Super Size Me

"The first ever reality-based movie ... everything begins and ends in 30 days!"

2004 1h 40m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 1,838

Documentary

Synopsis

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Morgan Spurlock subjects himself to a diet based only on McDonald's fast food three times a day for thirty days without exercising to try to prove why so many Americans are fat or obese. He submits himself to a complete check-up by three doctors, comparing his weight along the way, resulting in a scary conclusion.

“The first ever reality-based movie ... everything begins and ends in 30 days!”

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Cast

Morgan Spurlock
Self
Daryl Isaacs
Self - Internal Medicine
Lisa Ganjhu
Self - Gastroenterologist & Hepatologist
Stephen Siegel
Self - Cardiologist
Bridget Bennett
Self - Nutritionist & Dietician
Eric Rowley
Self - Exercise Physiologist
Mark Fenton
Self - Former Editor: Walking Magazine
Alexandra Jamieson
Self - Morgan's girlfriend & Vegan Chef

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Morgan Spurlock
Writers: Morgan Spurlock
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, Netherlands

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $29M — a 439.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Netherlands.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Super Size Me Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Morgan Spurlock, shot by Scott Ambrozy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Steve Horowitz. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Morgan Spurlock directs. Scott Ambrozy behind the camera. Steve Horowitz scores. Stela Georgieva cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Netherlands. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $29M — a 439.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
3Released 22 years ago.
4International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Netherlands.
5Part of the "Super Size Me Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
7Directed by Morgan Spurlock, shot by Scott Ambrozy. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Steve Horowitz. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Stela Georgieva shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Morgan Spurlock and Daryl Isaacs and Lisa Ganjhu carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "The first ever reality-based movie ... everything begins and ends in 30 days!".
12IMDB entry: tt0390521 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 8 themes, including "experiment", "diet", "junk food", "health".

The technical file

Cinematography: Scott Ambrozy
Original score: Steve Horowitz
Editing: Stela Georgieva
Sound: Hans ten Broeke
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $65,000
Box office: $28,575,078
Return: 43962% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Super Size Me (2004)

Awards

Sundance U.S. Directing Award: Documentary

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Super Size Me Collection

Also by

Morgan Spurlock

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

SierraKiloBravo2020-04-27
★ 6/10
Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/GDnLyf2Dr18 When it first came out in 2004 Super Size Me was a hit due to its simple concept and exposé of the fast food industry, specifically McDonalds. To refresh your memory about this documentary classic, here is the official description: Morgan Spurlock subjects himself to a diet based only on McDonald's fast food three times a day for thirty days without exercising to try to prove why so many Americans are fat or obese. He submits himself to a complete check-up by three doctors, comparing his weight along the way, resulting in a scary conclusion. It is a pretty straightforward documentary, Spurlock films himself eating McDonald's for a month and intercuts this with doctor's visits, information on the fast food industry and McDonald's as a company, and conversations with various health professionals. One of the stand out parts for me was when he paid a visit to a school showed the rubbish the kids were being served, and the reaction of the school administrators was interesting. One tried to justify it and laugh it off, whereas one of the ladies from the kitchen was quite resigned to having to serve up this stuff to the kids. She even says something along the lines of "the kitchen tool we use here the most is a box cutter to open this stuff up". Spurlock doesn't just leave it at that, he shows another school that serves healthy lunches to its students for around the same price, to show that it can be done. Throughout, Spurlock doesn't put his own spin on things, but relies on the information presented to speak for itself. The physical effects his diet had were quite shocking. It is by far not a scientific experiment or approach, but it does show what effect regular long term consumption of fast food can have on your body. As such it is a useful reminder of information we already know. Heck, we knew it back then, and if anything, the consumption of junk of shows no signs of slowing down. I enjoyed watching this again, and definitely think its worth checking out if its been a while since you saw it. In fact with a sequel now out, perhaps this is a great time for a second look.

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