Exit Here embeds with one London funeral home guiding bereaved families through grief, and the terminally ill through their last days, as they plan final farewells. Interweaving stories of love and loss that build to bespoke celebrations of life, this honest exploration of death shows us how to live.
SYNOPSIS
Death is universal, inevitable, and yet largely unspeakable. In the UK, less than a third of adults have discussed their end of life wishes with anyone, and less than 5% have a funeral plan. As a result, funerals are often somber black polyester affairs that fail to reflect the humanity, individuality, and beauty of each life lived.
But one London funeral home offers a bold new approach. Led by former nightlife impresario and restaurateur Oliver Peyton, Exit Here works with both the bereaved and the terminally ill to plan surprisingly joyous farewells: a New Orleans jazz band concert in the forest, a Doctor Who-themed service on the Thames, or a bonfire under the night sky. Beyond the funeral itself, they offer a monthly bereavement group, somatic breathwork sessions, and a service to reimagine the inherited clothing of lost loved ones.
Above all, Exit Here offers its families a chance to transform grief and despair into an unexpected celebration of life itself — to honor with intention, and in doing so, to bring comfort and strength to those left behind.
This film uses Exit Here as a lens to examine the cultural taboos we hold around death and the universal questions they conceal. What changes when we acknowledge death openly? How can truly celebrating a life reshape our experience of grief? And how does planning for death transform the way we live, here and now?
Director Statement
On Christmas morning, my family sat around the table in tears of laughter, sharing how we’d like to be “dealt with.” I opted to be taxidermied in a corner to keep an eye on my husband’s future wives. My father wished to have his ashes sprinkled by a paraglider, requesting that we leave the windows open so he can “sprinkle in and ruin our breakfast.”
My whole life, these morbid discussions have allowed us to use humor to tip-toe around the subject of death. But recently, our family has come face to face with it.
My father was diagnosed with ALS four years ago, a fatal illness with an average life expectancy of 2-5 years. While this time has been the most challenging, it has also been the most beautiful.
In the specter of death, our family found a new thirst for life. Every occasion has become a cause for celebration. I know when the day inevitably comes, his funeral will be one, too.
When I came across Exit Here, I immediately felt connected to their approach — celebratory, warm, and with humor baked into the name. It will be an enormous privilege to enter our participants’ lives (and deaths) to make a film that embodies what I have learned over the past few years and explores what I have yet to discover.
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Director Gabriela Cavanagh
Gabriela Cavanagh is an award-winning London-based documentary director, producer, editor, and cinematographer. She developed the film Exit Here, inspired by the celebration-of-life approach her family has adopted since her father’s ALS diagnosis five years ago. Gabriela made her feature documentary debut in 2025 with Rebbeca, a cinematic immersion into the mind of Becky G — one of this generation's most powerful voices in Latin Music. Rebbeca premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, was released in 500+ theaters by Trafalgar Releasing, and was acquired by Netflix. Previously, Gabriela directed the independent festival-favorite short films “Sustained Outrage” (PBS), “OtroLado,” and “Manuel.” Her producing and editing credits include the Emmy-nominated second season of Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi (Hulu), the feature documentary Wicket (Frameline49, Audience Award for Best Documentary), and the short form series NightGowns with Sasha Velour (Quibi), which was lauded by the New York Times as “among the most life-affirming shows you could find on any platform.” Gabriela was recently selected from thousands of applicants for the 2026/27 Netflix Documentary Talent Fund.
Producer Alison Joy
Alison Joy is a New York-based producer and writer of nonfiction stories. After her mom died suddenly of late-stage multiple myeloma while Alison was in college, she found herself navigating funeral preparations, grief groups, and well-meaning friends and family who didn’t quite know how to talk about the whole thing. She has created work at Academy Award®-winning production companies including Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, Liz Garbus's Story Syndicate, and The Documentary Group for outlets such as HBO, Netflix, and The New York Times. Her credits include the smash hit Salt Fat Acid Heat (Netflix), the feature documentary Light Darkness Light (VICE Films, Sheffield DocFest), the short film “The Spiritual Exercises” (New York Times Op-Docs), the top-charting documentary podcast Svetlana! Svetlana! (iHeartRadio), the docu-series Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War (Amazon), and the documentary short “A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere” (Berlinale, Silver Bear Jury Prize). She is currently in production on a slate of independent films, as well as a Netflix series with Story Syndicate.
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