Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Family movie night? There's an app for that

Download our new mobile app on iOS and Android.

Get the app
Parents' Guide to

Hot Grease

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Dated but relevant look at alternative fuel.

Movie NR 2017 62 minutes
Hot Grease Movie Poster

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Hot Grease Movie: Scene # 1
  • Hot Grease Movie: Scene # 3
  • Hot Grease Movie: Scene # 4

Community Reviews

See all

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

HOT GREASE focuses on the efforts to bring biodiesel, made largely from used cooking oil, into the mainstream as an alternative to petroleum-based fossil fuels. In 2007, the government mandated that a certain percentage of gas at the pump should contain biofuel, in most cases ethanol, which is made from corn. Corn, it turns out, doesn't reduce carbon admissions as much as it was hoped due to land-use issues. On the other hand, biodiesel falls into the category of an advanced biofuel, made largely from used cooking oils. This fuel has far greater potential to reduce carbon emissions and rid restaurants and food businesses of what used to be a waste product. Now restaurants are paid for their used cooking oil, turning the waste product into a commodity. As of 2017, restaurants disposed on 250 million gallons of cooking oil a year. Grease collecting is now a $2 billion industry. The oil and gas industry has enjoyed $480 billion in tax breaks and subsidies for years, and for the reason energy sector hasn't been a free market. Yet that industry complains that helping the fledgling biodiesel industry jeopardizes a nonexistent free market.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This documentary will be of most interest to tweens and families interested in environmental causes. While many movies about the fossil fuel alternatives focus on climate change, Hot Grease shines the light on the powerful petroleum industry's efforts to lobby Congress and administrations to limit biodiesel inroads. Anti-biodiesel talking points all sound the same -- the government shouldn't be permitted to "pick winners and losers" or put fingers on the scale favoring biodiesel. But these petroleum lobby arguments ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of subsidies and tax credits the petroleum industry has been receiving for decades. That industry was happy to have the government pick winners and losers as long the petroleum industry was the winner, the documentary argues.

Note that much of the information here is more than five years old. Many interviews focus on the fact that oil prices fell in 2014, seemingly nullifying a need for cheap alternative fuels. Recent record-high gas prices certainly offer a contrary view.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the way unfair policies created by wealthy corporations and the politicians they support affect us all. What can we do to change this?

  • The movie suggests there's room for many players in the multibillion-dollar energy industry. Why do you think it seems as if the petroleum industry wants to quash alternative businesses?

  • Does the movie make you want to press for more environmentally-friendly fuel sources? Why or why not?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended movie lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate