It’s time for their stories to be told.

A new documentary called Sentient, four years in the making and including world-first vision contributed by Animals Australia, has premiered on the world stage at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

Independently produced by In Films, Sentient is written and directed by Tony Jones, with Sarah Ferguson as Executive Producer. The film offers a rare insight into one of the most secretive industries in the world: animal experimentation.

The documentary reveals not only the suffering of animals inside laboratories, but the hidden human cost as well. Through intimate storytelling and previously unseen vision, the film exposes the physical and psychological toll on animals — and the impact on the people working within systems that normalise harm.

Sentient emerged from a deeper understanding of what’s needed to create the kinder world we are working towards.

The film was made possible through Growing Kindness, a new initiative created by Animals Australia, with funding support provided by Screen Australia. Growing Kindness builds on Animals Australia’s long history of exposing hidden suffering and challenging old systems and ways of thinking — while also deepening the conversation about who we are, and who we can be.

After decades advocating on behalf of animals, Animals Australia has come to understand something deeply: harm is never contained. Systems that normalise cruelty don’t only create animal victims — they impact human lives in ways we rarely acknowledge. In the video below, Animals Australia’s Director of Strategy, Lyn White, explains more.

Following its world premiere at Sundance, Sentient has prompted a strong and thoughtful response from leading international film critics — sparking a conversation that is long overdue.

“A profoundly upsetting documentary, Sentient explores the multitudinous horrors of the animal testing infrastructure — not just the physical, psychological, and spiritual toll on the animals, but the damage done to the human technicians, scientists, and doctors complicit in the process.”
— Matt Oakes, Silver Screen Riot

“An invitation to witness a hidden ecosystem where the trauma of the captive is inextricably linked to the moral injury of the captor.”
— Sara Clements, Next Best Picture

“It’s a lot to take in, all the way to the final, tearjerking minute. You don’t want to look, but you can’t bring yourself to look away.”
— Brian Farvour, The Playlist

Importantly, reviewers are asking the right questions, homing in on a truth central to the film: that animal experimentation is not only cruel, it’s unnecessary. Many people have been shocked to learn that 95% of treatments that work in animals fail in human trials.

“This revelation shifts the film from a study of ethics to a critique of a flawed scientific ritual that may be more about tradition than progress.”
— Sara Clements, Next Best Picture

“The question isn’t whether primates are sentient. It is whether our institutions are — and whether we can look directly at what we do without retreating into the comfort of ‘necessity’ or the promise of a ‘greater good’.”
— Edin Custo, Eye For Film

The launch of Sentient is just the beginning. The suffering the film reveals — both animal and human — alongside the failed science that underpins animal experimentation, demands an urgent evolution to new human-relevant technologies. This year, Animals Australia will be doing everything in our power to ignite and support that transition.