85
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenNow, 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.
- 90Film ThreatAlex SavelievFilm ThreatAlex SavelievWith 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.
- 90The New York TimesTeo BugbeeThe New York TimesTeo BugbeeThe 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.
- 90Los Angeles TimesRoxana HadadiLos Angeles TimesRoxana HadadiViscerally disturbing and achingly humanistic.
- 88TheWrapTodd GilchristTheWrapTodd GilchristThe filmmaker’s juxtaposition of overworked physicians and desperate patients offers a concentrated and intimate look at the bottomless, unimaginable depths of loss as well as the indefatigable reservoir of hope that sustains humanity during its darkest moments.
- 83IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichIt’s hard to predict what value this documentary will retain in the future (or if it will just disappear into the content void, where history streams a mile wild and a millimeter deep), but it’s safe to assume that it will never be more urgent than it is right now, in a country exhausted by its overlapping tragedies, when so many people of all stripes could use a shot in the arm to remember what’s at stake.
- 83The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakWatching 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.
- 80CineVueMatthew AndersonCineVueMatthew AndersonThe First Wave stands as an honest, hard-hitting and compassionate reminder of loving thy neighbour wherever and whoever they may be.
- 75Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanThe 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.
- 75Slant MagazineChris BarsantiSlant MagazineChris BarsantiMatthew Heineman’s documentary successfully emphasizes how people’s emotions were whipsawed by an unprecedented crisis.