From its opening moments, American Doctor demands its audience to stop looking away from Gaza. Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an outspoken Jewish doctor, presents director Poh Si Teng with a photo of dead children. Teng states that they will have to blur the photo out of respect for the dead to which Perlmutter fiercely retorts that not showing it is the biggest disservice to their memory.
The film immediately cuts to the harrowing image. It’s uncomfortable and devastating, lingering so you cannot miss it. The atrocities are real, undeniable, and more dire than ever.
This exchange embodies the ethos boiling at the center of Teng’s incendiary documentary. Teng, who quit ABC News and self-funded the film, follows three physicians who travel to Gaza to provide medical assistance at Nasser Hospital. While the film centers these heroic men, it by no means romanticizes the situation.
Instead, it presents a first-hand account of Gaza laden with desperation and frustration. It’s hard not to marvel at what these medical professionals are doing in the face of so much violence and destruction, but their own guilt and helplessness remains front and center. In doing so, Teng speaks to the greater collective helplessness felt by millions watching a genocide unfold via social media.
Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a Zoroastrian surgeon, joins Perlmutter in Gaza, and, while the two work to make small differences in the lives of Palestinian people, it feels nearly impossible to keep up with the rate of mass destruction unleashed by Israel. There’s a push and pull where every small step forward is met by an astronomical blow back.
Then there’s Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency medicine physician who, because of his Palestinian roots, is repeatedly denied entry into Gaza. Though he directs his efforts to his local community in Chicago, he grapples with his lack of ability to physically show up for his people.
The film also interrogates how these doctors are unwittingly forced into the spotlight to act as a spokesperson for the plight of Palestinians. However, as they try to spotlight Gaza, they are repeatedly chewed up by a biased machine that isn’t interested in showing the whole story.
They are not politicians. They are doctors and they simply want to help people. However, the circumstances at play are making it more and more difficult to effectively do so.
Impressively, Teng holds a lot of ideas in the balance and is able to tackle the various angles without losing the intent of the film because all of these ideas are crucial in achieving her goal.
She plainly presents the ongoing factors that enable the genocide to continue and allows the casual cruelty to speak for itself. It works in tandem with the actual violence on the ground in Gaza to create a horrifying portrait that will leave you aghast at how anyone could allow this to happen for as long as it has.
Teng paints another picture alongside this one, though. American Doctor is also an empathetic and respectful depiction of healthcare workers who tirelessly work to save lives. Beyond just our three main doctors, we watch Palestinian healthcare professionals continue to put themselves on the line just to take care of their own.
It’s not a wholistic look at the situation and doesn’t claim to have the answers. But it operates successfully for what it’s trying to do which is radicalize and open eyes. Audiences are given myriad lenses through which to look at the genocide and can see how these all compound upon one another.
There are stunning acts of heroism on display, but you are not made to feel uplifted by them. You’re left upset it has to happen at all and, much like our subjects, frustrated that it feels like these incredible acts simply are not enough.
American Doctor is an urgent plea to stop looking away and unflinchingly shows how bad things can get when you do. Ultimately, while this documentary is a love letter to the selfless healthcare workers, it knows that it is simply not enough. It recognizes that there is no viable path forward unless everyone comes together and demands an end to the atrocities inflicted upon Gaza.
American Doctor is in theaters now.
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Adam Patla
Adam grew up less than 3 minutes away from a movie theater so he was always destined to love all things entertainment. He studied Broadcast & Cinematic Arts at Central Michigan University before working as a talent agent in the Chicago area until 2020. During lockdown he began discussing film and television on TikTok where he cultivated a platform of over 50,000 followers. He is currently a member of Chicago Indie Critics.