New Showbiz

You are here:
The First Wave

The First Wave

2021

R

Director

Matthew Heineman

Runtime

94 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

Synopsis

When Covid-19 hit New York City in 2020, filmmaker Matthew Heineman gained unique access to one of New York’s hardest-hit hospital systems. The resulting film focuses on the doctors, nurses, and patients on the frontlines during the “first wave” from March to June 2020. Their distinct storylines each serve as a microcosm to understand how the city persevered through the worst pandemic in a century

Where to Watch

Diversity & Representation

Overall Score

6.6/10

Good

Category Breakdown

LGBTQ+ Representation

Fair

The film captures a broad cross-section of New York City's diverse population. While it provides a platform for various identities, there is no specific narrative focus on queer identity.

Gender Representation

Good

The narrative centers the labor of nursing and healthcare support, where women hold significant agency. It shifts focus from hospital administration to the lived experiences of female medical professionals.

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Good

The documentary captures the disproportionate impact of the crisis on diverse communities. By centering patients and caregivers from various ethnic backgrounds, it challenges homogeneous depictions of medical experiences.

Religious & Cultural Diversity

Good

The film explores the tension between individual survival and institutional collapse. It moves away from heroic tropes to provide a nuanced view of systemic struggle and societal breakdown.

Disability Representation

Good

The film provides visibility to acute physical illness and the loss of bodily autonomy. It presents medical vulnerability as a raw reality rather than a source of inspiration.

Strengths

  • Captures the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on diverse ethnic communities.
  • Centers the agency and decision-making of female medical professionals over traditional hierarchies.
  • Avoids 'inspiration porn' by presenting medical vulnerability as a raw, systemic reality.

Areas for Improvement

  • Lacks a specific, targeted narrative focus on LGBTQ+ identities.
  • Does not explicitly explore religious or specific cultural traditions beyond systemic societal structures.

AI Analysis

Matthew Heineman’s documentary succeeds by humanizing a global crisis through the lens of frontline workers and a diverse civilian population. By prioritizing individual agency over high-level political stability, the film offers a vital, observational look at systemic instability. The work's primary strength is its intersectional approach, documenting how race and profession converge during a period of profound societal disruption. It effectively uses the urban complexity of New York City to highlight how different communities experience systemic vulnerability. While the film excels at capturing demographic complexity, it lacks a targeted narrative focus on specific identities like LGBTQ+ storylines. The representation remains largely a byproduct of the metropolitan setting rather than a central thematic pillar.

How are these scores produced? →

Rate this Movie

No rating selected
Use arrow keys to select a rating from 1 to 5 stars
Optional text review, maximum 2000 characters
Tip: Wrap spoilers with ||double pipes|| to hide them
0/2000 characters
You must be signed in to submit a rating

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts on this movie!

Use the rating form above to leave a star rating and optional review.