Sundance 2025 Review: In GEN_, Doctor Fights for Equitable Healthcare

Director Gianluca Matarrese offers an intimate portrayal of Dr. Maurizio Bini's consultation room at Milan's Niguarda public hospital in his observational documentary, GEN_.

Set within Italy's conservative healthcare framework, the film examines the intersection of patients' personal aspirations and the systemic constraints they face in pursuing parenthood or affirming their gender identities. Employing a cinéma vérité approach, Matarrese provides an unobtrusive lens into a public healthcare system grappling with demands for equity, highlighting a physician's empathetic efforts to assist his patients.

Matarrese's oeuvre often delves into personal narratives with broader social implications. His earlier works, such as La Dernière Séance and A Steady Job, showcase his skill in embedding individual stories within systemic critiques. In La Dernière Séance, he explores the personal and collective trauma of the AIDS crisis through themes of memory and survival, while A Steady Job focuses on the migration of nurses across Italy, addressing the economic precarity and healthcare challenges that shape their lives. These films reflect Matarrese's interest in how social systems mediate human experience, a theme he continues to explore in GEN_.

Departing from his previous works that sometimes blurred the line between fiction and documentary, GEN_ adopts a purely observational approach. The documentary centers on Dr. Bini, an unconventional physician known for his empathy and pragmatism in a politically charged environment.

Through a series of vignettes, Matarrese interweaves the stories of infertile couples and transgender individuals seeking or navigating gender-affirming therapies. These consultations unfold candidly, with Matarrese's unobtrusive camera capturing exchanges that gradually reveal the emotional stakes involved.

GEN_ captures the convergence of two significant debates: the accessibility of reproductive healthcare and the rights of transgender individuals. Dr. Bini emerges as a mediator between personal needs and systemic barriers, confronting restrictive legislation and conservative ideologies.

His understanding and humanity are evident in his interactions with patients. Matarrese includes scenes depicting Dr. Bini's quiet private life, such as moments with his family and an outing to a dance club, further humanizing the protagonist.

Matarrese employs a straightforward approach to capturing consultations and examinations, as Dr. Bini discusses various scenarios with patients, addressing diagnoses like failed pregnancies and exploring potential solutions. Avoiding traditional talking-head interviews, Matarrese becomes a silent observer, with the camera lingering on faces to enhance the authenticity of the consultations. While this approach carries a certain voyeuristic element, everything unfolds within clinical boundaries, with each consultation encapsulating life defined by choices or circumstances.

Dr. Bini's humanism, empathy, and good humor carry the film as he endeavors to help patients within rigid legal frameworks, whether explaining situations regarding frozen eggs or gender-affirming surgery. GEN_ offers a delicate, factual, and humanistic glimpse into private moments, with Matarrese maintaining an ethical approach while documenting the dedicated doctor who is about to pass the baton at work.

The film screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Visit the film's page on the festival's official site for more information.