Review: Through the streets of Mexico City, this ‘Midnight Family’ saves lives
LA TimesEmergency lights glaze the darkness of the night with blinding blue and red hues in Luke Lorentzen’s electrifying, Mexico City-set documentary “Midnight Family.” In the business of preventing tragedy, the Ochoa family operates a private ambulance that supplements a decrepit system with only 45 government-owned units for a population of millions. Acting as his own cinematographer, Lorentzen rode in the back of the vehicle to procure first-hand accounts of the impoverished first responders’ unpredictable nightly trips. Footage obtained via a dashboard camera in the main cabin complements the piece as it grants unfiltered access to the trio’s affectionately crass banter. Concentrated on the premise’s fast-paced rawness, the young documentarian omits valuable information, like how the Ochoas entered this high-risk line of work in which they often don’t make enough to feed themselves and are constantly the victims of police extortion.
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