Should you watch Gates of Heaven?
Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.
Gates of Heaven
Documentary · 1978
A showcase of workers in the animal burial industry while dealing with heavier existential questions regarding mortality and the afterlife. Floyd 'Mac' McClure believes that a graceful burial is as important for pets as it is for people; he chronicles his struggles to keep his niche business afloat, and interviews several of his associates and one of his competitors, the manager of a rendering plant.
The sides of Gates of Heaven
- A man who believed pets deserve graceful burials
- Two pet cemeteries in California
- A rendering plant manager
Gates of Heaven is good for you if…
- you like the true story of a small pet cemetery business fighting to stay afloat.
- you can laugh and wince at grief over dead pets at the same time.
- you like Errol Morris letting ordinary people talk until they reveal themselves.
Gates of Heaven is bad for you if…
- you need momentum and not long talking heads.
- you find 1970s documentary footage dated.
About: mortality · the afterlife · grief
Closest to Gates of Heaven
More like this
Salesman 1969Good for you if you like watching real door-to-door salesmen at work in 1960s America.
Blue 1993Good for you if you like a film that is only one colour and a voice.
Grey Gardens 1976Good for you if you like spending time with Big Edie and Little Edie as they are.
Shoah 1985Good for you if you want the Holocaust told by those who were there.
Into the Abyss 2011Good for you if you like Herzog's quiet questions and the long answers they get.
Tabloid 2011Good for you if you like laughing at a true story so strange it sounds invented.