The True Cost (2015) on Netflix
PG-1320151h 32mDocumentaryDrama
A documentary follows the clothing supply chain from cotton fields in India to factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia and China. Garment workers, farmers and owners describe what they face.
- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.7/107,530 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes63%
Trailer
Plot summary
The fast fashion industry moves clothing from cotton fields to factory floors and, eventually, to landfills, and the documentary traces that chain. In Bangladesh, India, Cambodia and China, garment workers earn low wages and work in difficult conditions, while international brands press factory owners to keep prices down and owners pass that pressure on to their workers. Genetically modified cotton seeds and the pesticides they require cost Indian farmers more, and the film also looks at contaminated cotton fields in Texas and leather tanneries that discharge chromium into the Ganges. Worldwide clothing consumption has risen 500% compared with the 1990s, and an average American throws away 82 pounds of textiles a year. Economists, environmentalists and people running fair trade and sustainable clothing companies give their views on the industry.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The True Cost (2015)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Andrew Morgan decided to make The True Cost after the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza commercial building in Bangladesh, which killed over a thousand workers. He started the project in October that year and traveled to thirteen countries to gather information and conduct interviews.
- Morgan wanted to interview 25 major clothing brands for The True Cost, but none of them would appear in the film.
