Watch Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is a 2005 documentary film that scrutinizes the business practices of the multinational retail corporation Wal-Mart. The film was directed by Robert Greenwald and features a collection of interviews with former Wal-Mart employees, small business owners, and residents from various communities across the United States.

The documentary begins by exploring the rapid expansion of Wal-Mart stores across the US and its impact on local communities. The film highlights the company's low prices and their effects on small businesses, including the closure of many mom-and-pop shops. The film suggests that Wal-Mart's strategy is based on the exploitation of workers, and the company's ability to offer prices below market value is due to various unethical labor practices.

The interviews in the film reveal many issues surrounding Wal-Mart's labor practices. Wal-Mart is depicted as a business that places profits over people, treating its employees as second-class citizens. The company's anti-union stance is highlighted, and how it affects workers is discussed. The film alleges that Wal-Mart has a high turnover rate and consistently underpays its employees, leaving many workers without essential benefits such as healthcare and retirement plans.

The documentary also explores the environmental impact of Wal-Mart's business practices. The company is accused of exploiting natural resources, creating waste, and contributing to pollution levels. The film suggests that Wal-Mart's shopping centers generate high levels of carbon dioxide emissions, making it one of the most significant contributors to climate change.

The film also documents negative impacts on workers in countries contributing to Wal-Mart's production chain. The film argues that with little oversight, Wal-Mart can engage foreign labor factories that have low standards which lead to the exploitation and mistreatment of foreign workers. This includes forcing workers to work unreasonably long hours, denying them adequate safety measures, exposing them to hazardous working environments, paying them meager salaries, and denying them labor-union representation.

Further on, the film points out that Wal-Mart operates in ways that exploit workers, pollute the environment, disintegrate local communities, cost taxpayers money, and provide poor quality products to customers. This situation leaves many Americans questioning Wal-Mart's integrity and its lasting impact on communities that host its stores.

In summary, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is a documentary that critiques Wal-Mart's corporation practices thoroughly. Through the use of interviews, statistics, and other evidence, the film portrays Wal-Mart as a business whose low prices come at the cost of exploiting workers and ignoring the environmental impact of its practices. The documentary raises questions about Wal-Mart's business model and its wider impact on communities, including economic, social, and environmental effects. It is a thought-provoking film that calls for Wal-Mart to take action on how to operate ethically and sustainably within American and overseas markets.

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is a 2005 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 35 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.8 and a MetaScore of 71.