Film

Fat Fiction

Name: Fat Fiction
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2020
Cast: Gary Taubes, Nina Teicholz, Ancel Keys, Tim Noakes, Mark Hyman

A briskly argued documentary questioning whether the anti-fat dietary consensus was built on solid science or institutional inertia. Features journalists and doctors dismantling decades of nutritional guidance, tracing how a single researcher's hypothesis hardened into government policy. Ideal for anyone suspicious of mainstream health advice or curious about how science gets politics.

TMDb rating

3.3

If you liked this

The Magic Pill2017

Similar investigative energy questioning conventional nutrition wisdom, with particular focus on ketogenic diet benefits and how agricultural lobbies shape dietary guidelines alongside compelling personal health transformations.

But Strays into some testimonial territory and wellness-industry aesthetics that feel less rigorous than strict documentary examination; pacing occasionally drifts.

Forks Over Knives2011

The opposing argument presented with equal conviction: that plant-based eating, not fat restriction, is medicine. Shares the same ''what if everything we were told was wrong'' energy and offers genuine scientific counterevidence worth engaging with.

But It's advocacy cinema dressed as documentary, and its zealotry can feel as dogmatic as the dogma it's critiquing. May frustrate viewers seeking neutrality.

An Inconvenient Truth2006

The DNA of this argument: one person's research questioned by institutions until an outsider brings receipts. Teaches the template of how consensus gets constructed and what challenges it requires.

But The climate parallel is imperfect; fat science and climate science operate differently. Tonal shift between topics may feel jarring.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Fat Fiction

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Men Who Stare at Goats2009

Both ask how institutions survive on bullshit momentum; Fat Fiction is the tragic answer, this is the absurdist one. Both are about what survives institutional protection rather than evidence.

Tone completely different—comedic dramatisation—but structurally identical: journalist investigates decades-old government programme built on debunked science that refuses to die because institutions are invested in it. Hilarious precisely because absurdity is the real story.

But Its comedy flattens the seriousness; some find the lightness disrespectful to real consequences. Requires appetite for satirical rather than earnest truth-telling.

The Bleeding Edge2018

Medical device industry corruption examined with the same skeptical lens applied to nutritional guidance here. Shows how profit incentives and regulatory capture distort health advice across multiple domains.

But Graphic surgical footage and clinical brutality make it harder to watch casually. Leaves you angry rather than educated.

Food, Inc.2008

Broader agricultural-industrial complex critique that contextualises why bad nutrition science gets institutionalised—follows money and power upstream from the dietary plate.

But Covers so much ground (animal welfare, pesticides, poverty wages) that nutrition feels like one thread among many. Less focused investigation.

Seaspiracy2021

Same investigative structure: follow the money and institutional failure, watch comfortable lies crumble under scrutiny. Adjacent argument about regulatory capture and how industries write their own rules.

But Got caught in its own fact-checking contradictions; some critics argue it oversimplifies as much as the systems it critiques. May make you cynical of documentaries generally.

The Fog of War2003

Both argue that the most dangerous thing in institutions isn't malice but sincerity—people genuinely convinced, which makes reversing course almost impossible. One is about nutrition, one about war; the human mechanism is identical.

Errol Morris meditation on Robert McNamara's certainty during Vietnam. No diet, no science—but the same architecture: intelligent people convinced they're right, institutions defending them, decades before anyone questions what seemed obvious. Mesmerising, haunting, quiet.

But Entirely contemplative; makes no argument, just sits with uncertainty. If you want Fat Fiction's clarity you will find this frustratingly oblique. Demands patience.