Documentaries About Death
When I Die: A Two Week Conversation
This video chronicles Philip Gould’s last two weeks of life. “My life regained a kind of quality and power that it never had before,” says Gould. “It entered a new zone . . . the death zone.”
Click here to watch the video.
On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying
This four-part, six-hour series produced by Bill Moyers and PBS goes from the bedsides of the dying to the front lines of a movement to improve end-of-life care.
Click here to watch video clips of “On Our Own Terms.”
Consider the Conversation
Produced and Directed by Mike Bernhagen and Terry Kaldhusdal
This documentary sheds light on death, a natural life event that many avoid talking about. Throughout the film, there are intimate accounts of the emotional, spiritual, physical and social burdens associated with the historical shift that has occurred with dying. Forty years ago, most people experienced a quick death, but today we are more likely to face a slow, incremental dying process.
Click here to read more about Consider the Conversation.
Dying At Grace
Produced and Directed by Alan King
Five terminally ill cancer patients allowed the director access to their final months and days inside the Toronto Grace Health Care Center. The result is an unflinching, enormously empathetic contemplation of death, featuring a handful of the most memorable people ever captured on film.
Click here to go to Alan King’s website, then click on “The Collection” and “Dying At Grace.”
Last Rights: Facing End-of-Life Choices
Produced by Karen Cantor & Chris Gavin.
Family members of four terminally-ill patients share personal stories about their loved ones’ choices. The film offers insights into the complicated and emotional process surrounding final decisions in life.
Click here for more details about Last Rights.
Life Before Death
Produced by Moonshine Movies
This award-winning documentary series takes us to 11 countries, offering an intimate, hopeful and life-affirming collection of stories about living well and dying better, inspiring us to make the most of every moment in our life before death.
Click here to read more about Life Before Death.
The Undertaking
Produced by: PBS FRONTLINE, Miri Navasky & Karen O’Connor.
Thomas Lynch, 58, is a writer, poet and a funeral director. He lives in a small town in central Michigan where he and his family have cared for the dead — and the living — for three generations. Lynch agreed to allow cameras inside Lynch & Sons, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the funeral business, from funeral arrangements to the embalming room.
Click here to watch The Undertaking.
Living Old: End-of-Life Decisions
Produced by PBS FRONTLINE, Miri Navasky.
Americans over the age of 85 are now the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. Medical advances enable an unprecedented number of us to live longer, healthier lives. But living longer can also mean a debilitating physical decline that often requires an immense amount of care. And just as more care is needed, fewer caregivers are available to provide it. This documentary film explores the new realities of aging in America.
Click here to watch Living Old: End of Life Decisions
Movies About Death
Bucket List
2007: Two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
1994: Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love.
Big Fish
2003: A son tries to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths he told about his life.
What Dreams May Come
1998: After dying in a car crash a widowed man searches the afterlife for his wife.
Departures
2008: A newly unemployed cellist takes a job preparing the dead for funerals.
Beginners
2010: A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.
Charlotte’s Web (Original)
1973: A spider with a flair for promotion pledges to save a young pig from slaughter.
Charlotte’s Web (Remake)
2006: Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.
Funny Movies About Death
Death at a Funeral (British Version)
2007: Chaos ensues when a man tries to expose a dark secret regarding a recently deceased patriarch of a dysfunctional British family.
Death at a Funeral (U.S. Version)
2010: A funeral ceremony turns into a debacle of exposed family secrets and misplaced bodies.
Little Miss Sunshine
2006 A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.
Harold and Maude
1971: Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.
Death to Smoochy
2002: Kids show host Rainbow Randolph is fired in disgrace while his replacement, Sheldon Mopes, aka Smoochy the Rhino, finds himself a rising star. Unfortunately for Sheldon, the kid’s TV business isn’t all child’s play.
Eulogy
2004: A black comedy that follows three generations of a family, who come together for the funeral of the patriarch - unveiling a litany of family secrets and covert relationships.
Weekend at Bernie’s
1989 A pair of losers try to pretend that their murdered employer is really alive, but the murderer is out to “finish him off.”
Weekend at Bernie’s II
1993 Larry and Richard use a voodoo revived corpse to track down hidden money to clear their names.
