VOD film review: The First Wave
Review Overview
Harrowing reminders
8Human resilience
8David Farnor | On 09, Dec 2021
Director: Matthew Heineman
Cast: N/A
Certificate: 15
Where to watch The First Wave online in the UK: Disney+ UK
From BBC and Channel 4 dramas to the Chinese film 76 Days, the harrowing toll of the Covid-19 pandemic has been captured on screen numerous times in the past 18 months. Now, National Geographic is chronicling the response to the outbreak in the USA with The First Wave. And while the prospect of a film about the thing that has been a constant in everyone’s lives since March 2020 isn’t an upbeat or thrilling one, this documentary is a powerful watch nonetheless.
Director Matthew Heineman is no stranger to ratcheting up tension in a documentary, and this is no exception, as he gains exclusive access to one of New York’s hardest hit hospital systems during the first four months of the pandemic. But the stakes need no introduction for any viewer, and Heineman’s success here lies in his ability to pick out human stories that provide a loose emotional structure through the sudden, nightmarish chaos. It’s a sensitively assembled window onto the ordeals of those initial months, crafted carefully and concisely so that every beat hits hard.
After lots of screen time given over to politicians and scientists, Heineman puts the heroes on the front line front and centre. While there’s horror in seeing the despair and loss that unfolds, what sticks with you is the humanity on display, as the exhausted nurses and doctors take care to provide comfort and companionship to their patients, holding hands and stroking faces at a time when their own families were unable to be present. Even when the patients who do recover come off the ventilators, the medical team play Here Comes the Sun every time.
That nurse’s perspective applies also to the clapping in the street that took place in so many countries, reminding us of the people who did – and still do – need recognition. The result might not be top of your watchlist in 2021, but will serve for years to come as a moving testament to the resilience and strength that saved lives at an impossible time.
The First Wave is available on Disney+ UK, as part of a £7.99 monthly subscription or a £79.99 yearly subscription.