When science redefines death, what does it mean to live? 

A four-part limited series

Lucid Dying follows world-class researchers, patients, and the radical findings of emerging science to reveal that death isn’t a binary—and what lies beyond may reshape how we live.

From the creators of After Death, the highest grossing documentary of the decade, comes a bold new cinematic adaptation of New York Times bestselling author Dr. Sam Parnia’s groundbreaking look at what happens to us when we die, based on the largest-ever research study of its kind.

Series Format: 4 × 45-min premium episodes with Episodes 1-2 able to combine into a 92-min theatrical feature for a first-window event release (“make-once / window-twice”)

Genre DNA: Clinical thriller meets cinematic vérité. Hard science, intimate testimony, and stylised recreations

Logline: When cutting-edge medicine collides with the moment of death, Dr Sam Parnia and a global network of scientists race to map—and potentially reverse—the grey zone between life and oblivion

Why now?

  • Opportunity for firsthand coverage of NYU’s upcoming scientific attempt a historic resuscitation, including experiments showing brain activity hours after death.

  • Adaptation of the most comprehensive book on near-death and post-death science ever written.

  • Unprecedented cinematic access to new clinical research, ethical debates, and survivor testimony.

Episodes

Episode 1: The Threshold

Death isn’t an instant, it’s a process.

Adapt scenes directly from Parnia’s firsthand ER experiences, explore CPR history and how definitions of death have evolved, and give viewers a crash‑course history of CPR & ECMO.

Episode 2: The Grey Zone

Consciousness after flat-line

Showcase the real-life “lucid dying” state, drawing from testimonies and EEG/brain data, including BrainX & OrganX experiments dramatized with cinematic metaphor, as well as RED (Recorded Experiences of Death) testimonies.

Episode 3: The Neutral Curtain

Should we really be measuring the unknowable?

Covering and understanding of debates at NYU, exploring the paradoxical lucidity in dementia, and discussing organ‑donation dilemmas. Should we revive the dead if we can’t promise life?

Episode 4: The Return

If death can reverse, how then should we live?

Hear from real-life survivors of Recorded Experiences of Death, discuss Dr. Parnia’s own mortality date of October 2051, feature legal and ethical implications from Parnia’s closing chapters.

Visual Style

Verité and Metaphor

lucid sequences, sensory visions, space-time analogies

Explanation and Artistry

visualize data as stylized animations layered over monologue

Rigor and Beauty

clinical-thriller aesthetic while maintaining scientific inspiration

Case Studies

  1. Real-time EEG during cardiac arrest, showing gamma bursts and coherent memory

  2. Survivor from multi-organ failure describing a life-review matched to Lucid Dying RED typologies

  3. Include controlled lab reenactments based on Parnia’s data

Distribution & Audience

Distribution:

  1. Theatrical Event (Feature Cut): Limited-engagement window via Fathom or specialty distributor to spark press & medical-community screenings. 

  2. Global Streamer Premiere (4×45): Landing 45–60 days post-theatrical

  3. Academic & CME Licensing: Packaged lesson plans + RED data visualizations for med-school curricula. 

  4. Impact Campaign: Partner with American Heart Association & ICU societies to integrate resuscitation-science advocacy.

Audience:

  • Mainstream doc audiences Ages 28-65: Gravitates to true-science thrillers (Limitless, Huberman Lab).

  • Medical Community: Emergency & critical-care professionals seeking frontier protocols.

  • Scientific Skeptics & Thinkers: Audiences of Sam Harris, Lex Fridman, Andrew Huberman podcasts.

Tone: Emotional, hope-filled, introspective, curious, empirical but open

Target: Netflix, NatGeo, Apple, Amazon Prime, HBO, Theatrical + SVOD

Meet the Team

  • Steven Gray

    EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - CREATIVE

    Stephen Gray is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker based in Winnipeg and the director of After Death, the most commercially successful documentary of the decade. He is currently producing a feature documentary with Amazon Studios.

  • Sam Parnia, MD, PhD

    EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - SCIENTIFIC

    Dr. Parnia is a critical-care doctor and researcher at NYU Langone, known for his work on resuscitation science and near-death experiences. He is the leader of the AWARE studies at the Parnia Lab and the NY Times Bestselling author of Erasing Death and Lucid Dying.

  • Jason Pamer (p.g.a.)

    PRODUCER

    Jason is a member of the Producer’s Guild of America and has produced multiple theatrically-released documentaries with NY Times Bestselling authors about poignant stories around human trafficking and climate change. His latest film, After Death, is the highest grossing faith-based doc of all time.

  • Eric Esau

    SERIES DIRECTOR

    Eric is an American film director known for the docu-narrative feature film The Heart of Man, which screened internationally in 800 theaters across 30 countries. He is currently in post-production on The Story of Everything, set to be released next year.

  • Douglas Haines

    PRODUCER

    As COO at Mew Studios, Douglas has developed and produced hundreds of commercials, advertising spots, and international PR announcements for major brands in Fortune 500. His latest film, Saturn, has secured wide distribution for wide release later this year.

Learn more.

Read a mini-act based on the real-life experience that put Dr. Parnia on a path to understand what it means to really “die.”