DiCaprio’s “Death Boom”: Is Hollywood Coming for Deathcare?

Last week, Deadline broke the news that Leonardo DiCaprio, Eli Roth and their respective production partners are teaming up on an exposé documentary about the deathcare profession. Directed by Jessica Chandler, Death Boom is described as pulling back the curtain on the “catastrophic mental and environmental impacts” of contemporary death care as 77 million baby boomers approach end of life.

According to the film’s synopsis, “Death Boom will examine embalming, cremation and traditional burial through the lens of workers preparing for what it frames as a tidal wave of deaths, while also exploring alleged political, religious and corporate corruption that it says stands in the way of greener options. Roth, who narrates and produces, has said he and Chandler have wanted to make the film for more than 20 years, calling it an effort to expose “environmental horrors” and the “poisoning of our bodies and land.” 

He also insists it is “not an attack on an industry,” but rather an attempt to understand how we got here and how to move forward. However, Roth says that the group “spent years finding brave people willing to speak on camera, revealing the poisoning of our bodies and land that contaminates our water, air, and food.”

For those who don’t follow Hollywood closely, DiCaprio’s production company, Appian Way, has a track record of socially conscious documentaries, including Fin, which targeted shark finning and reportedly contributed to policy changes.

If the goal of Death Boom is to use worst-case scenarios, outdated practices, or bad actors, deathcare might be in for a few months of public scorn and/or scrutiny that might echo the initial impact of Jessica Mitford’s 1963 book “The American Way of Death.” The scandals at Sunset Mesa, Return to Nature, Davis Mortuary, and, most recently, Camelot in Mt. Vernon, New York haven’t helped.

But if it truly explores greener methods being “blocked” from broader legalization, that opens the door to more conversations about what is and isn’t permitted from state to state, why certain regulations exist, and how many funeral professionals are already innovating.

According to last week’s release, the documentary is in production, but doesn’t have a release date … yet.