December 5, 2021 – I think this movie would be a hard one for pandemic deniers and anti-vaxxers to watch, since it would require a massive effort from the brain's reality-denying muscles. It is not an impossible lift because people have been known to deny the existence of Covid-19 right up to the moment that they die from Covid-19.

Parts of this movie are hard to watch as people struggle to breathe. Some are near death, on the verge of death, or appear to be dying. Some people will surprise you. It looks like there is no way they can survive, yet they make a surprising comeback. These struggling hospital patients look so helpless and without hope. That's the depressing thing.

The hospital workers, nurses, doctors, physical therapists, beaten and worn down by the constant physical and emotional strain of the pandemic, are also hard to watch. It puts the stories of suicide by doctors and nurses during the pandemic into context. Things are much worse now for them than they were then, these early days when people applauded them as heroes. Now there are reality-denying people who call them enemies.

This movie is about those early days. It follows nurses, doctors, physical therapists, patients and their families during the first months of the pandemic in New York City, from March through June, 2020. It should be noted that travel restrictions on China, imposed by the Trump Administration, had already been in force, beginning a month before this period, from February 2, 2020. The travel ban was ineffective, as predicted. It turned out that visitors from Italy, not China, were the initial source most of the Covid-19 infections in New York.

This documentary avoids the big picture, focusing instead on a few people. It follows these people through the height of the pandemic during this period, so we get to see how they cope with the situation. There are very disturbing videos in this movie, but thankfully, there are some recoveries by some patients, to go with all the deaths.

There are little triumphs, like when a patient is taken off a ventilator, and can breathe on his own again, and it there are major celebrations when patients, who were once near death, finally recover enough to leave the hospital and go home. Everybody needs these victories. That is what keeps us going.

My friends and relatives run the gamut from those who call the pandemic a “hoax,” to a guy who calls all unvaccinated people stupid. Both of them get “likes” for these extreme kinds of comments from their Facebook dittoheads. Facebook is a great source of both useful information, and the kind of misinformation that will kill true believers. One thing for sure, it is not real life.

This movie is about reality, the inescapable kind of reality that can be ignored, but not avoided. A few days ago, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said, “Probably by the end of this winter … pretty much everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, cured or dead.” That pretty well sums up the Pandemic in the U.S. too. Another note, a recent study indicates you are twice as likely to die in the year after you recover from a severe case of Covid, versus a mild case.

So if you want to see how bad it can get for the unvaccinated, watch this film, because nearly all those now in hospitals with severe Covid-19 are unvaccinated. Pills for treating Covid-19 are being deployed, but early detection is needed for the pills to work. Don't put it off. This is one scary movie. It rates a B+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff (no extra charges apply). I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2021 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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