Top 10 Vegan Documentary Films that Will Inspire You to Give up Meat

Documentaries are not just a means of entertainment. They are an effective medium to propagate your ideology, bring awareness in the society and take your cause before a wider audience. But it’s not too often that we come across such thought provoking movies that compel you to rethink your food habits and question the lifestyle you are accustomed to right from your childhood. So, here is VeganSouls pick and summary of the top ten vegan/vegetarian movies and documentaries that can have a profound impact on what you buy and consume – from the perspective of health, environment and ethics.

Here’s are pick of the Top 10 Vegan Documentaries of 2017-2018

1. Earthlings (2005)

Directed by Shaun Monson and narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, Earthlings is a documentary film by Nation Earth that portrays the pathetic treatment of animals. The 95-minute documentary uses hidden cameras to bring to you shocking footage of what goes on behind the closed walls of the meat industry.

Official Film website: Earthlings.com

Watch the Earthlings video trailer below:

2. Vegucated (2011)



Vegucated is a socio-comical documentary about 3 omnivore New York guys who plan to go vegan for six weeks for weight loss and other health benefits. But during their vegan journey, they uncover the dark side of animal agriculture, and all of a sudden find themselves against the very industry they patronized a few weeks before.

Official Film website: GetVegucated.com

Watch the trailer for Vegucated below:

3. Live and Let Live (2013)



This beautiful documentary by Marc Pierschel interviews several vegan proponents and explores the health, environmental and ethical reasons for adopting a vegan lifestyle. It tells the stories of 6 different individuals who turned vegan for their entire life; it’s touching indeed to see a butcher turn into a vegan chef, and a factory farmer into a farm sanctuary owner!

Official Film website: LetLiveFilm.com

Watch the Live and let Live trailer below:

4. Peaceable Kingdom (2004)



This multi-award winning 70-minute documentary tells the story of several traditional farmers who are forced by their conscience to re-examine their relationship with animals. It’s touching to see how the farmers adopt a vegan lifestyle and create a sanctuary for abandoned, destitute farm animals. There is a newer version of the documentary created by the same producer (James LaVeck) and director (Jenny Stein) in 2009 with a different starcast under the title, Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home.

Official Film website: PeaceableKingdomfilm.org

Watch the preview for Peaceable Kingdom below:

5. Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014)



Cowspiracy is a crowdfunded documentary film co-produced and co-directed by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. It tries to analyze the policies of various environmental organizations like Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Network in the light of environmental impact of animal agriculture.

Official Film website: Cowspiracy.com

Watch the Cowspiracy documentary trailer below:

6. Forks over Knives (2011)



Forks over Knives is a health focused documentary that establishes a strong correlation between degenerative diseases and meat-based diet with some solid, statistical proof. The film features a team of doctors and researchers to highlight common pains and sufferings like obesity and diabetes that have become the fate of most Americans today, and asserts how it can be alleviated by adopting a plant based diet.

Official Film website: ForksOverKnives.com

Watch the Forks over Knifes documentary trailer below:

7. Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days (2009)



Simply Raw examines the correlation between vegan raw food and diabetes. The documentary features 6 diabetic Americans who go on a complete vegan raw diet for 30 days, and show some amazing results in terms of drop in blood sugar levels and reduced dependency on insulin.

Official Film website: RawFor30Days.com

Watch the Simply Raw documentary trailer below:

8. Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (2010)



This inspiring film chronicles the transformation of an overweight Australian named Joe Cross who was suffering from a rare autoimmune disease. With doctors and medicines given up all hopes, Joe decides to regain his health all on his own – by vowing to live only on fruit and vegetable juice for a couple of months. How he successfully loses 100 pounds and inspires another one suffering from similar health condition makes an interesting watch. The film also had a sequel in 2014 under the title: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2.

Official Film website: FatSickAndNearlyDead.com

Watch the Fat Sick and Nearly Dead documentary trailer below:

9. Speciesism: The Movie (2013)



Speciesism is a documentary that focuses primarily on factory farming with a mix of philosophy along the way relating to animals role in our human run world. Director Mark Devries, who is in his early 20’s, sets out to investigate the world of of factory farms. The film gets its name, Speciesim, from the term coined by British psychologist Richard Ryder in the 1970s who claims that animals can be classed at different values than their human counterpart. Devries film works on changing this belief.

Watch the Speciesism trailer below:

10. Unity (2015)



This is an upcoming documentary that is said to be a sequel of Shaun Monson’s popular 2005 documentary, Earthlings. It is slated for release on 12th August, 2015.

The film explores the reasons as to why the humankind has not been able to live in unity with other stakeholders of the planet despite so much of evolution in religion, philosophy and technology.

Official Film website: UnityTheMovement.com

Watch the Unity documentary trailer below: