rather than simply raising concerns, the documentary connects the dots and begins exploring potential solutions to the challenges ahead. As the massive Baby Boomer generation ages, the film argues that the death-care industry is approaching a critical tipping point. It’s not just a matter of morticians and funeral homes processing an unprecedented number of bodies; there are significant environmental concerns as well. Traditional burials require increasingly scarce and costly land, while cremation contributes to air pollution and carbon emissions. One flame cremation is estimated to produce 535 lbs of CO2 or the equivalent of a 609 mile journey in an average sized car. These realities reveal the limitations of our current approaches and underscore the need for innovative alternatives.
As Death Boom guides viewers through the $23 billion dollar yearly business and industry of death care in America, Chandler highlights a number of environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional burial practices. These range from natural burials in green cemeteries, where bodies are laid to rest unembalmed (Over 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid are leaked into the environment every year.), to human composting, which transforms remains into nutrient-rich soil. The film also explores alkaline hydrolysis, often referred to as water cremation. Given that the human body is roughly 60 percent water, the process feels surprisingly intuitive and is significantly less taxing on the environment than conventional flame-based cremation. (It takes 30 gallons of fuel to cremate someone)
While Roth injects the expected dose of gallows humor whenever possible, the documentary’s message is ultimately one of education, conservation, and sustainability. Beneath the darkly comic observations lies a sincere argument that how we care for the dead should be considered just as carefully as how we care for the living and the planet they leave behind.
What I found most valuable, however, was the film’s educational component. Death and burial remain topics many of us avoid discussing until circumstances force us to confront them. When that moment arrives, families are often tasked with making deeply personal and financially significant decisions while navigating grief. Death Boom demystifies an industry that most people know very little about, shedding light not only on the costs involved but also on the wide range of options that now exist beyond traditional burial and cremation.
Given that death is an inevitability we all must face, Death Boom should be required viewing—not just for its sobering look at the business of death, but for the thoughtful conversation it sparks about how we choose to leave this world behind for our loved ones. Having recently experienced the loss of a family member and helped navigate the realities of funeral planning firsthand, I can say there’s a surprising amount most people simply don’t know until they’re forced to learn it. In its brisk and surprisingly entertaining 85 minutes, Death Boom sheds light on an industry that operates largely out of sight, offering valuable insight into everything from costs and logistics to the environmental impact of our choices. It even takes the time to explain why many of our burial traditions exist in the first place, giving viewers a greater understanding of practices that are often accepted without question.
Death may be inevitable, but ignorance about it doesn’t have to be. Death Boom is an informative, fascinating, engaging, and unexpectedly empowering documentary that encourages audiences to confront one of life’s certainties before it becomes someone else’s burden.
Death Boom gets it right: we can’t keep torching bodies with 28 gallons of fossil fuel each. The film shows the real alternatives — water cremation, human composting, and green burial — and the question is which one is ready for 77 million Boomers. Here’s what the trailer doesn’t tell you: one system can now deliver all three. Full disclosure: I build the machines. Our patented FC440 (Fireless Cremation®) gives every family three green choices from a single gentle, flameless process: 🌱 Fireless Burial — a true return of 100% of the body to be regenerative to the earth, no casket, no vault, no cemetery plot, no land wasted. 🌿 Fireless Organic Reduction — without the 30+ days and warehouse footprint of body composting facilities. Fireless Cremation — pure white remains returned to the family, MORE than flame cremation gives back, and never commingled with strangers (yes, that happens — watch the film). And unlike the slow 1990s-era water cremation copies on the market that run 8–20 hours per cycle, the FC440’s patented wave-motion process finishes in a fraction of the time with less water, less energy, zero flame, zero smokestack, and zero mercury. The person’s essence is sterile and returns nutrients to the earth instead of poisoning it. The Earth gives FirelessCremation.com two thumbs up.