Vegan movies are credited by more people as what inspired them to first consider going vegan than anything else — beating out conversations with friends or family, YouTube videos, social media posts, articles/blogs, and books!
Whether it’s being exposed to undercover footage on factory farms, hearing testimony from experts on nutrition about the many health benefits of a vegan diet, or discovering the damaging effect animal farming and fishing have on the environment, a single film can change the way you choose to live the rest of your life.
I’ve compiled this list of 39 vegan films and included a summary for each of them as well as information on where and how you can watch them.
I’ve also noted which films have graphic content, in case that’s something you’d rather not see.
(Most can be watched online for free, while some are available via streaming services. I link to the “cheapest” option so if you don’t have a particular streaming service you might still be able to rent or buy the movie from a competitor.)
I will continue adding to this list as more vegan films are released.
Vegan Rabbit’s Top 10
I’ve seen a lot of vegan movies but some stand out from the rest. I chose my top ten based on the impact those films have had on myself and the people around me as well as the uniqueness and timelessness of their message.
1. Earthlings
2005 | 1 hr 48 min | Graphic Footage
This multiple award-winning documentary feature-length film is required viewing for anyone asking themselves the question “should I go vegan?”
Inspiring countless people to go vegan and narrated by actor Joaquin Phoenix with music by Moby, this eye-opening documentary takes you through the locked doors, thick walls, and peaceful facade of farms, slaughterhouses, vivisection labs and more.
Earthlings uses hidden camera footage and surveillance videos to offer one of the most distressing depictions of animal suffering you’re likely to ever see and the images in this documentary will truly stick with you for a lifetime.
This haunting documentary is an uncompromising account of the violence, objectification, and brutality that animals experience across the world, every second of every day.
It’s masterfully presented in five chapters: pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research.
You can watch Earthlings for free online.
2. Cowspiracy
2015 | 1 hr 31 min
Cowspiracy is an absolute must-watch for anyone who considers themselves an environmentalist. More than that, it’s a must watch for anyone who lives on planet Earth.
This groundbreaking feature-length documentary film produced by Leonardo DiCaprio investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations actually ignore and often even help to cover up the massive environmental destruction caused by animal agriculture and other animal industries.
Further, Cowspiracy explains how our meat-heavy diets negatively impact many ecological crises including climate change, ocean dead zones, water shortages, species extinction, deforestation, pollution, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, greenhouse gas emissions, and more.
You can watch Cowspiracy on Netflix.
3. Forks Over Knives
2013 | 1 hr 36 min
I want to live forever, so naturally I care about good nutrition (though admittedly I still snack on vegan candy from time to time). That’s why Forks Over Knives is such an important documentary to me. It’s all about how eating a plant-based (vegan) diet can literally not only prevent, but also slow or stop the growth of cancer cells and actually reverse “incurable” chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Not even kidding.
This documentary made serious waves when it came out in 2013 and features various prominent scientists and experts in nutrition all weighing in on the health benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet that’s free from oil, refined sugars and other processed foods.
You can watch Forks Over Knives on Netflix.
4. The Rescuers Down Under
1990 | 1 hr 17 min
This is hands down my absolute favorite Disney movie.
It’s all about a little boy named Cody who befriends an endangered golden eagle and winds up getting himself and his eagle friend captured by an evil poacher. Two mice, Bianca and Bernard, come to the rescue to free Cody, the golden eagle, and a bunch of other cute and charming Australian animal characters from the evil poacher. There’s also a big, silly, greedy lizard named Joanna who is the poacher’s sidekick and constant thorn in his side.
I’m convinced this movie was a huge influence on me going vegan and getting involved in animal rights activism as an adult.
This movie is definitely suitable for kids and adults alike. I highly recommend it!
You can watch The Rescuers Down Under on Disney+.
5. What the Health
2017 | 1 hr 37 min
When I was still working at a restaurant I probably had at least one customer per day come in, order vegan food, and tell me they went vegan after watching this documentary.
