Midnight Family

2019

81 mins

Directed by Luke Lorentzen
97%
81%
Documentary

Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated documentary that follows a Mexican family as they run a private ambulance in an increasingly cutthroat... More

Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated documentary that follows a Mexican family as they run a private ambulance in an increasingly cutthroat industry.

"The Mexican capital is home to over nine million people and is serviced by just 45 government ambulances. The gap is filled by private, untrained paramedics, who race to accident scenes and scrabble for business. It’s a cut-throat environment, ethically problematic, and subject to much bribery and corruption. The Ochoa family are struggling to keep their ambulance on the road and make a living. Lacking medical skills and equipment but basically good-hearted (and always ready with a hug), the family are forced to negotiate fees with the sick, stressed and insolvent. " (Sydney Film Festival).

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Where to watch Midnight Family

Midnight Family is available to stream in New Zealand now... More on Google TV and DocPlay and Apple TV Store and Academy On Demand and AroVision.

Midnight Family | Ratings & Reviews

97_%74 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
81_%79 reviews
Audience score rating

"Following this family, Lorentzen fashions a documentary that serves as a wrenchingly intimate portrait of a country’s wide-reaching healthcare crisis."

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Slant Magazine

"The Ochoa family may charge high prices for their emergency services, but the money they reap mostly goes toward upkeep and expenses. By night, they save lives. By day, they’re just another low-income Mexico City family struggling to put food on the table and pay their electric bills."

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A.V. Club

"Yet somehow Lorentzen shows that it is not the Ochoa family who are the bad guys, but the whole rotten system; and the private-ambulance cowboys are themselves desperate for cash, having to spend a good deal on bribing the cops."

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