SummaryWith exclusive access inside one of New York’s hardest hit hospital systems during the terrifying first four months of the pandemic, The First Wave spotlights the everyday heroes at the epicenter of COVID-19 as they come together to fight one of the greatest threats the world has ever encountered.
Directed By:Matthew Heineman
The First Wave
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
85
User score
Mixed or Average
5.4
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
100% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Oct 15, 2021
100
Now, more than a year and a half into the novel coronavirus pandemic, Matthew Heineman’s intensely intimate documentary arrives as a graphic and emotional reminder of the early days of the crisis, in all its confusion and horror. It’s also a breathtaking testament to the fight to live, the calling to heal, and the power of human connection.
Nov 18, 2021
90
The film succeeds in presenting an on-the-ground view of what it felt like to be inside a hospital in the spring of 2020. It was harrowing, death was everywhere and there was no end in sight.
Nov 16, 2021
90
With unprecedented access to overfilled, frenzied hospital rooms, as well as quarantined homes, Heineman makes one cringe at every prolonged beep of the vitals monitor, delves right into the patients’ eyes, their very souls. He imbues the documentary with the same sense of urgency and empathy that were evident in his previous docs Cartel Land and City of Ghosts. A tough watch but a necessary one, The First Wave marks the finest cinematic account of the COVID-19 pandemic yet.
Nov 22, 2021
83
Watching Matthew Heineman’s documentary The First Wave isn’t therefore a casualty of diminishing returns due to a false sense of redundancy. If anything, it proves more powerful from accumulation.
Nov 23, 2021
80
This remarkable film feels like it could become a time capsule, showing future generations what it felt like in 2020 for those on the frontline.
Nov 23, 2021
80
The First Wave stands as an honest, hard-hitting and compassionate reminder of loving thy neighbour wherever and whoever they may be.
Nov 16, 2021
75
The First Wave feels simultaneously hard to watch and vital, tragic and uplifting, like a backward glimpse over our shoulder at a period of conflict and struggle — in more ways than one — that we’re not quite done living through yet.
User score
Mixed or Average
57% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
14% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
29% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Feb 10, 2022
7
This documentary about an NYC hospital facing the horrors of the first months of the pandemic has unsettling moments. Watching someone die because of COVID-19 strikes you in every way and makes you consider even more what you're doing to protect yourself and others. The problem that I found with it it's the presence of former NY governor Andrew Cuomo. What was the purpose of it? I'm pretty sure director Matthew Heineman didn't intend to clean his image; still, it was very distracting to watch that guy and some big CEOs trying to calm people. The real heroes — sorry for using that term, because some of the nurses and doctors in the film say that they don't feel like that — are the ones risking their own lives to save others, and they deserved all the screen time.
Production Company:
- National Geographic Documentary Films
- Participant
- Our Time Projects
Release Date:Nov 19, 2021
Duration:1 h 34 m
Rating:R
Awards
News & Documentary Emmy Awards
• 5 Wins & 11 Nominations
Philadelphia Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Montclair Film Festival (MFF)
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
