Roth talks to PEOPLE about narrating and producing 'Death Boom', a powerful new documentary about a crisis facing the death care system
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NEED TO KNOW
- Eli Roth explores the environmental impact of the funeral industry in the documentary Death Boom, premiering June 9 at Tribeca Festival
- The film highlights the challenges posed by the more than one billion Baby Boomer deaths predicted in the next 15 years
- Roth collaborated closely with director Jessica Chandler to balance the heavy subject with humanity and dark humor
After nearly 25 years of killing people onscreen, horror filmmaker Eli Roth was literally surrounded by death while producing and narrating Death Boom, a powerful new documentary about a crisis facing the funeral industry that is making its debut at the 2026 Tribeca Festival.
With a large number of Baby Boomers — those born between the mid-1940s and 1964 — expected to die over the next 15 years, the funeral industry faces a crisis: over a billion dead people in need of various services. Many of those services, according to the documentary, have lasting impacts on the environment and Earth's natural resources.
Per an official synopsis, the documentary directed by Jessica Chandler "dives deep into the business of death, revealing who's keeping it alive, and why. With unprecedented access and bold voices leading a new movement, Death Boom reclaims the end of life with humanity, sustainability and just the right dose of dark humor."
"This is the single greatest environmental crime that affects all of us that no one's talking about," Roth, 54, tells PEOPLE, recalling how he pitched this project to producer Leonardo DiCaprio. The two previously worked together on the 2021 shark-focused documentary Fin. The Thanksgiving director adds, "It's on such a large scale; it affects the entire population of Earth."
Credit: Courtesy of Brennan Full
Because of his own passion for the issues covered (and potential, eco-friendly solutions offered) in Death Boom, Roth says it was necessary that he took a hands-on approach. "Jessica and I have a longtime friendship, so it made sense for us to be on camera together having these conversations," he says, explaining that because he has a relationship with horror movie fans and the subject of death, he felt like there would be "a certain level of trust" established between him and the audience.
"They know I'm not just putting my name on something and letting someone else do it," Roth continues, noting "that I'm actually going to these places, not to the extent that Jessica did, but going to them, sitting down with subjects, talking to them and then narrating."
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As a result, Roth was quite literally surrounded by death while visiting sustainable funeral homes alongside Chandler — something very different from the bloody sets of Cabin Fever, the Hostel franchise and Ice Cream Man.
"To me, it's a magic trick. When you get together, it's like Halloween when we're doing a death scene. We're all pretending because it's foam, latex and rubber. It's all fake," he says of being on set, whereas this is real. "The subject is so heavy."
And, he adds, he has "the utmost respect" for Chandler's complete immersion in the subject matter: "She described to me what she went through when she went to the mortuary service. She walked through, and the people are putting in the bodies and the ashes. Seeing it was a lot for her."
Credit: Courtesy of Brennan Full
"It was intense for my crew," Chandler says. "They really got in there with me. Again, it was very shocking at first, but I will say that everyone in our film — and I would say most of the funeral directors take such good care and love with everybody that they have — it's still a lot."
She continues, "It's one thing seeing the dead bodies, but it's another thing when you speak to the families who have lost people. That's a whole other level. And I think that's where it becomes difficult. That's definitely, I think, the worst part."
Given those added layers of emotion, Roth says it was important to find a balance between the seriousness of the subject and entertaining audiences with something captivating to watch. "How do you do it with a light touch that engages the audience without people feeling like you're making fun of it? Because gallows humor is something we all do," he says.
"But we found that if you went too heavy with it, it's like, 'I can't even watch this. This is painful,' " he adds. "So we wanted something that would be entertaining and engaging and help people just shift their perspective on death, because it is amazing that we have choice in everything in life except what we do with our body."
Death Boom premieres at the 2026 Tribeca Festival on Tuesday, June 9, with additional screenings on June 10 and June 13.
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