Skip to content
HOLLYWOOD METRICS
HomeAboutCraftNewsAnalyticsScriptsBooksPricingAPIMCP
Catalog/Documentary/The First Wave
The First Wave poster
A
Excellent
MASTER SCORE 77.0 / 100
2021·Documentary / History·1h 33m

THE FIRST WAVE

“Four months, New York City, 2020.”

When Covid-19 hit New York City in 2020, filmmaker Matthew Heineman gained unique access to one of New York’s hardest-hit hospital systems. The resulting film focuses on the doctors, nurses, and patients on the frontlines during the “first wave” from March to June 2020. Their distinct storylines each serve as a microcosm to understand how the city persevered through the worst pandemic in a century

Above the Line
Matthew Heineman·DirectorMatthew Heineman·Director of PhotographyH. Scott Salinas·Original Music ComposerDavid Zieff·Editor
Cast
Nathalie Dougé·SelfAlexis Ellis·Self - Ahmed's WifeKellie Wunsch·SelfBrussels Jabon·SelfNaph Jabon·Self - Brussels' HusbandAthens Garrote·Self - Brussels' SisterAndrew Cuomo·Self (archive footage)Michael Dowling·SelfAl Sharpton·Self (archive footage)Karl Arabian·Self
Full Crew
(27 credits)
Directing· 1
Matthew Heineman·Director
Camera· 3
Matthew Heineman·Director of PhotographyThorsten Thielow·Director of PhotographyLuke Lorentzen·Additional Camera
Editing· 4
David Zieff·EditorMatthew Heineman·EditorFrancisco Bello·EditorGabriel Rhodes·Editor
Sound & Music· 6
H. Scott Salinas·Original Music ComposerJon Batiste·Original Music ComposerAndres E. Marthe Gonzalez·Sound Effects EditorAi Miyatake·Sound Effects EditorTom Paul·Sound Re-Recording MixerTristan Baylis·Sound Designer
Production· 12
Alex Gibney·Executive ProducerMaiken Baird·Executive ProducerMatthew Heineman·ProducerJoedan Okun·Executive ProducerDiane Weyermann·Executive ProducerLeah Natasha Thomas·Executive ProducerPagan Harleman·Executive ProducerDavid Fialkow·Executive ProducerJeff Skoll·Executive ProducerJenna Millman·ProducerLeslie Norville·ProducerRoss McDonnell·Co-Producer
Other Departments· 1
Ross McDonnell·Cinematography
By the Numbers
77.0
OF 100
Master Score
7.1
OF 10
IMDb
97%
CRITICS
Rotten Tomatoes
$61K
Worldwide Gross
0
Oscar Wins
Where to Watch

THE AVAILABILITY MAP

The canonical record of where this film lives across the streaming map.

Provider Index In Progress

Streaming, rental, and purchase availability for this title is being ingested from the TMDB watch-providers feed and will appear here once the next catalog refresh runs. Until then, the canonical source links below remain the fastest route.

Find on TMDB
Poster DNA

THE VISUAL DECONSTRUCTION

The First Wave's poster has not been indexed by the visual agent yet. The grid below shows the schema the analysis fills in.

Dominant Palette
Pending
Mood
Unanalyzed
Composition
Unanalyzed
Era
Unanalyzed
Visual Style
Unanalyzed

The visual agent has indexed 54,210 posters from the catalog against this schema. The remaining slate is queued for the next enrichment pass.

More Like This

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Neighboring films in the catalog's similarity graph.

Keep Going

THREE WAYS DEEPER

Auteur
AUT
MORE BY MATTHEW HEINEMAN

Every catalog entry where Matthew Heineman is credited as director.

Open
Family
GEN
MORE DOCUMENTARY

Top-ranked films inside documentary, sorted by master score.

Open
Era
DEC
MORE FROM THE 2020S

The best films of the 2020s, ranked across every available metric.

Open
View on IMDbView on TMDBCatalog
HOLLYWOOD METRICS

The definitive mathematical oracle for cinematic success and creative script intelligence.

74,000+ Films100 Years1.1M+ Reviews
PRODUCT
  • Dashboard
  • Pricing
  • Script Analysis
  • Watch the Demo
  • The Red List
  • News
  • Analytics
  • API
  • MCP Connector
COMPANY
  • About
  • Track Record
  • Trust & Script Privacy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
CONNECT
  • ▶YouTube
  • ◉Instagram
  • ♪TikTok
  • @Threads
  • fFacebook
Get Started Free →
© 2026 Hollywood Metrics. All rights reserved.Powered by bespoke agents and autonomous agentic workflows