And the Band Played On

And the Band Played On (1993) is Roger Spottiswoode's docudrama, free to watch online on iFILM. Young men are dying across America, and nobody in power wants to name the cause.

Epidemiologist Don Francis (Matthew Modine) leaves the field and lands at the CDC, where he runs straight into bureaucratic walls. There's no funding, no isolated virus, and blood banks keep transfusing untested supplies while researchers like Robert Gallo (Alan Alda) bicker over credit instead of sharing samples. The story tracks the early AIDS crisis as a chain of preventable delays — each one measured in lives lost while officials argued over budgets and wording.

Adapted from journalist Randy Shilts' investigative book, the film pulled in an enormous cast of stars who worked for scale to back a subject Hollywood was avoiding: Richard Gere, Anjelica Huston, Phil Collins and Swoosie Kurtz all turn up in brief roles. What makes it land is its anger — it plays less like a disease-of-the-week movie and more like an indictment. Stream And the Band Played On (1993) online on iFILM.