All the Empty Rooms: A Quiet Roar Against Gun Violence

In the cacophony of American debate surrounding gun violence—a landscape often dominated by shouting matches, political stalemates, and the numbing repetition of statistics—a new documentary on Netflix chooses a different path. It chooses silence. It chooses the stillness of a room left exactly as it was the morning a child left for school and never came home.

Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joshua Seftel (“Stranger at the Gate”), the film is the culmination of a seven-year passion project by veteran CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp. Together, they have created a visual meditation on absence, memory, and the unseen ripples of an epidemic that claims more young lives in America than any other cause.

The Architecture of Grief

The premise of “All the Empty Rooms” is devastatingly simple. Hartman and Bopp traveled across the United States to visit families who have lost children to school shootings. They didn’t go to discuss policy or politics. They went to see the rooms.

The bedrooms of these children—Alyssa Alhadeff, Charlotte Bacon, Dominic Blackwell, Jackie Cazares, Luke Hoyer, Gracie Muehlberger, Carmen Schentrup, and Hallie Scruggs—are preserved as sacred spaces. They are time capsules frozen in the tragic instant of loss. A pair of sneakers kicked off by the door, a half-finished homework assignment, posters of bands that have since broken up, clothes that will never be worn again.

“These quiet bedrooms reveal truths more powerful than statistics ever could,” the film’s synopsis states. And indeed, the power of the documentary lies in its refusal to look away from the void. By focusing on the spaces these children inhabited, the film forces the viewer to confront the magnitude of the life that was lived there, and the enormity of the life that was stolen.

A Departure for Steve Hartman

For audiences familiar with Steve Hartman, “All the Empty Rooms” represents a significant departure. Hartman is beloved for his “On the Road” segments for CBS News, heartwarming stories that find the good in humanity and often leave viewers with a smile. This project, however, was a secret pursuit, a “passion project” undertaken unbeknownst to his network bosses.

Stepping away from the “good news” beat, Hartman dives into the deepest of national wounds. Yet, his signature empathy remains intact. His presence in the film is not that of a hard-nosed reporter chasing a scoop, but of a witness holding space for grief. His collaboration with Lou Bopp, whose photography captures the texture of loss with haunting clarity, elevates the film from a news report to a piece of art.

Bopp’s lens treats every object with reverence. A stuffed animal, a trophy, a messy desk—these are not just props in a tragedy; they are evidence of existence. The cinematography by Matt Porwoll further underscores this intimacy, allowing the audience to feel the silence of the rooms, a silence that screams louder than any protest.

A Critical and Emotional Impact

Since its world premiere at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival in August 2025 and its subsequent screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, “All the Empty Rooms” has garnered critical acclaim. It has been described by filmmaker Adam McKay as “a gut punch and very powerful,” and by director Alexander Payne as “a portrait of America, of humanity.”

Critics have praised Seftel’s direction for its restraint. In a genre that can easily veer into sensationalism or didacticism, Seftel trusts the subject matter. He trusts that the image of an empty bed speaks for itself. The film has already been nominated for a Critics Choice Award and picked up the Subject Matter Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

But beyond the awards, the film’s true impact is measured in the emotional response of its audience. Viewers describe the experience of watching it as transformative—a difficult but necessary confrontation with reality. It challenges the “normalization” of school shootings by re-centering the narrative on the individual human cost.

The Faces of the Lost

The documentary is dedicated to the victims whose rooms are featured, spanning tragedies from Sandy Hook to Parkland, Santa Clarita to Uvalde and Nashville.

Charlotte Bacon (6), killed at Sandy Hook, whose room still holds the innocence of kindergarten.
Alyssa Alhadeff (14), Luke Hoyer (15), and Carmen Schentrup (16), victims of the Parkland shooting, whose teenage sanctuaries are filled with dreams of futures that never arrived.
Dominic Blackwell (14) and Gracie Muehlberger (15), from Saugus High School, whose rooms capture the vibrant chaos of adolescence.
Jackie Cazares (9), from Uvalde, and Hallie Scruggs (9), from Nashville, whose spaces remind us of the unbearable vulnerability of the youngest victims.

Each room tells a different story, but they all share the same ending. The film weaves these individual narratives into a collective tapestry of loss that spans the nation.

A Call to Witness

“All the Empty Rooms” is not an easy watch. It is not “content” to be consumed lightly. It is a demand to witness. In releasing this film on a global platform like Netflix, the filmmakers are ensuring that these children are not reduced to names on a list or dates on a timeline. They are inviting the world into their homes, into their private sanctuaries, to see them as their parents still see them: present in their absence.

As the credits roll, and the screen fades to black, the viewer is left with the lingering image of those empty spaces. It is a haunting reminder that while the news cycle moves on, and the political debates rage, for these families, the room remains empty. And in that emptiness, there is a plea for a world where no more rooms are added to this tragic gallery.

“All the Empty Rooms” streams on Netflix starting December 1, 2025.

Netflix

All the Empty Rooms: A Quiet Roar Against Gun Violence

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