82. Midnight Family; movie review

MIDNIGHT FAMILY
Cert 15
79 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language

Good grief. Is this really what happens when there is no NHS and health provision becomes a free-for-all.
The Ochoa family runs one private ambulance in Mexico City and rely on police tip-offs or listening to emergency announcements on their radio so they can get to trauma scenes faster than competitors.
During  Luke Lorentzen's film, they are literally seen in a race with another ambulance so they can get to the scene first.
Even worse, we hear the family’s head begging a mother for payment for taking her daughter to hospital even though she died en route.
This is the most cut-throat of businesses in a world where filling out forms takes precedence over saving lives.
Lorentzen's film is a fly-on-the-wall, recording the family as they handle calls and converse with each other.
However, it fails to explain how Mexico City fell into such an administrative mess that there are fewer than 50 public ambulances for nine million people.
We also don't know why the Ochoas decided to start working in the ambulance or the levels of training they required.
And what is the police view? On one hand, we see officers who are prepared to take bribes to help the family and on another we see them being arrested.
Midnight Family is shocking on so many levels.
Firstly, how can it be that society degenerates to such an extent that basic care is not available when people are literally dying?
Secondly, how can anyone see such suffering as an economic possibility?
The Ochoas are not without empathy - this is evident when the baby of an adducted father near dies when left in his care.
But how are they even in this position?
Midnight Family frustrated as much as it shocked because it left scores of unanswered questions.
It merely tickled our need for enlightenment rather than sated it and that was because, as in too many movies of its genre, it lacked a narrator or at least a mechanism for explaining what we are seeing.
Without that focus, the impact of the film seeps away too easily.

Reasons to watch: Unbelievable real-life story
Reasons to avoid: Desperate need for background information

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? The number of people considered vulnerable due to a lack of access to health services in Mexico amounted to almost one-sixth of the country's population in 2018. The situation worsened since 2016 when the figure was 15.5 per cent.

The final word. Luke Lorentzen: "I always wanted to recreate the experiences and feelings I personally had in the ambulance night after night, and there are several moments in the final film that would never have been shared with a larger crew present." Filmmaker

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