The Ghosts in Our Machine

Released Nov 8, 2013

1h 33m

Documentary

List

64%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

94%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Activist and photojournalist Jo-Ann McArthur uses her camera to document the plight of abused and exploited animals and advocate for their rights as sentient beings.

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

[Photojournalist Jo-Anne] Marshall works overtime...focusing tightly on the emotional lives of exploited animals as they plod through their miserable existences to slaughter.

Dec 5, 2013

Full Review

Betsy Sharkey

Los Angeles Times

"Ghosts" is urging us to rethink our relationship with the animal population - what they owe us, what we owe them.

Nov 14, 2013

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Scott Jordan Harris

RogerEbert.com

This is a film overflowing with passion and compassion but often lacking the intellectual detachment necessary to distill conviction into a rigorous argument.

Rated: 2/4

Nov 8, 2013

Full Review

Emily Rems

Bust Magazine

This sense of global shift-of an old world order being cleverly undermined by a newer, more compassionate one-permeates [Liz] Marshall's graphic, often upsetting meditation on how the animal kingdom is used and abused by humanity at large.

Aug 11, 2017

Full Review

Susan G. Cole

NOW Toronto

The subtle approach may not convert all carnivores, and you might not buy the premise that animals deserve equal rights with humans. But this is a superb example of committed filmmaking.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 1, 2015

Full Review

Ray Pride

Newcity

Cooly stylized, sometimes to the point of visual and aural delirium... Beauty and terror are quietly arrayed, sometimes commingling in the same images. It's an artful way to make a case about the sentience of other animals.

May 26, 2015

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Audience Member

The best documentary movie I've seen about something that is really important - our communication with animals and the industry we are forced to deal everyday in our life's. A truly revolutionary Movie that makes you re-think your ideals of life and start being angry at the people who are creating this so-called industry. The most interesting thing for me was the compassion and how the movie strays from it but focus on the communication and what should be right in terms of life.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I thank Liz and Jo-Anne for doing this documentary. This clearly represents the exploitation of our animals, worldwide. A case is quietly made, through Jo-Anne's images to STOP our actions of cruelty towards animals. A lot of this is unneeded and just plain cruel (i.e. fur farms). The images and film are hard to watch, but it's important that this message is spread in order to bring about change on a global scale. Thank you ladies.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Saw The Ghosts in Our Machine last night.Compelling. Haunting. Disturbing. Inspiring. Brave photographer Jo-Anne McArthur and visionary film maker Liz Marshall expose the clandestine and pervasive industry that commits horrific abuses against those animals whom we as a society view as commodities: whether to eat, wear, or otherwise exploit. In the film, we see the faces of these animals and, as we look into their eyes, a glimpse into their souls. See this film. It will inspire you to look into your own soul. And help.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Beautiful... you can tell there is incredible passion behind this much needed film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent. Some reviewers have criticized the documentary because it doesn't give a more broad approach to the issues of animal cruelty and exploitation, but that's clearly not the intent or point of this film. It's a glimpse of an artist who devotes her life to the invisible suffering of countless animals along with footage of a sanctuary where animals live in peace, dignity and kindness. The debate exists within the visuals. As with all art or any great debate, show me don't tell me. We don't need a voice over or a debate on whether the cruelty is acceptable, for medical research or any reason. That debate exists already in many films & videos and countless books. The power here is in the images and the story of one person who chooses not to ignore animal cruelty in her life and in her art.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

antti p

Animal and human rights documentaries with too strong emotional charge often somewhat fail to deliver their message to the non-convinced, but luckily this (barely) stays out of that. A quite well made film with beautiful images saying more than those thousand words, doing more than those direct action sabotages.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Liz Marshall

Director

Bruce Friedrich

Voice

Temple Grandin

Voice

Jo-Anne McArthur

Actor

Vandana Shiva

Voice

Lori Marino

Voice

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Synopsis

Activist and photojournalist Jo-Ann McArthur uses her camera to document the plight of abused and exploited animals and advocate for their rights as sentient beings.

Director: Liz Marshall
Producer: Mila Aung-Thwin
Screenwriter: Liz Marshall
Distributor: Ghosts Media Inc.
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 8, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $20.3K
Runtime: 1h 33m

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