All the Empty Rooms

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All the Empty Rooms

PG-13

2025

34m

Documentary

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6 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Steve Hartman and Lou Bopp embark on a seven-year-long project to document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings.

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Christopher Lloyd

The Film Yap

2d

3/5

On the surface it’s a powerful subject: journalists who talk to the parents of children killed in school shootings and record photographs of their bedrooms. I’m an old-school believer in "don’t report on the reporting," and there’s too much of that here.

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Jennifer Green

Common Sense Media

Dec 9

4/5

This documentary is succinct, devastating, and necessary.

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John Stark

Mac the Movie Guy

Dec 8

95/100

Hartman’s sobering look at tragedy many would rather ignore is a necessary reminder of our continued failure for the next generations. Sadly, Hartman is more likely to make a sequel before anyone lifts a finger.

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Pedro Paunero

EscribiendoCine

Dec 4

8/10

In the face of the media's account that turns horror into routine, [All the Empty Rooms] proposes a pause. [Full review in Spanish]

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John Serba

Decider

Dec 2

All the Empty Rooms is a difficult but powerful 35 minutes. Don’t be surprised if it earns an Oscar nod.

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Christopher Campbell

Nonfics (Substack)

Nov 28

It’s a film where the subjects’ work is more worthy of honoring than the film they’re in, but it’s still the most polished documentary short I’ve seen this year.

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Johann D. M

@Johann33 2d

DEVASTATING AND DEEPLY AFFECTING! A documentary short that follows veteran CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they spend several years visiting the bedrooms preserved by families of children killed in U.S. school shootings. These rooms, frozen exactly as they were left, become emotional memorials that speak louder than any statistic.

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George Z

@Gzaver 3d

You don’t rate a film like this. It honors these children. It is heartbreaking to watch, I had tears in my eyes . the entire 35min. It’s an important film.

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Jonathan K

@aFIREintheattic 5d

Ugh that was a tough one.

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Sedale S.

@sedale143 Feb 9

A great doc that might take the Oscar, but man do I despise and hate that this has a reason to exist.

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Chad C.

@thechad912 Jan 29

Hartman is a thoughtful voice in a chaotic world. Not one mention of guns or politics, only the memories of missing children and the rooms they left behind. As a father, I watched this whole film through the tears in my eyes. I can’t say that this film left me healed, but I learned that nothing will change if we go numb.

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Renaldo D

Jan 27

A short film that is relevant and important for today's society.

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Joshua Seftel

Director

Frank Blackwell

Self

Nancy Blackwell

Self

Lou Bopp

Self

Rose Bopp

Self

Gloria Cazares

Self

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Synopsis

Steve Hartman and Lou Bopp embark on a seven-year-long project to document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings.

Director: Joshua Seftel
Producer: Trevor Burgess, James Costa, Conall Jones, Joshua Seftel
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Artemis Rising Foundation, Smartypants Pictures, Hyperobject Industries
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language|Thematic Material)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 1, 2025
Runtime: 34m

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