Documentaries
Films that tell the stories behind the science. Each one recommended because it covers territory directly relevant to what Purify The World exists to address.
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The Devil We Know (2018)
How DuPont knowingly contaminated drinking water with PFAS chemicals and the community that fought back.
Stink! (2015)
A father smells something strange in his daughter's pyjamas and uncovers the hidden chemicals in everyday consumer products.
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food (2023)
How systemic failures in the food industry and its regulators leave consumers exposed to preventable harm.
Dark Waters (2019)
The feature film based on Rob Bilott's 26 year legal battle against DuPont over PFAS contamination.
The Devil We Know
2018. Directed by Stephanie Soechtig. 1 hour 35 minutes. Available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
This documentary tells the story of a group of citizens in Parkersburg, West Virginia, who discovered that DuPont had been knowingly dumping PFOA, the PFAS chemical used to manufacture Teflon, into their local water supply for decades. The chemical, now found in the blood of an estimated 99% of Americans, was linked to six diseases in a landmark health study covering 70,000 people. DuPont's own internal documents, obtained through litigation by attorney Rob Bilott whose story is also told here, revealed the company had known about the health risks for decades before the contamination became public.
The Devil We Know won the Impact Award at the Tribeca Film Festival and is widely credited with bringing public awareness to PFAS contamination before it became a mainstream news story. It is the essential starting point for anyone wanting to understand how forever chemicals entered the environment and why companies were slow to act.
Connects directly to: our Home and Living page on PFAS in cookware, and the Rob Bilott Expert Talk in which he discusses the legal battle documented in this film.
Stink!
2015. Directed by Jon J. Whelan. Available on Netflix.
A single father buys his daughter a pair of pyjamas for Christmas and notices a strange chemical smell coming from them. When he tries to find out what is causing it, he discovers that manufacturers are not legally required to disclose the chemicals in their products. What starts as a simple question becomes an investigation into the chemical industry, the regulatory system that is supposed to protect consumers, and the specific chemicals hiding inside clothing, personal care products and household goods.
Stink! is particularly relevant to the Beauty and Skincare and Home and Living sections of Purify The World because it covers exactly the same hidden chemicals, phthalates, synthetic fragrances and other undisclosed compounds, that appear throughout those pages. It makes the abstract idea of chemical exposure in everyday products feel immediate and personal.
Connects directly to: our Beauty and Skincare page on phthalates and synthetic fragrance, and our Home and Living page on chemical exposure in everyday household products.
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food
2023. Directed by Stephanie Soechtig. 1 hour 23 minutes. Available on Netflix.
From the same director as The Devil We Know, this documentary examines how systemic failures in the US food industry and its regulators leave consumers exposed to deadly foodborne pathogens including E. coli, salmonella and listeria. It follows the stories of families whose lives were affected by contaminated food and investigates why outbreaks keep happening despite existing regulatory frameworks designed to prevent them.
A note on relevance: Poisoned focuses primarily on foodborne pathogens and bacterial contamination rather than pesticide residues or chemical toxicity specifically, which means its focus is adjacent to rather than squarely within the territory Purify The World covers. It is included here because it addresses the broader question of whether the food system can be trusted to protect consumers, and the honest answer it arrives at is the same one that drives this site.
Connects to: our Food and Nutrition page, particularly the section on why food labelling does not always tell the full story.
Dark Waters
2019. Directed by Todd Haynes. Starring Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins. 2 hours 6 minutes. Available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
Dark Waters is a feature film rather than a documentary, but it belongs in this list because it tells a true story with more reach and emotional impact than most documentaries can achieve. It dramatises the real legal case of attorney Rob Bilott, who features in the Expert Talks section of this Knowledge Hub, and his nearly three decade battle against DuPont over PFAS contamination in West Virginia.
The film is based on a 2016 New York Times Magazine article by Nathaniel Rich and draws directly on the documented evidence uncovered during the litigation. It received strong critical reviews and significantly raised public awareness of PFAS contamination when it was released. For many people, this film was their first encounter with the term forever chemicals.
Connects directly to: the Rob Bilott Expert Talk, our Home and Living page on PFAS in cookware and food packaging, and The Evidence entry on the UK Government PFAS Plan.
MORE TO COME
We add new documentaries to this page as we find ones that meet our standard for accuracy and relevance. If you have watched something you think belongs here, send it to support.purifytheworld@gmail.com and we will take a look.
Streaming availability correct as of July 2026. Availability may change. Where a title is not available on free streaming, we link to the most accessible paid option.