''The Game Changers'' is a 2018 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

athletes who follow

plant-based diet A plant-based diet is a diet consisting mostly or entirely of plant-based foods. It encompasses a wide range of dietary patterns that contain low amounts of animal products and high amounts of fiber-rich plant products such as vegetables ...

Release

''The Game Changers'' debuted at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in January 2018, with a second edit released worldwide for a one-day screening in September 2019. The film has over a dozen executive producers, including

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...

Steve Bellamy Steve Bellamy is an entrepreneur in sports and entertainment known for founding niche cable television networks, including the Tennis Channel, The Surf Channel, The Skate Channel, and The Ski Channel. He is a writer/director/producer of six featu ...

Rip Esselstyn Rip Esselstyn (born February 16, 1963) is an American health activist, food writer, and former firefighter and triathlete. He is known as an advocate of low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet that excludes all animal products and processed foods.D ...

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

and

Brendan Brazier Brendan Brazier (born March 1, 1975) is a Canadian former endurance athlete, author, advocate of a Veganism, vegan diet, and creator of the Vega (company), Vega line of food products and supplements. Brazier is a former Ironman Triathlon, Ironman ...

Synopsis

James Wilks James Brett Wilks (born 5 April 1978) is an English former professional mixed martial artist. As a professional competitor from 2003 until 2012, he competed for the UFC, King of the Cage, and was the winner of Spike TV's '' The Ultimate Fight ...

is a mixed martial artist and self defense instructor. Having suffered an injury he used his downtime to explore the effects of plant-based diets on health, recovery, and athletic performance. He first explores the

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

diet of

Roman gladiators A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

before interviewing athletes such as

Scott Jurek Scott Gordon Jurek (born October 26, 1973) is an American ultramarathoner, author, and public speaker. Throughout his running career, Jurek was one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world, winning the Hardrock Hundred (2007), t ...

Patrik Baboumian Patrik Baboumian (, ; born 1 July 1979) is an Iranian-born Armenian retired strongman and former bodybuilder. He promotes veganism. Early life Baboumian was born on 1 July 1979 in Abadan, the son of Armenian parents. Career Baboumian lifted ...

Bryant Jennings Bryant Jennings (born September 25, 1984) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for the unified world heavyweight titles in 2015, and the WBA interim heavyweight title in the same year. He holds a notable win over former ...

, and

Derrick Morgan Derrick Morgan OD (born 27 March 1940)Walters, Basil (2012)A New Day – Songs heralding JA’s Independence", ''Jamaica Observer'', 3 June 2012, retrieved 3 June 2012 is a Jamaican musical artist who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He w ...

(along with his wife, the plant-based chef Charity Morgan) who attribute their success to a plant-based diet. Comments follow from Scott Stoll, a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

for the USA Olympic team, who argues that animal based protein impedes recovery and athletic performance due to certain inflammatory molecules and

inflammatory mediators Inflammatory may refer to: * Inflammation, a biological response to harmful stimuli * The word ''inflammatory'' is also used to refer literally to fire and flammability, and figuratively in relation to comments that are provocative and arouse pas ...

. He contrasts this with plant-based proteins that, he argues, promote gut microbial diversity, reduce inflammation, and optimize recovery and athletic performance. The film dramatizes a comparison of postprandial effects of meals consisting of animal- versus plant-based foods, purporting to show that those who ate meat showed reduced penile function and indications of

endothelial dysfunction In blood vessel diseases, endothelial dysfunction is an unhealthy state of the the cells that line the blood vessels (endothelium). The main cause of endothelial dysfunction is impaired bioavailability of nitric oxide. In addition to acting a ...

that could disrupt athletic performance. In an interview, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition,

Walter Willett Walter C. Willett (born June 20, 1945) is an American physician and nutrition researcher. He is the Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and was the chair of its department of nutrit ...

