LOS ANGELES — The loss of a loved one is never easy, and having to plan a funeral and deal with skyrocketing costs of a burial doesn’t help.
A new documentary, “Death Boom,” is shining a light on the current funeral system — a system that isn’t ready when, in the next 15 years, over a billion people are expected to die.
The film explores other options that are not burial or cremation and reveals who is keeping the funeral systems in place alive and why. “Death Boom” reclaims the end of a life with humanity, sustainability and the right dose of dark humor.
“We would like people to know there are beautiful alternative methods of body disposition that are not currently legal across all the states for no real reason,” film director Jessica Chandler told Spectrum News. “We want audiences to know they have a choice, and they need to know what entities are blocking these greener methods from being legalized in their state… from them having a choice of how they want to be disposed of. We want to empower people.”
For Chandler and film producer and narrator Eli Roth, one of the most shocking revelations in the film was learning the chemicals used for body embalming end up in our sewers, which then make it out to the oceans. There is no specialized filtration system for it; it just goes into the drains.
“Through your body, poison all your guts… into the drain, into the ocean… the end,” said Roth. “That shocked me. And then when I found out the same for cremation… I had no idea how much gas it was for a flame cremation. And your ashes commingle.”
Roth pointed out that the process for water cremation is a much cleaner alternative, but it is illegal to pour out the water into a garden, for example, versus dumping out the liquids and chemicals used for embalming into the drains that lead to the oceans.
While human composting has been legalized in some states like California starting in 2027, it remains illegal in other states like Texas.
“Once Texas does it, everyone does,” said Roth.
Chandler told Spectrum News that the Catholic Church has a powerful political voice.
“They really need to let go of the power they continue to hold onto with a death grip about what someone does with their body after they die. It’s none of their business,” she said.
Roth also added that a push needs to come from the parishioners, and they need to lead the way.
“God designed our bodies to naturally return to the soil and to naturally break down,” he said.
For Chandler and Roth, the more they filmed, the more the acceptance of their roles on Earth became clear — to someday return to it and try to do as little damage to it as possible.
“Death Boom” had its premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Festival.
Click the video above to watch the full interview.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source spectrumlocalnews.com ’
