We has compiled a list of impactful documentaries that reveal how animals are exploited across various industries and how their rights are routinely violated. These films question the assumption that animals exist for human use and often also explore the environmental and health consequences of animal-based industries.
Some of these documentaries are available to stream for free online, while others can be found on Netflix, a platform used by approximately 65% of Australian households.
For additional films, you can also explore resources such as vegmovies.com.
Dominion
Dominion exposes the realities of modern animal agriculture in Australia, particularly focusing on animals used for food, while also addressing industries such as clothing, entertainment, and scientific research. It challenges the notion that animal use can be “humane” and reveals the routine violence involved in these systems.
Content warning: contains graphic and disturbing footage of animal suffering.
Earthlings
Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, Earthlings provides an in-depth examination of humanity’s use of animals across food production, clothing, entertainment, and scientific experimentation. It offers an uncompromising look at how animals are treated as resources within these industries.
Content warning: includes extremely graphic footage of animal suffering.
Seaspiracy
Seaspiracy investigates the global exploitation of marine life, revealing how entire industries rely on treating fish and other sea animals as commodities. It questions whether this system can truly be made sustainable and highlights the extensive suffering hidden within it.
Content warning: includes scenes of animal killing and environmental damage.
Watch on Netflix
Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home
Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home follows individuals who grew up within animal agriculture industries and later began to question the use of animals, eventually choosing to reject it. Through personal narratives, the film shows how recognizing animals as sentient beings can lead to profound changes in worldview.
Content warning: although much of the film includes positive footage from animal sanctuaries, it also contains disturbing scenes from animal exploitation industries.
Carnage: Swallowing the Past
Carnage: Swallowing the Past is a satirical film set in a future where humans no longer use animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Presented as a retrospective documentary, it reflects on a past era in which animal use was normalized and questions how such practices were ever socially accepted.
A review by Vegan Australia explores how the film challenges cultural norms surrounding animal use and envisions a society that has rejected such practices.
Content warning: satirical references to historical animal exploitation and depictions of past violence toward animals.
Eating Our Way to Extinction
Eating Our Way to Extinction explores the global environmental consequences of using animals for food, including habitat destruction and large-scale impacts on both human and non-human populations. It argues that these systems are a major driver of ecological degradation.
Content warning: includes scenes involving environmental harm and violations of human and animal rights.
Watch now (also available as a 35-minute summary version)
Cowspiracy
Described as “the film that environmental organizations don’t want you to see,” Cowspiracy examines the environmental impact of animal agriculture and questions why many major organizations avoid addressing the issue directly. It highlights the significant environmental damage associated with animal-based food systems.
Content warning: includes brief scenes of animal suffering.
The Game Changers
The Game Changers follows elite athletes and explores performance on a plant-based diet. It challenges common assumptions about protein intake and physical strength, demonstrating that animal products are not necessary for high athletic performance.
Watch on Netflix (availability may vary by region)
You Are What You Eat
The Netflix series You Are What You Eat follows identical twins participating in a controlled dietary study comparing omnivorous and vegan diets. It examines measurable differences in health outcomes under carefully monitored conditions.
Forks Over Knives
Forks Over Knives investigates the relationship between diet and chronic disease, focusing on the effects of animal-based foods on human health. It presents research suggesting that many chronic conditions can be prevented or improved by adopting a whole-food, plant-based diet.
What the Health
What the Health explores connections between diet, disease, and major health institutions, raising questions about the influence of industry on public health messaging. It argues that animal-based foods are widely promoted despite potential health risks.