Finally Earthlings wound up as a painfully shocking eye-opener, certainly not meant for weak nerves. Explicit footage of tortured and mutilated animals is to be seen nearly throughout the whole film, lasting horrible 95 minutes.
Monson shows no sign of mercy in his clean, sober way of presenting the footage. He even clearly states that Earthlings is in the first place a mere tool to raise people’s awareness of what’s being done every day.
At the end of the film the viewer is left in his seat alone paralyzed by the frightening images that startle up the mind long after the movie ended. It works brilliantly in making you think, in shocking you deeply and in opening your eyes. Being so straight forward and clear in its message, based on so well-spoken arguments (thanks to Joaquin Phoenix), it’s really a slap in the face. It’s not just shocking you up and pointing the finger, it’s explaining and bringing up arguments, so in the moment the end titles appear on the screen you just have to admit that Shaun Monson is right.

“This is the single most powerful movie about society’s treatment of animals.”

Earthlings  was submitted to several film festivals and was even awarded a few times.
At the San Diego Film Festival it won the prize for the best documentary and Joaquin received the Humanitarian Award for his contribution. In addition the movie got the Best Content Award at the Boston International Film Festival.