What the Health is the second film from the creators of Cowspiracy. It exposes the corruption and collusion between the pharmaceutical industry, the medical sector, and even governments, which make and keep people sick and costs the public trillions of dollars in healthcare worldwide each year.
If you’ve ever wondered why leading health organizations continue to promote meat and dairy despite countless medical studies showing their harmful impacts on human health, this movie is for you.
You can watch it on Netflix.
6. Food, Inc.
2008 | 1 hr 34 min
Of all the films on this list, Food, Inc. is probably the one with the largest impact in the way it changed the dialogue about the way we produce food. Despite being released over a decade ago, it’s still just as relevant today as it was the day it came out and it continues to be one of the most influential films of its kind.
This powerful documentary takes a close look at how food consumption has changed over the past 50+ years and how animal industries have adopted some seriously inhumane, unsustainable, and extremely questionable methods to supply the seemingly endless demand for meat, dairy, and eggs.
Food, Inc. exposes the well-hidden machine running the entire food industry and shines a light on the handful of super-massive corporations that control every aspect of food production in the United States from farms to supermarkets. These few corporations control everything from food labelling to governmental dietary regulations.
If you care about animal welfare, public health, the livelihood of farmers, the safety of workers, and the health of the environment, Food, Inc. will definitely give you a lot to chew on.
You watch Food, Inc. on Hulu.
7. Okja
2017 | 2 hrs
Okay, I seriously love this movie. It’s heartwarming, suspenseful, funny, and emotional. I still cry every time I watch it — like ugly blubbering crying. It’s not a good look for me. But trust me, it’s worth it.
Directed by Bong Joon-ho (who won numerous awards including an Academy Award for Parasite), Okja is unique among animal rights films because it’s more focused on entertaining you than teaching you any kind of life lesson — even though it’s almost impossible not to question some things after the credits roll.
The film centers around the friendship between a young girl and an adorable ‘super pig’ named Okja and how they’re torn apart from each other by a giant multi-national conglomerate that wants to kill Okja and turn her and others like her into food.
Despite its incredibly unrealistic and goofy portrayal of ALF activists, this movie is hard not to like. It’s packed with action, chase scenes, insanely realistic computer graphics, and tons of imagination.
You can watch Okja on Netflix.
8. Carnage
2017 | 1 hr 5 mins
Carnage is unique from other films on this list in that it’s a mockumentary set decades in the future and focuses on a totally vegan generation looking back at meat-eating generations of the past with guilt, shame, and confusion.
It’s absolutely hilarious, which is great because so few vegan films are.
You can watch Carnage for free online.
9. Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home
2009 | 1 hr 18 mins
This award-winning film offers a unique view at animal agriculture because it documents the stories of several people from farming backgrounds who realized that their way of life was not in line with their values of kindness and compassion.
You can watch Peaceable Kingdom for free online.
10. Behind the Mask
2006 | 1 hr 13 mins | Graphic Footage
The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is considered by the United States government to be the Number One domestic terrorism threat despite never having killed a single person.
Behind the Mask offers interviews and insight into why some people choose to risk their freedom to save animals from farms, vivisection labs, and anywhere else animals are exploited and abused around the world.
You can watch Behind the Mask for free online.
Vegan Movies About Animal Rights
There are more vegan movies centered on animal rights than any other topic and for good reason — billions of animals are continually exploited, tortured, and killed every year and people need to know about it for it to ever stop.
The following films help increase awareness about the suffering animals endure every second of every day and offer solutions on how viewers can stop being involved in causing that suffering.
Dominion
2018 | 2 hrs 5 mins | Graphic Footage
Dominion sold out its various premiers across the United States and for good reason — it’s a great film.
This documentary uses hidden cameras and drones to explore ‘the morality and validity of our dominion over the animal kingdom,’ paying particular attention to the innate brutality of meat, dairy, egg, clothing, and entertainment industries.
The documentary also calls into question the legal, industry-standard conditions that animals experience every day around the world.
You can watch Dominion for free online.
