In Mexico City, there are fewer than 45 public ambulances serving a population of nine million. The Ochoa family are not the only ones to sense this is an opportunity as they spend their nights operating a privately owned ambulance, listening for emergency calls and getting the injured to hospitals in hope of being paid for their efforts. As they race through neon-lit streets against competing emergency squads, or deal with corrupt cops, it is possible to mistake Midnight Family for an action thriller, yet Luke Lorentzen’s award-winning depiction of health care in extremis is powerfully focussed on urgent social issues that are very real. MH

Second Chance: Mon, 11th Nov 2019