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If you’ve been living under a rock and still haven’t heard of Christspiracy, it’s a hugely anticipated documentary being released in 2024.
It’s the latest brainchild of Kip Andersen, known for his renowned films Cowspiracy (2014), What The Health (2017), and Seaspiracy (2021). All of these explored different aspects of the benefits of veganism, covering the environment, health, animals, and human rights.
Christspiracy: The Spirituality Secret looks set to explore veganism and its links to spirituality. It explores the link between the vegan lifestyle and various religions, and aims to answer one question: “Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal?”
This question was put to Andersen by an audience member named Kameron Waters at a Q&A session a few years ago. The two subsequently teamed up, and decided to set off on a six-year investigation together to answer it through the lens of religion, philosophy, spirituality, sociology, and psychology.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new release.
What is Christspiracy about?
In an attempt to find out whether there is a spiritual way to kill an animal, Andersen and Waters traveled to four continents to explore animal ethics within five different religions. As the name suggests, one of these religions was Christianity. The two spoke to experts around the world to shed new light on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
The film includes conversations with a number of interviewees, including well-known archaeologists and theologians. The interviews were conducted, say the filmmakers, to uncover “the biggest cover-up in the last 2,000 years, one that will transform history, forever.”
Waters grew up in Georgia in the US, and spent much of his life in the church. He even attended a Christian hunting and fishing club, and didn’t initially question the treatment of animals by members of his faith. After a few years, however, he eventually started to think seriously about his relationship with animals, leading him, eventually, to the Q&A session with Andersen.
“Kam’s relationship to food and faith were intertwined from the day he was born,” the filmmakers previously said in a statement. “But it wasn’t until he started reassessing how his Church’s interpretation of scripture had convinced him that hunting and eating animals was okay, that he started to question, ‘How would Jesus kill an animal?’”.
Is Christspiracy a Christian film?
While Christianity may have been the initial plan of focus, the film is by no means limited to this religion. It explores the issue of animal ethics in a variety of different faiths, and Andersen previously told Plant Based News (PBN) that the film has universal appeal for all.
“We’re not pointing fingers, we’re asking questions,” he said. “It’s a very full spectrum discussion and exploration of this subject. What’s been really fun [in test screenings] is that from atheists to hardcore conservative Christians, any walk of life, they love this film.”
Due to the name, however, some people have assumed that Christspiracy would focus wholly on Christianity. In response to whether Christspiracy is a “Christian or Christian-bashing film,” Waters and Andersen wrote on Instagram: “Absolutely not. In fact, this film explores more than the Christian faith and includes Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and even philosophy, sociology, and history to deeply explore how faiths around the world answer the question: ‘Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal?’ No Christians were harmed in the making of this film. We promise.”
The filmmakers have also emphasized that, while the film does explore religion, it is more than a religious film – focusing on ethics, as well as a number of different areas and disciplines.
Christspiracy release date
We don’t yet have a confirmed Christspiracy release date, but we do know it will be some time in 2024.
How can I watch Christspiracy?
Andersen’s other films are available to stream on Netflix, but he previously confirmed to PBN that he turned down the streaming service for Christspiracy due to the fact that they wanted to retain their own edit of the film (which was initially called Cowspiritual).
Waters and Andersen have stated that Netflix wanted to “redact” key parts of the documentary to take it in a different direction than they had intended. They therefore decided to go it alone.
“[We are] super grateful to Netflix for providing a platform and releasing the other three previous films,” said Andersen. “With this film it is a little challenging, as some of the subject matter is so bold and so controversial.”
The filmmakers have fundraised to help bring the film to as large an audience as possible. They are aiming to bring the film to at least a billion viewers. According to their Kickstarter page, they raised USD $433,747 to help them to do this.
Andersen and Waters say that they want the Christspiracy documentary to “go where no film has ever gone before,” and that they hope to bring it to billions of viewers. To do this, they have launched a “pay-it-forward” model where it’s hoped that people will watch the film and donate money to allow someone else to watch it for free. “It’s a cycle of kindness that YOU get to start,” they said. “This philosophy allows the film to be accessible to anyone around the world, regardless of one’s income status or subscription.”
They hope that Christspiracy will be shown in movie theaters, places of worship, and many more platforms, including “our own collective” one. “It’s more than a movie, it’s a movement,” they said.
Find out more about the film here.