Babe
1995 | 1 hr 32 mins
Babe is a classic! It’s the story of a runt piglet who narrowly escapes becoming Christmas dinner when he wins the affection of Farmer Hoggett and becomes a sheepdog instead.
Fun fact: working on the film actually inspired actor James Cromwell to go vegan. He is still vegan and very involved in animal rights advocacy to this day.
You can watch Babe on Hulu.
The Ghosts in Our Machine
2013 | 1 hr 33 mins | Graphic Footage
The Ghosts in Our Machine is a documentary by award-winning filmmaker Liz Marshall. It follows the inspiring journey of photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur, who has dedicated her life to giving exploited animals a voice and platform by documenting their lives in the animal agriculture machine that regards them as mere commodities.
The film leaves you to answer the question: “Are non-human animals property to be owned and used, or are they sentient beings deserving of rights?”
Fun fact: I had the pleasure of interviewing Liz Marshall and Jo-Anne McArthur for Vegan Rabbit before the film premiered.
You can rent The Ghosts in Our Machine on YouTube.
Meet Your Meat
2002 | 12 mins | Graphic Footage
Meet Your Meat may be dated, but it’s an animal rights classic but it’s unfortunately just as relevant today as it was back in 2002. The abuse it exposes is still going on to this day on a much larger scale than ever before.
You can watch Meet Your Meat for free online.
Skin Trade
2010 | 1 hr 18 mins | Graphic Footage
Skin Trade should be required-watching for anyone who has ever worn or thought about wearing fur.
This eye-opening documentary exposes the ugly side of fur in fashion, taking you inside fur farms to show you the truth: terrified animals with their skin ripped from their bodies while still conscious or anally electrocuted in the name of fashion, vanity, and greed.
Bold Native
2010 | 1 hr 45 mins
Not a documentary! Surprise, surprise, right?
I personally really like this movie. It’s a fictional drama about a fugitive ALF activist who’s wanted for “domestic terrorism” by the FBI as he coordinates the largest liberation action of its kind across the United States.
You can watch Bold Native for free online.
The Cove
2009 | 1 hr 32 mins | Graphic Footage
If you’ve ever wondered where places like SeaWorld and other marine parks and aquariums get their dolphins from, you’re about to find out — and it’s not pretty.
This Academy Award-winning film exposes the yearly “hunt” of thousands of dolphins in the cove of Taiji, Japan, where fishermen heartlessly capture dolphins to be used in entertainment and mercilessly kill the rest for their meat, literally turning the blue water of the ocean a bright red with blood.
This documentary is not for the faint of heart, but it’s important because this brutal and totally unnecessary practice is still going on today with complete support from the Japanese government.
You can watch The Cove on Hulu, SlingTV, and Starz.
Blackfish
2013 | 1 hr 30 mins | Graphic Footage
This is the movie that exposed SeaWorld for the dirty rotten animal exploiters and abusers they are — the marine park has never recovered from the blow this movie made on their finances and I personally hope they never do.
You can watch Blackfish on Hulu.
Maximum Tolerated Dose
2012 | 1 hr 30 mins | Graphic Footage
Maximum Tolerated Dose deals with uncovering the horrifying tortures and abuse endured by animals in laboratories every moment of every day by following the lives of scientists, technicians, and animals who have experienced animal testing first-hand.
You can rent Maximum Tolerated Dose online.
Live and Let Live
2013 | 1 hr 20 mins
Live and Let Live offers a different perspective from other vegan movies because rather than focusing on graphs and data it focuses on people who are going vegan, including former butchers and meat factory workers.
You can rent Live and Let Live online.
Called to Rescue
2016 | 1 hr 5 mins
If you’re looking for a happy vegan documentary, you’ve just found it.
“Every animal we’ve met during our travel has a name and a story,” says the Called to Rescue website.
Called to Rescue is all about telling the stories of rescued animals living on sanctuaries and the humans who help care for and rehabilitate them.
You can watch Called to Rescue for free online.
A Prayer For Compassion
2019 | 1 hr 31 mins
A Prayer For Compassion is unique among vegan movies in that it is all about the spirituality in living a vegan, cruelty-free lifestyle.
