All the Empty Rooms

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All the Empty Rooms

PG-13

2025

34m

Documentary

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8 Reviews

86%

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50+ Ratings

Steve Hartman and Lou Bopp embark on a seven-year-long project to document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings.

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William Bibbiani

TheWrap

Feb 20

It’s not self-congratulatory — that would be repugnant, so don’t worry, the focus is still the children and their families — but Hartman is on a journey, and that journey changed him and his photographer.

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Pete Hammond

Deadline Hollywood Daily

Feb 24

This 33-minute documentary is not just a portrait of the children lost but also of the reporter determined to use his camera and voice to make sure they are never forgotten.

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Christopher Lloyd

The Film Yap

Feb 17

3/5

On the surface it’s a powerful subject: journalists who talk to the parents of children killed in school shootings and record photographs of their bedrooms. I’m an old-school believer in "don’t report on the reporting," and there’s too much of that here.

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Jennifer Green

Common Sense Media

Dec 9

4/5

This documentary is succinct, devastating, and necessary.

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John Stark

Mac the Movie Guy

Dec 8

95/100

Hartman’s sobering look at tragedy many would rather ignore is a necessary reminder of our continued failure for the next generations. Sadly, Hartman is more likely to make a sequel before anyone lifts a finger.

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Pedro Paunero

EscribiendoCine

Dec 4

8/10

In the face of the media's account that turns horror into routine, [All the Empty Rooms] proposes a pause. [Full review in Spanish]

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Jordan P

@jordangpittman Mar 8

This review may contain spoilers. Gut-wrenching. A major choice to show the writing with the "more guns/less guns" on it -- like it's trying to be apolitical. I was hopeful when the narrator said he put some of the blame on the media, but then this. A little bit of a push would've made me rank this higher.

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David F

@dfulmer Mar 7

A great, short film about all the crazy shootings, from the point of view of the empty rooms left behind.

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Johann D. M

@Johann33 Feb 17

DEVASTATING AND DEEPLY AFFECTING! A documentary short that follows veteran CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they spend several years visiting the bedrooms preserved by families of children killed in U.S. school shootings. These rooms, frozen exactly as they were left, become emotional memorials that speak louder than any statistic.

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George Z

@Gzaver Feb 17

You don’t rate a film like this. It honors these children. It is heartbreaking to watch, I had tears in my eyes . the entire 35min. It’s an important film.

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Jonathan K

@aFIREintheattic Feb 14

Ugh that was a tough one.

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Sedale S.

@sedale143 Feb 9

A great doc that might take the Oscar, but man do I despise and hate that this has a reason to exist.

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Joshua Seftel

Director

Frank Blackwell

Self

Nancy Blackwell

Self

Lou Bopp

Self

Rose Bopp

Self

Gloria Cazares

Self

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Synopsis

Steve Hartman and Lou Bopp embark on a seven-year-long project to document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings.

Director: Joshua Seftel
Producer: Trevor Burgess, James Costa, Conall Jones, Joshua Seftel
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Artemis Rising Foundation, Smartypants Pictures, Hyperobject Industries
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language|Thematic Material)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 1, 2025
Runtime: 34m

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