Review of Speciesism: The Movie (2013) by Ed P — 08 Nov 2013

A brilliant film, and one of the only animal agriculture documentaries that I can recommend without reservations for a general audience. It is lighthearted, but really challenges the viewer to find either the animal-rights argument, or conventional views on animal use, to be in error.

The interviews with philosophers are genuinely curious, and are thought provoking, even for those familiar with animal-rights arguments.

The film restricts its focus to the philosophical / logical question of how we should treat animals. This makes it much easier to watch than those that focus on the horrors of factory farming, and makes it more coherent than those that focus on everything (health, environment, cruelty, philosophy).

It provides some background information on the state of industrial animal farms, but really only what is absolutely necessary to have an intelligent conversation about the topic. There is almost no graphic footage, aside from what is essential to understand the terms of the debate -- a picture of a battery cage egg facility, for instance.

There is one Godwin's law moment where they have a nazi sympathizer defend animal agriculture. I'd have preferred if they left that out, since I think the argument is easier to take seriously without that scene.

One last note -- I also love this movie for capturing something that is very hard to explain to anyone who hasn't gone through it themselves: what the vegan transition feels like. How suddenly it feels like there's a disconnect between you and everyone you love -- that we are all responsible for tremendous cruelty, and everyone we know is a part of it, and can't see it. This is best captured in a candid conversation with the film's camera man (the car scene), which I found deeply moving.

A great film. I don't know that I could convince my family and friends to watch it, but I'm pretty sure that they would enjoy it if they did.