Gates of Heaven

Gates of Heaven is a perversely enjoyable film about the American funeral industry. Oh, wait, we forget to tell you. The services shown herein are pet funerals. Anything can happen in Southern California, but even longtime residents of that cloud-cuckoo land may not be prepared for the unctuousness of the funeral directors and the obsessive grief of the dear departed's loved ones. The film zeroes in on two pet cemeteries: one thriving, one unsuccessful. Wisely, filmmaker Errol Morris does not editorialize, nor does he betray any condescension towards the real-life people seen in Gates of Heaven.