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All the Empty Rooms is a documentary short film that follows broadcast journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they document various untouched rooms of children who had been killed in school shootings. It also won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film last weekend.

This is a devastating yet deeply moving short film that is unfortunately necessary due to the continual lack of gun safety laws in the United States. It focuses on four children who were killed over the past seven years and honors their lives with photos and archival footage. This makes their losses feel much more personal, and it does an excellent job at conveying the emotions felt by the parents. Although the film lacks an explicit call to action, this actually strengthens the narrative because it emphasizes the real life impacts that gun violence has on children and their families, so it doesn’t feel exploitative or shallow but rather empathetic and sensitive. Additionally, the film’s framing of the individual stories through Hartman’s journey to document these tragedies provides a through-line that does somewhat offer a sense of closure for the families and audience even though their circumstances can never be fully resolved.

I recommend All the Empty Rooms to everyone. It’s a very tough watch, but it’s incredibly important to see the lasting consequences from the leading cause of death for children in the US. As stated in the documentary, this country would be a very different place if all Americans could stand in those bedrooms for just a few minutes.

All the Empty Rooms is currently available to stream on Netflix. Click here to watch the Official Trailer.

– Review by Will Hopper

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