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An intense ride in a Mexican ambulance with a family struggling to stay afloat.

Spanish with English subtitles

In Mexico City, where the healthcare system cannot even begin to address the needs of nine million residents, the Ochoa family runs one of the city’s privately owned ambulance services, scraping out a living by tending to the injured and desperately unwell, waiting on calls night after night, only to speed through the city’s streets hoping to beat rival EMT crews to the scene. These visceral race-against-the-clock runs give Midnight Family the vibe of a suspense film, while 17-year-old son Juan emerges as the film’s everyday hero, a hard-hustling young man who acts as the sturdy backbone to his at-risk family. Director Luke Lorentzen takes care to place the Ochoas’ struggle within a larger ecosystem of civil failure, subsistence-level scavenging, and endemic corruption.

"Outstanding... Fantastically shot by the director Luke Lorentzen, the documentary develops an urgency that suits the life-or-death stakes onscreen. By turns terrifying and exhilarating, Midnight Family unfolds with such velocity that it may take a while for your ethical doubts to catch up to what’s happening. When they do, they leave you gasping."
– Manohla Dargis, New York Times Critics’ Pick