Various religions and faiths from around the world are represented in this documentary film to draw what’s perhaps the biggest parallel between all of them — that of compassion toward others — in an effort to help coax the religiously or spiritually inclined toward expanding their circle of compassion to embrace all life, regardless of species.
You can rent A Prayer For Compassion online.
73 Cows
2018 | 15 mins
This award-winning short documentary film tells the story of Jay Wilde, the “first farmer in the UK to trade beef farming for sustainable organic vegan farming.”
It follows lifelong dairy turned beef farmer Wilde and his wife Katja as they transition away from meat farming by giving their remaining cattle to a vegan animal sanctuary and their growing friendships with the animals they were once raising for slaughter.
You can watch 73 Cows for free online.
The Last Pig
2017 | 55 mins
The Last Pig is an award-winning documentary that follows pig farmer Bob Comis throughout his last year of sending his pigs to slaughter before switching to vegetable farming.
“After 10 years of looking into thousands of pig eyes, I’ve come to understand that they’re never vacant. There’s always someone looking back at me. Pigs are incredibly complex beings.” — Bob Comis
You can buy The Last Pig online.
Deadly Dairy
2017 | 17 mins | Graphic Footage
All of India reveres cows and treats them with more respect that anywhere else in the world, right? Wrong.
Animal Equality India investigated 107 dairy farms, cattle markets, tanneries, slaughterhouses, and semen collection centers to produce this short documentary film exposing the truth: that even in the most cattle-friendly region of the world, violence and brutality are still a rampant and inseparable part of farming animals.
Deadly Dairy aims to show that the dairy, meat, and leather industries are so interconnected, you cannot buy products from one without supporting the others.
You can watch Deadly Dairy for free online.
Lucent
2014 | 1 hr 47 mins | Graphic Footage
Lucent is an award-winning documentary film by the creator of another award-winning vegan film, Dominion.
Similar to how Dominion was shot, Lucent uses handheld and hidden cameras to take you inside of 50 Australian pig farms.
You can watch Lucent for free online.
Vegan Movies About Environmentalism
Climate change is quite possibly the biggest threat to life on planet Earth.
The following vegan movies are all about shining a light on the often purposely-hidden forces at work that drive climate change and the actions you can take to help stop them.
Before the Flood
2016 | 1 hr 26 mins
If you care even a little bit about the state of the planet and its various ecosystems, you need to watch this movie.
Leonardo DiCaprio meets with scientists, activists, and world leaders to discuss the impact industrial animal farming and fishing are having on the environment, the effects climate change is having on our planet, and the possible solutions to fix these increasingly time-sensitive problems.
You can watch Before the Flood on Disney+.
Eating Animals
2017 | 1 hr 34 mins | Graphic Footage
If you’ve been vegan long enough, you’re probably already familiar with the Jonathan Safran Foer book of the same name.
This documentary, based on the book and both narrated and produced by Natalie Portman, aims to show how farming has evolved into a seemingly unstoppable and increasingly destructive industrial machine which negatively effects the environment, the economy, and public health.
You can watch Eating Animals on Hulu and buy the book online.
Racing Extinction
2015 | 1 hr 34 mins | Graphic Footage
Racing Extinction is a must-watch for anyone who cares not only about the environment but also about the future of humans and all other species who inhabit it.
This film showcases what scientists are calling the sixth major extinction in Earth’s history — and the central role humans play in its progress.
You can rent or buy Racing Extinction on Amazon Prime Video.
Vegan Movies About Health & A Vegan Diet
It’s becoming increasingly impossible to deny the science backing up the health benefits of a whole foods, plant-based vegan diet.
These vegan movies shatter any preconceived notions about whether living a life without animal products is possible and prove that you can run farther, climb higher, and live longer on a vegan diet.
The Game Changers
2018 | 1 hr 52 mins
This vegan movie was huge when it came out and people are still talking about it. The Game Changers is all about how athletes are using a plant-based, vegan diet to propel themselves to new heights of achievement.
The James Cameron produced documentary features former MMA fighter James Wilks (who spent months researching plant-based diets after suffering a career-threatening injury) interviewing numerous famous athletes including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lewis Hamilton, Scot Jurek, Dotsie Bausch, Derrick Morgan, Morgan Mitchell, and Patrik Baboumian all discussing how they feel healthier, stronger, and faster after cutting animal products from their diet.
The Game Changers is inspiring because it shows the power of a plant-based diet and absolutely crushes the myth that meat is necessary for protein or strength.
You can watch The Game Changers on Netflix.
Vegucated
2011 | 1 hr 16 mins | Graphic Footage
What happens when you get three meat and cheese-loving New Yorkers to agree to try a vegan diet for six weeks? They get Vegucated.
This movie is as humorous as it is informative, so if you’re looking for a lighter vegan documentary with only very minimal graphic footage, this is the one for you.
You can buy Vegucated online.
Super Size Me
2004 | 1 hr 40 mins
So, this isn’t technically a vegan film, but it’s definitely had a lasting impact on the way we discuss food as a society.
The documentary follows filmmaker Morgan Spurlock as he attempts to go 30 days eating nothing but McDonald’s and never refusing the offer to super-size, putting on 24 pounds and experiencing bouts of depression and sexual dysfunction in the process.
You can watch Super Size Me for free online.
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
2010 | 1 hr 37 mins
Fat, Sick & Nearly dead follows an overweight man suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease as he enlists the help of vegan doctor and author of “Eat to Live,” Joel Fuhrman, to lose 100 pounds and actually be able to go off his medication with a vegan diet.
A sequel, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead 2, was released in 2014.
You can watch Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead for free online.
Eating You Alive
2016 | 1 hr 52 mins
Not the first of its kind and certainly not the last, Eating You Alive is unique in that it focuses on the negative medical impact of the Standard American Diet which Americans are told from an early age is healthy to eat.
You can watch Eating You Alive on Tubi.
Running For Good
This is a truly inspiring story about Fiona Oakes, a vegan ultramarathon runner with four world records in extreme marathon running, who goes out and runs just to raise awareness for suffering animals.
You can buy Running for Good on online.
Free Solo
2018 | 1 hr 40 mins
You’ve probably heard about Free Solo, National Geographic’s Academy Award-winning documentary about extreme climber and environmentalist Alex Honnold, but did you know that he’s actually vegan?
The film follows Alex Honnold as he becomes the first person ever to scale the nearly 3,000-foot granite wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park — without using any ropes or safety gear.
National Geographic has called the endeavor “the greatest feat of pure rock climbing in the history of the sport.”
You can watch Free Solo on Hulu and Disney+.
The Invisible Vegan
2019 | 1 hr 30 mins
A side effect of the growing shift in dietary habits among African-American people, The Invisible Vegan studies the history of unhealthy eating habits within the African-American community and the systemic forces that work to keep African-Americans sick.
“Health is about access, it’s about economics, it’s about psychology, it’s about the organization of your community to provide certain things. It’s about everything.” — Stic of Dead Prez
You can watch The Invisible Vegan on Tubi.
Hungry for Justice
In Production
Why are Black Americans 60 percent more likely to die from stroke and twice as likely to die from diabetes than white Americans? Hungry for Justice aims to answer those questions and more.
The documentary directed by vegan athlete John Lewis (AKA Badass Vegan) and Cowspiracy co-director Keegan Kuhn, centers around food injustice, including food deserts and nutritional racism. It follows John Lewis around the United States as he interviews scientists, doctors, athletes, and musicians, including Ne-Yo.
Though not out yet, there is considerable buzz surrounding Hungry for Justice.
Stay in the loop on the release date online.
More Vegan Movies
The End of Meat
2017 | 1 hr 36 mins
The End of Meat is a unique vegan documentary because it imagines a world where people have stopped eating animals and aims to show a possible future of how that world might look for animals, humans, and the planet — if we choose it.
You can watch The End of Meat on Tubi.