All the Empty Rooms

Audience Reviews

View More

Matt H @matthayes 4 days ago Journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp embark on an innovative approach to our collective perspective on school shootings. With few exceptions, the bedrooms of each school shooting victim visited are exactly the same as though they had never been lost. Seeing the skills of the journalist and photographer complement each other rose this thirty-minute film to another level. Even though the origins of each bedroom shared the same horrific past, the stories and photographs never strayed away from showing their individuality. Through our numbness as a society, each story and picture is meant to bring the obvious to the forefront. Each life mattered. Beyond that, each life mattered to someone close to them and to our communities. Steve Hartman’s long history of purposefully positive news stories adds a unique perspective. It shows that when the world’s attention has moved on, the lives taken reverberate through into permanent trauma for those that can’t ever forget. See more

Eye C @ECinc Jul 26, 2026 A devastating documentary that shows the mess that leaves in the families after a tragedy as the school shooting. Simply broke my heart, so so so sad. See more

Vixo S @vixo_six Jun 11, 2026 All the Empty Rooms is a quiet and devastating documentary about grief after tragedy, built around absence rather than direct shock. Its strength lies in the spaces left behind, rooms that seem frozen in time and still waiting for lives that will never return. The film avoids sensationalism by letting images, testimonies and silence carry the emotional weight. What hurts is not only what happened, but how the world continues while some people remain tied to a moment that never truly ends. Its clarity gives it power. The documentary suggests that forgetting often becomes society's easiest response to unbearable loss. It does not need to raise its voice because its force lives in what is missing. All the Empty Rooms turns absence into testimony and silence into a lasting accusation. See more

Christian M @chriss17eu Apr 9, 2026 Rarely do I encounter works that leave a lasting mark—one that isn’t fleeting, but deeply painful. This documentary stands out as my favorite of the year. With a simple yet powerful approach, Joshua Seftel tells a heartbreaking story while preserving the dignity of those involved. He avoids unnecessary elements, focusing entirely on the emotional core: the children. Watching parents face the loss of their children is devastating, not through manipulation, but through raw honesty. The film makes their presence feel alive through absence—objects and spaces become living traces of what once was. It never overexposes grief, maintaining respect and clarity throughout. 'All the Empty Rooms' resonates deeply with me, leaving a lasting emotional imprint. See more

James P @RT49203082 Apr 7, 2026 After just watching this I can clearly say this is disturbing. It has nothing to do with the Lost rooms. But more about the parents that won't let go. You don't keep a room about your child who died around for 5 years. You should have a new child. I lost my child myself when it was 4 years old. no I didn't keep its room no I didn't even have a room set up for it. I didn't keep any of the pictures I don't have any now. Parents who lose a child should let go of that child take all the stuff out the room move to New House. Not sit there keeping the room exactly where their child was. It means they have the tendencies not to move on. Watching this kind of creep me out because it's about an old man going into other little children's rooms taking pictures of them. There's no lesson to be learned from watching this. It's just a guy taking pictures of a child room Parents take it into the obligation of themselves to use the photos and pictures to profit off their dead child. It's sickening See more

Stephen G @RT76499974 Mar 21, 2026 Intensely heartfelt, this is a painful but powerful masterpiece that in the end is a testament to life and love. In an inteview for the online outlet The Athletic, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, whose father died from gun violence and who was an executive producer for the film, sums it up better than I can: "Once I saw it, I was just blown away by the beauty, the sadness, the humanity, so poignantly done. And it’s important, given my advocacy for gun violence prevention, (that) you look for ways to touch everybody and avoid the political discourse that brings the issue down. "The film perfectly threaded that needle. I’m trying to recommend everyone to watch it. It’s 35 minutes, but you should watch it. It’s hard to watch, but it’s unforgettable." See more

Read all reviews

All the Empty Rooms

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING