Film

The Meerkats

Name: The Meerkats
Genre: Documentary, Family
Released: 2008
Cast: Paul Newman, Rufus Beck, Guillaume Canet

Coming-of-age

A dramatised documentary following a young meerkat through his first year in the Kalahari, shot with groundbreaking close-range techniques that put you at ground level with the colony. Paul Newman narrates with warmth and humour. It's *Planet Earth* meets fable—visually stunning, emotionally earned, made for families but genuinely moving for anyone.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love nature films that treat a small animal's daily struggles like a patient, character-driven drama, with the desert sun, burrow politics and Paul Newman's warm narration doing most of the work.

Skip it if you want real documentary observation or quick cuts; this is a dramatised film with staged, storybook-style sequences, and some viewers will find the invented narrative more sweetly contrived than engrossing.

What it asks of you: It runs about eighty-three minutes and moves at the unhurried pace of the Kalahari itself, so you need to settle in and let the small moments accumulate rather than waiting for big set pieces.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Planet Earth II2016

David Attenborough guides you through extraordinary wildlife footage across every terrain. The cinematography is miraculous, the storytelling patient and generous. You'll forget you're watching a screen.

But If you've already seen the first *Planet Earth*, this is more of the same excellence rather than something new. Slower-paced than most drama.

Chimpanzee2012

A Disney nature documentary following a young chimp named Oscar through his early years in the African forest. Intimate, beautifully shot, and structured like a coming-of-age story with real stakes and genuine emotion.

But The anthropomorphising of animals via narrative framing will feel manipulative if you prefer straight-up science. Shorter than you might expect at 78 minutes.

Winged Migration2001

Eleven years of filming captured this wordless journey following migratory birds across continents. The scale is almost unimaginable. You've never seen movement like this—it's poetry made visible.

But No narration, no plot, minimal structure. Long passages of pure visual observation will test your patience if you want a story arc.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Meerkats

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

March of the Penguins2005

Both use dramatic narrative structure to elevate animal struggle from footage into genuine fable. Both find profound meaning in survival and family obligation in harsh landscapes.

A feature-length documentary of Emperor penguins trekking across Antarctica to breed. Structured exactly like an adventure epic—arduous, beautiful, genuinely suspenseful. Morgan Freeman's narration is perfect.

But Darker than family marketing suggests; real starvation and death onscreen. Heavy emotional toll by the end.

Life Is Beautiful1997

A BBC documentary series (also released as a film) sculpted around individual survival stories in the natural world. The cinematography and editing make biology look like high drama. Genuinely gorgeous and affecting.

But Some predator-prey sequences are hard to watch. The tone is sometimes uneven between wonder and bleakness.

African Cats2011

A Disney film following lion and cheetah families in the African savanna. Family-friendly but never patronising. The filmmaking is meticulous and the maternal themes resonate across age groups.

But Lighter and more family-film than documentary in feel. Some will find the narrative too neat and constructed.

Our Planet2019

A Netflix nature series narrated by David Attenborough focusing on animals across all biomes and how climate change is reshaping their world. Visually extraordinary and emotionally direct without being manipulative.

But The environmental message can feel heavy-handed. Some may find the climate-doom narrative exhausting rather than motivating.

Frozen Planet2011

A BBC series documenting wildlife in Earth's polar regions. Exceptional cinematography of extreme environments and the creatures that survive them. Each episode is a complete visual and narrative experience.

But Pacing is deliberately slow and meditative. If you want action and conflict, this prioritises beauty over drama.

The Biggest Little Farm2019

Like *Meerkats*, it observes a small community adapting to their environment through interconnected relationships. Both suggest that resilience isn't individual—it's collective, ecological, multigenerational.

A couple transforms a barren California property into a working permaculture farm, documented over eight years. It's about systems, patience, failure and resilience—how one small place regenerates itself. Visually rich and genuinely moving.

But Not about animals per se; they're part of a larger ecosystem story. Some viewers find the optimism naïve about agricultural realities.