SummaryIn his vivid and thought-provoking filmmaking debut, physician Ryan McGarry gives us unprecedented access to America’s busiest Emergency Department. Amidst real life-and-death situations, McGarry follows a dedicated team of charismatic, young doctors-in-training as they wrestle openly with both their ideals and with the realities of saving lives ... Read More
Directed By:Ryan McGarry
Written By:Joshua Altman, Ryan McGarry
Code Black
Metascore
Generally Favorable
77
User score
Generally Favorable
6.6
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
93% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Jun 26, 2014
90
McGarry has created something that feels personal, vital and revelatory, allowing the rest of us behind the curtain.
Jun 19, 2014
90
Slicing through the fat of policy debates to the visceral rush of critical care, the narrative combines existential worries... and blood-and-guts immediacy with a seamlessness that made me want to high-five the editor, Joshua Altman.
User score
Generally Favorable
56% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
22% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
22% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Nov 12, 2015
9
Love the constant action. Compelling to watch. I enjoy medical shows and this keeps my attention throughout. I'm a fan of Gray's Anatomy and ER SO THIS WILL BE ADDED TO MY LIST OF FAVORITE SHOWS
Jul 7, 2014
2
I completely disagree with most of the critics that believe that this documentary is compelling or remotely deep in any sense. I felt that the director dedicated 90 minutes to create a "yearbook" of his residence and his friends. The film was the cinematographic equivalent to the physician's facebook newsfeed. There was little critical social commentary, and when there was, it sounded old, repetitive, empty. Too much idealization of the ER physician. I would like to see a follow up in 5 years and see how many of these altruist doctors are actually doing any altruistic work.
May 30, 2014
83
Code Black manages to encapsulate so much of what is wrong with our health care system, but also to point out what’s right, and to posit an attitude shift not just about health care but about how we as a society treat those around us who are in pain or suffering. A heartbreaking but hopeful message within this important film.
Jun 17, 2014
80
What will pull viewers in is the empathy of the healthcare workers who battle to retain their idealism in the face of staggering obstacles.
Jul 29, 2014
75
McGarry, with this slick, invigorating film, whose action is set to a pulsating James Lavino musical score, has broadened a national debate that anti-healthcare reform folks have narrowed via the courts and political demonization.
Jun 18, 2014
67
Far too much time is spent on McGarry and his colleagues talking to the camera about how little they’re motivated by money or status and how much they just want to help people. That’s laudable, but it’s not compelling.
Jun 17, 2014
60
Resident turned filmmaker Ryan McGarry sometimes displays shrewd instincts for hardheaded vérité — there’s compelling stuff here, even if you shear away his occasional stabs at issues of bureaucratic overcrowding and corporate cost-cutting at the expense of intimacy.
Dec 29, 2015
1
Excellent series! Medical terminology and resulting diagnoses/treatment researched to be plausible. Emotional attachments/baggage, extreme ER situations are actually a probability. Exceptional actions are questionable, but in totality are within the realm of possibility. Please continue this series!
Awards
Hamptons International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Los Angeles Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Aspen Filmfest
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
