Inspiring Vegetarian and Vegan Documentaries to Watch this Weekend

Why watch one of these documentaries?

Environmental and plant-based documentaries are proliferating. Documentary films, with a focus on plant-based living, animal rights and the environmental cost of meat are available on many streaming platforms, and have helped many people to reduce their meat consumption or stop eating it entirely. If you are already plant-based, vegetarian or vegan, watching this sort of film might help remind you of why you made the decisions you did, and help confirm that they were the right ones! If you still eat meat, you might watch some of these films to learn more and give you a reason to consider more plant-based foods.

Documentaries marked with an asterix (*) contain footage that might be distressing to some people.

Best Documentaries for Plant-Curious People

The Game Changers

Follows elite athletes who thrive on plant-based diets, challenging the belief that meat is necessary for strength and performance. Explores the science behind nutrition and athletic recovery.

What the Health

Investigates links between diet and chronic disease while examining the role of major health and food organisations. Encourages viewers to consider how plant-based eating may impact long-term health.

You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment

A Netflix documentary series following identical twins on different diets, comparing the effects of plant-based and omnivorous eating. Examines health, fitness and lifestyle outcomes through a unique scientific experiment.

Eye-Opening Documentaries About Animal Welfare

*Dominion

A powerful exposé of modern animal agriculture that uses undercover footage to reveal how animals are treated across various industries. A thought-provoking exploration of ethics, animal welfare and consumer choices.

*Earthlings

Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, this influential documentary examines humanity’s relationship with animals used for food, clothing, entertainment and research. It challenges viewers to rethink the treatment of animals in contemporary society.

Land of Hope and Glory

A UK-focused documentary investigating farming practices across Britain using footage gathered from farms and slaughterhouses. It offers an insight into the realities of modern animal agriculture closer to home.

 Documentaries Focused on the Environment

Cowspiracy

Explores the environmental impact of animal agriculture, including its effects on climate change, deforestation and resource use. The film questions why these issues receive relatively little public attention.

Seaspiracy

Investigates the environmental consequences of commercial fishing and the pressures facing marine ecosystems. Highlights issues such as overfishing, bycatch and ocean conservation.

Eating Our Way to Extinction

Narrated by Kate Winslet, this documentary examines how our food system affects the environment, wildlife and human health. It highlights the potential role of dietary change in creating a more sustainable future.

The Best  Plant-Based Food Documentaries

Forks Over Knives

Features medical experts and researchers discussing the potential health benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. Focuses on how nutrition may help prevent or manage common chronic illnesses.

Food for Thought

Explores the connections between food choices, health, ethics and sustainability. Encourages viewers to consider the wider impact of what they eat and where their food comes from.

Food Choices

Food Choices follows filmmaker Michal Siewierski as he investigates how the foods we eat affect human health, the environment and animals. Featuring leading nutrition experts, athletes and doctors, the documentary challenges common food myths and explores the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet.

British Vegetarian and Vegan Documentaries Worth Watching

73 Cows

This award-winning short film follows a UK farmer who transitions from cattle farming to animal sanctuary work. A moving story about compassion, change and finding a new direction.

Feel-Good Plant-Based Documentaries

Live and Let Live

Examines the motivations and experiences of vegans from different backgrounds, alongside perspectives from farmers, economists and activists. Explores the ethical questions surrounding our use of animals.

I Could Never Go Vegan

Addresses common concerns and misconceptions about veganism through interviews with experts, athletes and everyday people. Offers a balanced look at the practicalities and benefits of plant-based living.

Where to Stream Plant-Based and Environmental Documentaries in the UK

Netflix: The Game Changers, You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, Cowspiracy, Seaspiracy

Prime Video: Eating Our Way to Extinction, Live and Let Live

YouTube: What the Health, Dominion, Earthlings, Land of Hope and Glory, Food for Thought, 73 Cows

Apple TV: Forks Over Knives, I Could Never Go Vegan

Which Documentary Should You Watch First?

Interested in health? → What the Health

Interested in fitness? → The Game Changers

Interested in climate issues? → Cowspiracy

Interested in animal welfare? → Dominion

Final Thoughts: Can a Documentary Change Your Diet?

Reading a newspaper article that sets out the clear environmental cost of the livestock industry doesn’t always have the impact it should. Facts and figures sometimes don’t cut through to us in the way that storytelling can. Films can connect to us on an emotional level as well as on an intellectual one – leading to a much greater possibility of changing even minds that were initially turned against them.

Go into these films with an open mind. Pick one or two, and see how they make you feel. If you feel like any of these films (or others we might have missed) changed your perspective at all, let us know. You can write to us at hello@vegsoc.org – we’d love to hear from you.