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A Certain Kind of Death

Play trailer Poster for A Certain Kind of Death 2003 1h 9m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Through interviews with various Los Angeles County morgue employees who calmly confront death on a daily basis, as well as actual scenes of corpses being worked on, this documentary examines what happens to the bodies of people who do not have family or friends to manage a funeral or cremation. The movie unflinchingly and starkly details how bodies are found and processed at the coroner's office, and shows what happens to a person's belongings afterward and how corpses are cremated.

Critics Reviews

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Pablo Villaça Cinema em Cena Sep 11, 2006
4/5
Um olhar detalhado e curioso sobre uma jornada burocrtica e mrbida. Go to Full Review Film Threat Dec 6, 2005
4/5
Bill Gibron DVD Verdict Jul 5, 2005
95/100
Instantly taking its place in the canon of stirring, seminal documentaries, A Certain Kind of Death is destined to be remembered... Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Jan 17, 2005
B-
A strange documentary that visits the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Go to Full Review Joshua Tanzer Offoffoff Feb 5, 2004
3/4
It's just like 'C.S.I.' only without the stars, without the glamour, without evil geniuses, cat-and-mouse games and chases. In short, without the 'C.' Go to Full Review Film Threat Mar 23, 2003
4/5
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Audience Reviews

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Jerod S @jeroduptown Sep 12, 2025 LA coroners pick up and deal with bodies with no next of kin. See more Oaklee D @ODie63 Apr 2, 2025 An unflinching and incredibly bleak look at what happens to people in America who die with no next of kin. Definitely eye opening yet some people may find it confronting and hard to stomach. See more Nov 2, 2020 Absolutely stunning movie. The makers of the film are never heard from themselves, but the visual story telling work is wonderful. Not for the faint of heart but definitely worth the watch See more Jan 19, 2017 Interesting... lol!! See more Mar 31, 2016 Death is all too often hidden from us in today's world. Here's a bunch of cameras aiming to resolve that. This is what documentaries are all about- cameras and the truth, whether it's what we want to see or not. See more Mar 8, 2015 Obviously low budget, but with great pacing and some utterly shocking moments and imagery, A Certain Kind Of Death is crude and unbiased in its portrayal of what happens to the deceased who are not claimed by their families, and it leaves the viewer thoughtful and haunted by the shocking and srangely interesting process. See more Read all reviews
A Certain Kind of Death

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Cast & Crew

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Grover Babcock

Director

Blue Hadaegh

Director
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A Certain Kind of Death

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Movie Info

Synopsis Through interviews with various Los Angeles County morgue employees who calmly confront death on a daily basis, as well as actual scenes of corpses being worked on, this documentary examines what happens to the bodies of people who do not have family or friends to manage a funeral or cremation. The movie unflinchingly and starkly details how bodies are found and processed at the coroner's office, and shows what happens to a person's belongings afterward and how corpses are cremated.
Director
Grover Babcock, Blue Hadaegh
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 9m
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