CHRISTSPIRACY: THE SPIRITUALITY SECRET -- Religious Vegan Documentary Is Intellectually and Artistically Bankrupt

Review by Daniel Lima

“Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal?” This is the question that the filmmakers behind Christpiracy: The Spirituality Secret allege that they are seeking an answer to as they investigate the inherent contradiction in religions that condemn murder but condone the killing and eating of animals. That underlying hypocrisy and all the social conditions that are the cause are fascinating subjects to interrogate. Provided, of course, that the people delving into the subject have an earnest curiosity about it and are not prioritizing a self-aggrandizing narrative that precludes an informative and meaningful exploration or even a cohesive rhetorical argument. ​

Kip Anderson and Kameron Waters prioritize such a narrative, quickly discarding informativeness or honesty regarding how religions treat animals in favor of a manufactured purporting to uncover a conspiracy that makes bedfellows of such disparate entities as the Catholic Church, Tyson Foods, and the Indian government.

The “film” takes the form of all the post-Michael Moore documentaries that clog up basic cable and streaming services: fast-paced editing incorporating extraneous material from other media, interviews with various officials (in this case, religious authorities and animal rights activists), and — most importantly — the filmmakers as plucky underdogs up against vast and powerful forces out to suppress their discoveries.

From the jump, this is the wrong approach to the material. This tack is useful when focusing on the specific misdeeds and crimes of particular people and organizations when there is a defined culprit to be questioned. When applied to complex social and religious practices that at times reflect contradictory values, it is asinine, precluding any meaningful probing of the belief structures that allow such contradictions to flourish. A truly empathetic artist might, for example, wonder what economic or cultural forces make a majority Hindu country a prominent exporter and consumer of beef. Anderson and Waters instead label India a nation of hypocrites and move on. ​

This shallow analysis could be excused if Christpiracy could articulate a coherent, persuasive message that goes beyond calling meat-eating bad that could actually change hearts and minds. That does not happen. Instead, the “film” flits about from topic to topic, never focusing on any target long enough to build an actual rhetorical argument against it. The plot the filmmakers claim to have uncovered is a jumbled mix of biblical interpretations and pseudohistorical claims, the kind of thing that will do nothing for the nonbeliever or the believer. If this film is being made to point out the discrepancy between the teachings of Jesus and the practice of killing animals for food — a discrepancy that a large majority of Christians already are happy to ignore — why would insisting that Jesus was a vegetarian show them the error of their ways? Not only is the case itself unconvincing, but it is also being made available to an audience that doesn’t exist. 

The most egregiously annoying thing about this product, however, is how transparently manufactured it all is. Anderson and Waters go to great lengths in aping the investigative documentary style, going as far as to allege that they are being targeted by unknown forces intent on stopping their efforts to find the truth. Putting aside that there is absolutely nothing there that is not already readily available public knowledge, and even taking them at their word that their homes were ransacked by intruders (who deliberately did not break anything expensive) and that they are being followed (as shown by one guy walking on the sidewalk across from them... one), these assertions carry no weight precisely because the work’s aesthetic.

In making all the Moore-esque flourishes — colorful infographics, interviews clearly edited together to portray the interviewees in certain lights, the constant “scrappy underdog” posturing — with the clarity of his arguments and targets, the entire project registers as one big fabrication, made to support the filmmakers’ vision of themselves as activists. That they never say anything meaningful, persuasive, or credible matters less than giving off the appearance that they are committed to their cause. Yet the only way they could be any worse as public advocates against eating meat would be if they were munching on KFC on camera.

Perhaps Anderson and Waters actually are ideologues who made Christpiracy: The Spirituality Secret in the hopes of moving the needle on public discourse. Maybe they do see themselves as real artists, utilizing the form to its fullest extent to convey their message. In either case, they should be ashamed and embarrassed of what they have created. Intellectually and artistically bankrupt, to call this a documentary, or even a film, is an insult to the medium. ​

Christpiracy finds its way into theaters March 20.

Rating: 0.5/5