, argues that there is accumulating evidence showing that high consumption of protein from dairy sources is related to a higher risk of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

. The next scenes criticize the meat and dairy industry for what Perry Mason, Executive Officer of the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Department of Public Health, calls tactics out of the

tobacco industry playbook The tobacco industry playbook, tobacco strategy or simply disinformation playbook describes a strategy used by the tobacco industry in the 1950s to protect revenues in the face of mounting evidence of links between tobacco smoke and serious illne ...

where public relations firms such as ''Exponent'' hire researchers to create doubt to counteract

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

messages. Doctor of preventative medicine David Katz says despite the appearance of confusion in the media, there is global consensus that a

healthy diet A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A he ...

is a plant-food rich diet. A further indictment of animal agriculture comes from Bob Bailey, Research Director of Energy, Environment, and Resources at

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

, who says that while three quarters of all

agricultural land Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other organism, forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous ...

are used for

livestock production Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of a ...

such food sources provide 34% of the protein and 18% of the calories worldwide. Animal agriculture is charged with being a main driver of deforestation and is implicated in

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and

loss of biodiversity Biodiversity loss happens when plant or animal species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in biological dive ...

. Other scientists in the film mention other environmental impacts of animal farming including

carbon dioxide emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate change. The ...

, the overuse of

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

, and

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of Body of water, water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and ...

. Professor of Food Policy, Tim Lang, makes a closing argument that reducing meat and dairy consumption and increasing plant consumption will improve both public health and

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural environment, natural and built environment affecting human health. To effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements for a hea ...

. Having recovered from his injury, Wilks is shown teaching self defense with an additional component, what he terms "internal defense", saying that with his understanding of the benefits of plant-based diets he now has the tools to protect more lives than ever before.

Notable individuals featured

:In order of appearance *

Morgan Mitchell Morgan Mitchell (born 3 October 1994) is an Australian athlete who specialized in the 400 metres and now competes in the 800 metres. Early life Mitchell started athletics in 2000, inspired by the success of compatriot Cathy Freeman at the Syd ...

Dotsie Bausch Dorothy Lee "Dotsie" Bausch is an American former cyclist and Olympic silver medalist. She is also the executive director of the nonprofit Switch4Good. Early life Bausch grew up in Kentucky and graduated from Villanova University Villanov ...

Kendrick Farris Kendrick James Farris (born July 2, 1986) is an Olympic weightlifter from the United States. He competed for the United States in the 85 kg weight class at the 2008 Summer Olympics where he placed 8th. Farris also participated in the 2012 ...

Michael Thomas Michael or Mike Thomas may refer to: Entertainment * Michael M. Thomas (1936–2021), American novelist of financial thrillers * Michael Tilson Thomas (born 1944), American conductor, pianist, and composer * Michael Thomas (actor) (1952–2019), B ...

Griff Whalen Griff Whalen (born March 1, 1990) is an American former football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in ...

Kenny Stills Kenneth Lee Stills Jr. (born April 22, 1992) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Oklahoma and was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft. Early life Sti ...

Caldwell Esselstyn Caldwell Blakeman Esselstyn Jr. (born December 12, 1933) is an American physician, author and former Olympic rowing champion. Esselstyn is director of the Heart Disease Reversal Program at the Cleveland Clinic. He is also the author of ''P ...

Dean Ornish Dean Michael Ornish (born July 16, 1953) is an American physician and researcher. He is the president and founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, and a clinical professor of medicine at the Univ ...

* Kim Williams *

Lucious Smith Lucious Irvin Smith (born January 17, 1957) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent in 1980. He played college football at Cal State-Fuller ...

Richard Wrangham Richard Walter Wrangham (born 1948) is an English anthropologist and primatologist; he is Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. His research and writing have involved ape behavior, human evolution, violence, and cooking. ...

Christina Warinner Christina Warinner is an American anthropologist best known for her research on the evolution of ancient microbiomes. She is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University and the Sally Starling Seaver Assistant Professor at the Rad ...

Mark Thomas Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English comedian, best known for the political stunts that he performs on his show, ''The Mark Thomas Comedy Product'' on Channel 4. Thomas first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 ...

* Charity Morgan *

* Jurrell Casey *

Brian Orakpo Brian Ndubisi Orakpo (born July 31, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Texas, was recognized as a ...

