Code Black
Long Shot Factory | Release Date: June 20, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaAug 1, 2014
Code Black is sobering stuff. The American health system, McGarry's film argues, is broken. But the film is undeniably inspiring, too: Despite everything that is wrong, there are nurses and doctors and technicians determined to do things right. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJul 31, 2014
Code Black shows the passion, frustration, and skill of those who work to heal despite the system, but it remains in the dark about why that system is broken and how it can be fixed. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJul 30, 2014
For the most part, Code Black is a riveting document despite its tendency to jackrabbit around in its themes and personalities. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJul 29, 2014
McGarry, with this slick, invigorating film, whose action is set to a pulsating James Lavino musical score, has broadened a national debate that anti-healthcare reform folks have narrowed via the courts and political demonization. Read full review
88
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 11, 2014
Code Black is a powerful and quietly damning film. While training his lens narrowly on the heroic workers in a single emergency department, McGarry has made a broad indictment of a system that is badly in need of surgery. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenJun 26, 2014
McGarry has created something that feels personal, vital and revelatory, allowing the rest of us behind the curtain. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJun 26, 2014
The movie is at its best when it's immersing you in a series of conundrums and letting you feel what it's like to live with them, and wrestle with them. All of these people are doing the best they can, but the system is broken. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenJun 19, 2014
What sets Code Black apart is that the filmmaker is himself a physician. His extraordinary access to life-and-death moments and his illuminating perspective on the medical system make for a powerful viewing experience. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangJun 19, 2014
At 81 minutes, Code Black feels like a brisk, vital report from the frontlines of emergency medicine, forged and rooted in the most intense sort of personal and professional experience. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJun 19, 2014
Slicing through the fat of policy debates to the visceral rush of critical care, the narrative combines existential worries... and blood-and-guts immediacy with a seamlessness that made me want to high-five the editor, Joshua Altman. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJun 18, 2014
Far too much time is spent on McGarry and his colleagues talking to the camera about how little they’re motivated by money or status and how much they just want to help people. That’s laudable, but it’s not compelling. Read full review
80
The DissolveChris KlimekJun 18, 2014
Code Black doesn’t suggest ways to improve health care in America, but it at least documents one of the most noble and necessary professions with insight and humility. Read full review
80
Village VoiceErnest HardyJun 17, 2014
What will pull viewers in is the empathy of the healthcare workers who battle to retain their idealism in the face of staggering obstacles. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJun 17, 2014
Resident turned filmmaker Ryan McGarry sometimes displays shrewd instincts for hardheaded vérité — there’s compelling stuff here, even if you shear away his occasional stabs at issues of bureaucratic overcrowding and corporate cost-cutting at the expense of intimacy. Read full review
83
The PlaylistKatie WalshMay 30, 2014
Code Black manages to encapsulate so much of what is wrong with our health care system, but also to point out what’s right, and to posit an attitude shift not just about health care but about how we as a society treat those around us who are in pain or suffering. A heartbreaking but hopeful message within this important film. Read full review
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