SF DocFest 2024: The Death Tour

The Death Tour follows professional wrestling hopefuls across remote Indigenous communities in Canada’s far North on ‘the most grueling tour in indie wrestling’. For weeks, these wrestlers travel across frozen lakes, sleep on floors, eat canned food and compete. It is a test of strength and grit that will show how far some are willing to go to live their dreams.

Wrestling insiders call this winter tradition the “Death Tour” – both for the physical hardships endured on the road and the emotional toll it takes on those who experience it. Famous for its star-studded alumni, the trip offers wrestlers a chance to see if they have what it takes to make it in pro wrestling. The Death Tour is a meditation on the inner strength some discover when alone, exhausted and pushed to the limit. This deeply personal documentary travels through Canada’s frozen North and into the wrestlers’ minds as they battle the elements, each other, and the impacts of our colonial past. The wrestlers and their fans come together over their shared love of wrestling. They’re both fighting for their futures and searching to heal themselves along the way.