Tye Smith Tye Smith (born May 3, 1993) is an American professional football cornerback for the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football for the Towson Tigers and was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fi ...

* Wesley Woodyard *

DaQuan Jones DaQuan Steven Jones ( born December 27, 1991) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft. ...

* Rishard Matthews * David Katz * Damien Mander *

Johan Rockström Johan Rockström (born 31 December 1965) is a Swedish scientist, internationally recognized for his work on global sustainability issues. He is joint director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, together with ...

* Tim Lang *

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has an approval rating of based on reviews from critics. It received overall positive reviews by viewers, but was criticized by some

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

, fitness, and

science communication Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the Public awareness of science, public awar ...

professionals. It has been credited with influencing some viewers to shift their dietary habits towards more plant-based options, an impact that has been dubbed the "Game Changers effect". Actor

Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...

and CEO of

Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as baked goods, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is lis ...

, Roger Whiteside said they decided to follow a

diet after watching it.

VegNews VegNews is a media brand focused on a plant-based lifestyle, encompassing a flagship magazine, a website, and a podcast, among other properties. VegNews covers content relating to veganism, including news, recipes, and celebrity interviews. His ...

ranked the film as one of the best vegan documentaries to watch in 2024. Viewing the film is accredited as an approved activity for continuing medical education (CME) credits by the

Defense Health Agency The Defense Health Agency (DHA) is a joint, integrated combat support agency that enables the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force medical services to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Commands in both pea ...

, and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine offers CME credits for watching the film and passing an online quiz based on it. The documentary was criticized by some professionals in fitness, nutrition, and science communication. For example, sports nutrition expert

Asker Jeukendrup Asker Jeukendrup is a sports nutrition scientist and an Ironman triathlete. Academic career Following an MSc in Human Movement Sciences at Maastricht University in the Netherlands he completed his PhD in 1997 at the same university studying as ...

said, "''Game Changers'' ticks almost all the boxes of

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

, and none of the boxes of science" while Joe Schwarcz, director of the

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

Office for Science and Society complained, "There is good science to be had for promoting a plant-based diet, but this film strays too much into pseudoscience for my appetite." Schwarcz criticized the film, saying "the feats of the athletes in ''The Game Changers'' cannot be considered to be proof of the benefits of a vegan diet for athletic performance." According to Schwarcz, the evidence presented "is quite flimsy", the filmmakers indulge in

confirmation bias Confirmation bias (also confirmatory bias, myside bias, or congeniality bias) is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or Value (ethics and social sciences), val ...

and

data dredging Data dredging, also known as data snooping or ''p''-hacking is the misuse of data analysis to find patterns in data that can be presented as statistically significant, thus dramatically increasing and understating the risk of false positives. Th ...

, and "some of the research cited on behalf of veganism is funded by the

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

industries." The journal of the Hungarian Dietetic Association ''Új DIÉTA'' (New Diet) criticized the film, calling it "pseudoscience rather than real science" and "propaganda for veganism". The journal criticized the film for "one-sided research" and claims lacking in scientific basis, saying "''The Game Changers'' only includes research that is conducive to the message they want to convey, that a vegan (plant based) diet is better in all respects than a diet containing animal-derived foods." The journal opined that it is "of paramount importance" that a documentary of this type approach the topic with scientific rigor, but "instead, the filmmakers placed more emphasis (on) eliciting emotional impact than the proper scientific background." ''

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...

'' writer Luke Feltham similarly criticized the documentarian's claims of neutral presentation of facts, calling the film "an hour-and-a-half advertisement for vegan living". Some generally supportive reviewers also took issue with the movie's portrayal of

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there i ...

especially as it adopts some stereotypical arguments regarding

virility Virility (from the Latin ''virilitas'', manhood or virility, derived from Latin ''vir'', man) refers to any of a wide range of masculine characteristics viewed positively. Virile means "marked by strength or force". Virility is commonly associ ...

and the traditionally assumed connections between masculinity and strength.

References

External links