Brutal video shows what happens to our bodies seconds, hours and YEARS after we die

Daily Mail​

10-06-2025

A video revealing in unsettling detail what happens to the body after we die has gone viral on social media, attracting more than eight million views.
The animated clip was created by YouTuber Zack D.Films, who specialises in graphic 'explainers' on everything from nosebleed first aid to execution by insects.
It begins with the death of a man who is then enclosed in a coffin—and goes on to show the gruesome processes of decomposition that begin pretty much immediately.
The thousands of commentators seemed divided in their verdict on the video, with one post—which has had 37,000 likes—stating simply: 'Moral of the story: don't die.'
Another wrote: 'Seeing this with cancer felt insane...'
Others indicated they felt reassured: 'Thanks Zack I really needed this,' posted one. 'If there's more after this life, I hope it's beautiful.'
Speaking to MailOnline, experts, however, warned against 'blunt and dehumanising' descriptions of death 'intended to shock', and questioned the motives of Zack D.Films, who has more than 21 million subcribers on YouTube.
The clip begins 'the day after you die'—the heart has stopped, and, as the voice-over explains 'most of your blood settles in the parts of your body closest to the ground'.
'This causes purple and read patches to appear on the skin,' the voiceover continues.
The animation shows the blood flowing to the back of the deceased man's head and the rest of his body touching the base of the coffin.
It zooms into show the red and purple discolouration that appears as the blood settles in these parts of the body.
'Then bacteria and enzymes break down the organs, releasing gas that causes bloating,' it explains.
The green enzymes can be seen in the deceased man's intestines, which release gas that look like hundreds of tiny bubbles.
Previously, MailOnline report an account by forensic doctor from Texas, Mileida Bohórque, about what happens when she works with dead bodies.
The claimed the bloating and gas production can actually make the corpse appear to 'fart'.
At this point, the simulation becomes even more graphic and appears to show the man's skin disintegrating leaving nothing but a skeleton.
The voiceover explains: 'After a few weeks all of the organs and soft tissue including your eyes liquefy and your skin starts to fall off.
'And over the course of several years your remaining tissue continues to decay and eventually all that is left is a skeleton.'
This grim process is shown in gory detail as the eyeballs turn to liquid appearing to melt away in the horrifying simulation.
It may be upsetting to think about what we would like to happen to our bodies after we die, but the choices can impact how long this process takes.
If you opt to for being buried in a coffin, your body will start to decay within 12 months, taking up to a decade to fully 'skelontize', Daniel Wescott, director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University, told Live Science.
Without a coffin it can take five years according to Nicholas Passalacqua, an associate professor the Forensic Osteology Research Station at Western Carolina University—as insects and other elements can help the process more quickly.
It follows a rise in recent years of eco-friendly alternatives to burial and cremation from 'human composting' to 'water cremation'.
In human composting, bodies are placed on a bed of organic material such as woodchips, which speeds up decomposition and produces soil.
End-of-life 'doula' Anna Lyons, who works with families and individuals, helping them prepare for death, welcomed the idea of discussing death, but questioned Zack D.Films' way of going about it.
'Correct information is never a bad thing, but in my work at least, delivery of information is as important as the information itself—and the delivery of this is blunt and dehumanising,' she said.
'That's not to say it's not important to have it out there.
Things that provoke conversations about end of life, death, dying and grief are mostly a good thing.
'So many people now watch this kind of content—I guess it's the sensitivity of this particular short that I'd question.'
This month, MailOnline reported 'water cremations' also dubbed 'boil in a bag' funerals could be legally approved in the UK.
It involves rapidly decomposing a corpse in water and alkaline chemicals under high temperatures, leaving only liquid and bones.
The liquid, known as 'effluent', can go down the drain with other wastewater and bones that can be ground to ash for the bereaved owner to take home.
Advocates say the method is better for the environment, but others believe it is an undignified way to dispose of the dead.
Critics argue that dissolving bodies and disposing of the resulting liquid down the sewers along with other wastewater lacks dignity.
In certain religious and cultural communities, water cremation is barred due to its perceived desecration of the body
Dr Lian Lundy, a wastewater specialist at Middlesex University, said the biggest hurdle blocking it in the UK is social acceptability.
'Some people view it as basically mixing up my loved one with poo in the sewer and they don't like that,' she told the Telegraph.
In 2023, the Church of England announced they are considering these two alternatives to traditional burials and cremation with a consultation.
The method is now being considered in a new consultation into funerary methods by the independent Law Commission.