Justin Schein’s documentary Death & Taxes is a compelling exploration of wealth, inheritance, and the American Dream, viewed through the lens of the estate tax. The film chronicles Schein’s father, Harvey Schein, a self-made CEO who rose from Depression-era Brooklyn to corporate success, whose obsession with shielding his wealth from taxes nearly fractured their family. By weaving personal narrative with broader economic commentary, the film examines how inherited wealth and tax policies can perpetuate inequality and threaten democratic ideals.

Premiering at the 2024 DOC NYC, Death & Taxes garnered critical acclaim, earning the Audience Award Runner-Up. It was subsequently featured at the 2025 Florida Film Festival and the Daddying Film Festival & Forum, where it won the Judges’ Prize for Best Documentary Feature. It will open at IFC Center in New York on July 18 and at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on July 25th. Many other cities will follow.

Here is the synopsis: Filmmaker Justin Schein’s father, Harvey Schein, liked to say he lived the so-called ‘American Dream’ – rising from poverty in Depression-era Brooklyn to great financial success as one of America’s top CEOs of the 1970s. But Harvey Schein, who ran the American arm of Sony for many years, also spent the last 20 years of his life fixated on trying to keep his hard-earned wealth from the taxman – an obsession that almost broke the Schein family apart. More broadly, inherited wealth and the tax system that shields it have badly distorted American democracy, perpetuating racial and economic inequity in the country.

Filmed over more than 20 years and weaving intimate family footage with interviews with prominent experts from all sides of the debate, Death & Taxes tells this crucial story through the tale of one American family.

In a statement, Justin Schein said “My family’s story gives me a unique lens on this issue. Death and Taxes examines whether it’s fair to allow wealth to accumulate for the lucky few while inequality deepens, threatening democracy itself. Is the estate tax unjust double taxation or a necessary check on inherited privilege? And what does this mean for the American Dream?”

Watch the trailer for Death & Taxes.