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The Waiting Room

Play trailer Poster for The Waiting Room 2012 1h 21m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Filmmaker Peter Nicks chronicles events at a public hospital's emergency room, where the overworked staff and many uninsured patients must cope with disease, injury, bureaucracy and hard choices.

Critics Reviews

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Moira MacDonald Seattle Times 03/21/2013
3.5/4
A moving portrait of people doing their jobs under very difficult circumstances - and, in virtually every moment we see, doing them with efficiency, wisdom and compassion. Go to Full Review
Elizabeth Horkley Philadelphia Inquirer 03/14/2013
Nicks nets moments that are at turns horrific and touching, redemptive of those seeking treatment and the workers who provide it where no one else will. Go to Full Review
Lisa Kennedy Denver Post 01/18/2013
2.5/4
The level of frankness and vulnerability of those featured suggests just how compassionate a filmmaker Nicks (who acted as his own cinematographer) must be. Go to Full Review
Kelly Jane Torrance Washington Examiner 12/19/2018
2.5/4
The Waiting Room is an important look into what is fast becoming one of our most important institutions. But that's all it is -- a glimpse. Go to Full Review
Amy Taubin Artforum 06/01/2015
In a year of exceptionally strong documentaries, The Waiting Room is one of the most urgent and effective. Go to Full Review
Sarah Boslaugh PopMatters 03/21/2013
8/10
If you want to understand how the American system of health care delivery works for people without employer-sponsored health insurance, I can think of no better introduction than watching Peter Nicks' documentary The Waiting Room. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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dave d 10/02/2022 A frightening look at an emergency room, health care, and insurance. It is ugly and harrowing and just about everyone's worst nightmare, but this doc brings the tension. Final Score: 8/10 See more 05/09/2016 An eye opening look into the ER waiting room of a hospital in California. The film takes an objective and at times emotional perspective on the events of the hospital without over emotionalizing them. See more 09/10/2014 sad to see how screwed up the health care system is See more 04/24/2014 perilous failure of insurance that leaves so many people flooding ERs who are barely equipped for such massive swaths of ill people See more 02/18/2014 Amazing documentary! Should be required viewing for every member of Congress. This is what you face if you're uninsured and unemployed or one of the working poor in America. It HUMANIZED these people. And the patience and compassion of the medical professionals was nothing short of heroic as they struggled to meet people's needs day after day in a system that was never designed for it. See more 02/17/2014 This is a very good piece of evidence, as to why the health care system in this country has to be reformed. People without insurance can only be seen in the emergency room, and looking at urban areas, that means hundreds of people waiting hours, days, even weeks for medical care. In one instance of the film, a man with a bullet wound is left to sit for an entire day, going numb throughout his body. A young girl is rushed through, an older man tries to get help when there's no one able to, and a homeless man takes attention away from less endemic cases as he's rushed through the ER. It's a very stressful environment that's portrayed, and the implications of not having insurance are strongly shown. The people in the documentary are also quite interesting, and at times it feels more like a film than a realistic portrayal of a hospital. There's the sassy nurse, the hopeful and yet defeated doctor, the strange people coming through the ER, trying to get treatment. Not only does this film educate, but entertain, and that's difficult with such a small space and time to work with. See more Read all reviews
The Waiting Room

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Peter Nicks chronicles events at a public hospital's emergency room, where the overworked staff and many uninsured patients must cope with disease, injury, bureaucracy and hard choices.
Director
Peter Nicks
Producer
Peter Nicks, Linda Davis, William B. Hirsch
Distributor
International Film Circuit [us]
Production Co
ITVS (Independent Television S
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 26, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 4, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$244.1K
Runtime
1h 21m