The film, now presumed lost, is an episodic narrative displaying examples of humankind's brutality, from the story of Cain and Abel through the Hague Convention of 1907.

[3] The Hague scene ends with the convention collapsing into chaos, with the delegates, who had convened to limit the power of armies, directly attacking each other.

The eleventh and final scene, titled "Triumph", shows an Angel of Destruction hovering over a battlefield covered with dead and wounded soldiers.

[4] Humanity Through the Ages was made in response to successful historical films such as The Last Days of Pompeii, and directed in a highly serious style contrasting sharply with most of Méliès's work.

[5] The first scene includes a moment staged by Méliès to recreate Pierre-Paul Prud'hon's 1808 painting Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime.