Art imitates life, and that includes when life comes to an end. Movies are chock-full of tragic deaths and valiant deaths and the deaths of many Disney mothers (seriously, Disney, why?). While some deaths simply serve the purpose of working for the plot or showing the defeat of a great evil, some deaths mean much more than that.
Plenty of movies and shows take the opportunity to teach something centered around the theme of death. Some of the ideas are more comforting; some of them are a little more difficult, but all of these messages are important nonetheless. Death is a part of our reality, but it doesn’t have to be a debilitating aspect of existence. Movies show the truth of life and death in a way that broad audiences can grasp and relate to.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Paramount Pictures
This movie from the late 1970s centers around Joe, a quarterback getting ready to lead his team to the superbowl. Unfortunately, his time is cut short when his guardian angel thinks he’s about to be hit by a truck and removes his soul from his body. The mistake comes to light in the afterlife and Joe is allowed to make up for his lost time by taking over the body of someone else who died on time, and ends up choosing to inhabit the body of a multimillionaire. Joe is able to do some good with his new status and influence, and is able to still support his team as a sponsor. Throughout the film, he reconnects with his coach and even begins to fall in love with an environmental activist. Heaven Can Wait is a movie full of perseverance, betrayal and plotting, and a bit of romance too– but all of that is framed by the themes of death and life. This movie shows that everyone’s time is limited, and we never know when we might have to go. We should be working hard to reach our dreams and meet special people and do some good while we have the chance. Even though death may not be the end-all in a way, as this film toys with ideas of reincarnation, we still need to make the most of the life we know we have.
Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
Buena Vista Pictures
Arguably one of the most beautiful but gut-wrenching children’s films, this movie has a lot to say about death. The story centers around young Jesse, an aspiring artist from a poor family, and his new neighbor Leslie, who is practically his only friend. The two of them venture into the woods one day, swinging across a stream on a rope in a tree branch, and find an abandoned treehouse. They create their own imaginary world out there that they call Terabithia, and many of the monsters and creatures they meet resemble real-world people from their lives. Tragically, their time as friends is cut short when Leslie goes to Terabithia alone while Jesse is on a day trip with their music teacher. The rope above the stream snaps, and Leslie ends up drowning in the water. At a memorial for her, Leslie’s father tells Jesse that she loved him, and he was the best friend she’d ever had, as she’d never really been able to make friends in their old town. Jesse feels responsible for her death and imagines some of the monsters from Terabithia chasing after him; when he breaks down, his father tells him he has to honor his friend by keeping her memory alive.
This film is a heavy one because it shows the fragility of life, and that even kids have to deal with loss. But it also shows how we can keep our loved ones with us even when they’re gone. Keeping people’s memories alive is a way to keep them close and to help ourselves continue on without them. While this movie is heartbreaking, it has a valuable message that it makes accessible to a younger audience.
Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004)
Hallmark Entertainment
Adapted from a book written by Mitch Albolm, this movie is about an old handyman named Eddie, who dies at the carnival he’s working for when he saves a small child from danger. When he reaches the afterlife, he’s still full of questions about his life and the difficulties he had to face. To help answer his questions and guide him through, five people from important moments in his life, are there to join him and show glimpses of his past. Eddie remembers some of these people more than others, but all of them were part of vital moments in his life that impacted who he became and showed how he impacted others. The film shows the interconnectedness of life and people, and how the lives of others are affected by death – such as the death of Eddie’s army captain that was killed by a landmine, which would have killed all the men in their unit if he hadn’t set it off. Five People You Meet in Heaven shows that every life and death has a meaning and purpose. Every moment in our lives leaves an impact on the world around us right up until our final moment.
Umma (2022)
Netflix
This horror film has a lot of important themes and messages in it. While the movie is haunting in more ways than one, it also reveals how trauma and culture can impact death. Umma centers around Amanda, a Korean woman who lives in an isolated house with no electricity as a beekeeper, along with her teenage daughter. When an old relative arrives unexpectedly at Amanda’s house to tell her that her mother has died, and leaves her with her mother’s remains, things take a turn for the worse. Amanda was still already struggling with night terrors and panic attacks rooted in the trauma from her abusive mother, but the presence of her remains invites more anxiety and the manifestation of a ghost into the home. Her daughter tries to understand what her mother is dealing with and why, but Amanda keeps everything to herself. Only when she opens up about the truth of her trauma and grows to understand her mother – but not forgive her – is she able to banish the ghost from her house and truly begin to heal. Umma reveals how death doesn’t erase the past, nor does it mean someone is gone from our lives. The death of someone that was once close to us can stir up a lot of emotions and memories, and this movie shows that only by facing those aspects of our past can we come to terms with our struggles and the death that we are facing.
Death at a Funeral (2007)
MGM Distribution Co.
A charming and more comedic look at death, this film offers a lot for viewers to be entertained by as well as lovely impactful moments. The movie begins with attendants from a funeral home bringing a casket into the house for the service; when the main character, Daniel, looks inside to say farewell to his father, he informs the workers that it is not his father in the casket, and they’ve brought the wrong man. The attendants leave to rectify the situation, bickering all the way back to the hearse. From there things only get more ludicrous. Daniel is struggling to connect with his brother Robert, a famous author, who isn’t helping pay for the funeral even though he knows his brother is trying to save up for a place to live with his wife. A friend of theirs takes what he thinks is a Valium for his nerves, but is actually a hallucinogenic drug created by his girlfriend’s drug-dealing brother. The shenanigans continue when Peter, played by Peter Dinklage, demands money from the brothers in exchange for keeping the secret that he was their father’s secret gay lover.
Throughout the story everyone is dealing with their own slice of the chaos while trying to mourn. As the funeral service struggles to get started, the characters are grappling with their personal relationships, their aspirations, and the brothers grapple with the fact their father wasn’t the man they thought he was. Overall, Death at a Funeral shows to audiences how death can, in a strange way, bring people together. Death can spur reconciliation and realization in a unique way that forces friends and family to learn things about themselves and who they want to be.
Coco (2017)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
One of the most beautifully animated and meaningful animated movies from Disney-Pixar, Coco makes the idea of death and the importance of family accessible to a younger audience. The story revolves around Miguel, a young boy who wants to be a musician even though his family forbids it because the great-grandmother Coco was abandoned by her father when he went off to be a musician. Miguel attempts to enter a music competition on dia de los muertos, and tries to steal the guitar from famous player Ernesto’s mausoleum in hopes it will help him win. Instead, Miguel is transported to the world of the dead, where he meets his ancestors.
They tell him he has to get back to the world of the living before sunrise, or he will remain dead forever. He goes to look for Ernesto, who he believes is the ancestor that abandoned Coco, so he can get a blessing to be a musician. Along the way, he meets Hector, who wants Miguel to put his picture on an ofrenda, so he can be remembered by the living and won’t disappear from the world of the dead. Along the way, they realize that Hector was his ancestor, that did not in fact abandon his family as they believed, but that he was actually killed. Miguel is able to return to the living world and his family, where he connects with his ailing great-grandmother Coco by singing one of Hector’s songs. She starts to tell stories about him, ensuring that the rest of the family will know and remember him and that his memory will never disappear. This film shows the importance of connection and how we should remember our loved ones, keeping their memory alive long after they are gone.
