Food, Inc.Movie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 80 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 OK for kids 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle |

    A mind-boggling, heart-rending, stomach-churning expose on the food industry. Read full review

  • 100
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Food, Inc. is hard to shake, because days after you've seen it, you may find yourself eating something -- a cookie, a piece of poultry, cereal out of the box, a perfectly round waxen tomato -- and you'll realize that you have virtually no idea what it actually is. Read full review

  • 100
    Los Angeles Times |

    Essential viewing. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    I figured it wasn't important for me to go into detail about the photography and the editing. I just wanted to scare the bejesus out of you, which is what Food, Inc. did to me. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Eating can be one dangerous business. Don't take another bite till you see Robert Kenner's Food, Inc., an essential, indelible documentary that is scarier than anything in the last five Saw horror shows. Read full review

  • 80
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    See Food, Inc. after dinner, but see it. Read full review

  • 75
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    The whole thing is as subtle as a watermelon in a bowl of Cheerios but necessary, nonetheless. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    No question, watching this film is a tough go. Horror films cause less seat-squirming. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Time and again the movie stops short before it really gets started, as with the debates over the big business of organic food. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety |

    A civilized horror movie for the socially conscious, the nutritionally curious and the hungry. Read full review

View more reviews for Food, Inc. on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 13+ Important but disturbing docu about food biz. Teens and up.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this documentary is a hard-hitting exposé on the food industry, especially the elite group of powerful corporations behind most of the food on supermarket counters. Most teens may not be interested, even though the documentary is rated PG and educational. There are a few disturbing scenes, mostly involving over-crowded chicken/pig/cow "factory farms" and slaughterhouses. It's worth noting that none of the featured companies agreed to be interviewed for the film, which does end up making the message seem somewhat one-sided.
  • Families can talk about what the movie is saying about the food industry. Is it unfair for the filmmaker to portray the companies as the villains, the farmers as the victims, and independent farmers and consumer advocates as the heroes?
  •  How does the silence of the companies depicted in the film affect the movie's credibility and impact?
  •  Kids: Does this make you think twice about asking for a Happy Meal? What about junk food in general?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Despite emphasizing the gloom and doom of our country's dependence on a select group of multi-national corporations that monopolize our food industry, the documentary ultimately has a hopeful message: Pay attention to the food you eat, buy locally grown food, support independent farmers, make more meals as a family, and eat less (much, much less) at fast-food restaurants.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Disturbing scenes of a crowded chicken house and cattle factory, and even more disturbing scenes of various slaughterhouses that "process" chickens, pigs, and cows into poultry, pork, and beef. In one scene, a more traditional farmer and his workers slit the throats of chickens, but it's quick and not as gruesome as the slaughterhouse segments.
  • sex false0 Sex: Not an issue
  • language false1 Language: Nothing too alarming besides "stupid" and "damn."
  • consumerism false2 Consumerism: Several multi-national food corporations are discussed at length: Monsanto, Perdue, Smithfield, Tyson, ConAgra, and BPI in particular, as well as fast-food chains like McDonald's and Burger King and supermarkets like Walmart. 
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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