A balanced, at times sad and chilling, investigation into the reality and impact of laboratory research into animals, Tony Jones’s rigorously made documentary gives room for both sides of the argument both in terms of animal welfare and the medical benefits. The film is largely seen through the eyes of Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, a primatologist turned animal welfare advocate, whose insight, knowledge and compassion forms the spine of the film.
The question of whether harming animals in the name of science is ever justifiable is at the heart of the film. As we see, animal testing, specifically on primates, has long been controversial, but its assumed necessity has meant that many in the medical community and general public have come to accept it.
Sentient manages to be deeply empathetic while also allowing plenty of space for those who still see research on animals as still valuable. The film also draws on evidence and testimony from people on the front lines of animal experimentation around the world, some of whom have been deeply upset by what they’ve seen and done.
The film opens with a terrified monkey in a lab being chased by staff in orange jumpsuits, before turning to Dr. Jones-Engel who recounts how, as a 16-year-old, she was inspired by animal researchers such as Diane Fosse and Jane Goodall. While in the 4th grade, she saw Goodall in a film and thereafter knew that animals would be her future. She wrote to Canadian anthropologist and primatologist Dr Birutė Galdikas to ask is she could join her on a field study trip. Amazingly the scientist said yes, and Jones-Engel ended up in a jungle in Borneo.
The film balances footage of Jones-Engel, now a decorated primatologist, and her family travelling the world to work in animal research (her husband is a doctor and her daughters help their mother in well-minded and compassionate research) with interviews with other experts from around the world, all interwoven with sometimes chilling footage from secretive laboratories.
After decades working with chimps and monkeys, Jones-Engel realised the profound harm of her life’s work. As she states: “Imagine you are a good person – you love animals – but your workplace is making you do things to animals that is cruel…how do you think that would make you feel?” A stark truth lies in the global estimate of more than 190 million animals used in research and testing each year.
Nevertheless, the film takes a rigorous and balanced approach that includes conflicting voices, and a complicated portrait of the efficacy of animal testing for the betterment of humankind emerges. Staff at Seattle’s University of Washington Primate research centre (where Jones-Engel would work at one point) focus on buildings’ security and on good intentions. On the other hand, Jamie (no surname), talks about footage he filmed secretly in a British testing lab centre as he “felt what (he) was doing was wrong, and had to be seen by others.”
Meanwhile, FDA official Dr Aysha Akhtar, now CEO at the Center for Contemporary Science, explains that 95% of all drugs and vaccines successfully treated on animals fail in human clinical trials.
Made with journalistic balance and intelligence, Australian filmmaker Tony Jones, who hosted the ABC programmes Lateline and Q&A for more than two decades, offers a fascinating, at times disturbing insight into the world of animal testing. Yet, the core question remains as to whether the suffering of animals is worth the medical advantages to human beings.
Quietly and with almost academic restraint, Jones asks his audience to consider whether, while we might have a need to test on animals, do we have the right to do so?
Australia, 2025, 105mins
Dir: Tony Jones
Production: In Films
International sales: Dogwoof
Producer: Ivan O’Mahoney
Scr: Tony Jones, Rachel Grierson-Johns
Cinematography: Andy Taylor, Aaron Smith, Vanessa Carr
Editor: Rachel Grierson-Johns
Music: Helena Czajka
