TIFF 2020 film review: '76 Days'
(Image courtesy of TIFF)
To watch the visceral, unprecedented and raw documentary '76 Days' (screening during the 45th Toronto International Film Festival) is to relive the pure chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic's early days in its ground zero.
In short: A raw and unfettered documentary capturing the struggles of patients and front line medical professionals battling the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.
'76 Days' could have easily just been a some macabre compilation of disheartening footage, however, the heart of this stirring documentary is its intimate, human connection. Its opening sequence absolutely distills this film’s humanity: a grieving woman begging to see her father one last time. Regardless of what anyone believes about wearing masks or mandated lockdowns, virtually every parent or child's worst nightmare is dying in the isolation of a sterile hospital room, cut off completely from family members in their final hours.
It's one thing to read a sterile headline about hospitals filled beyond capacity, it's another thing entirely to watch hospital staff have to look in the eyes of desperate, scared patients and try to maintain something resembling order. ‘76 Days’ fills in the humanity behind the emotionally and logistically overwhelming first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic.
There's almost a familial connection between doctors and patients, with nurses calling older patients 'grandpa' and parents calling NICU nurses 'auntie.' The documentary follows several patients and families as they navigate sheer uncertainty. There's the feisty old man hellbent on going home, the anxious parents eager to finally meet their newborn baby and a hospital worker with the grim task of contacting surviving family of the recently deceased.
It's the details that make '76 Days' a difficult watch. Scabs from repeated tracheal intubations. A plastic box full of the last personal effects of the decreased - all waiting to be returned to their families. Every doctor and nurse is covered head-to-toe in personal protective equipment, often with just their eyes visible - and often behind fogged up protective googles. Their Tyvek suits, face shields and taped-up gloves are worn like armor as they brave the outbreak's epicenter.
The fact that '76 Days' exists at all is itself profoundly impressive. War documentaries are lauded for the unquestionable bravery of the filmmakers to brave gunfire and explosions to chronicle war - and '76 Days' should be appreciated with similar regard. With ailing patients dying and exhausted doctors all around them, these filmmakers spent months capturing vital, humane footage from a remarkable moment in history under extraordinary circumstances.
Final verdict: This essential and unflinching documentary is a harrowing tribute to Wuhan's exceptionally brave nurses and doctors.
Score: 5/5
'76 Days' screens during TIFF 2020. This documentary is not yet rated and has a running time of 93 minutes.
