Code 3: The Underrated Medical Comedy Drama For Fans Of The Pitt

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Heads up: This contains spoilers for both Code 3 and The Pitt. If you’re a fan of HBO’s The Pitt – currently one of the most popular shows on television – you might also enjoy a lesser-known movie available on Hulu. The Pitt focuses on a single shift in an emergency room, with each episode lasting an hour.

This show doesn’t shy away from the difficult realities of being a doctor, showing us the harsh, upsetting, and often heartbreaking situations they face. While fans continue to tune in to new episodes of The Pitt, drawn in by its distinctive style, there’s a lesser-known film that achieves a similar impact with equally impressive results.

Code 3 Is A Great Medical Comedy Drama

Released in late 2025, the movie Code 3 became available on Hulu in January 2026, bringing it to more viewers. The film centers around three paramedics during a busy 24-hour shift, showcasing their responses to a variety of dramatic and heartbreaking emergencies.

Code 3 centers around Randy (Rainn Wilson), a paramedic who’s been on the job for almost 20 years and is starting to feel burnt out. He’s partnered with Mike (Lil Rel Howery), a more upbeat colleague who handles the stress of the job better, and Jessica (Aimee Carrero), a new paramedic just starting her career.

The movie also features a great supporting cast. Rob Riggle plays a conceited doctor who causes some trouble, Xolo Maridueña has a quick but enjoyable appearance early on, and Yvette Nicole Brown plays Shanice, the paramedics’ boss.

The movie Code 3 has been generally well-liked by both critics and viewers. It currently has a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences have given it a very high score of 96% (according to the site’s Popcornmeter). Here on Ebaster, Code 3 received a 9/10 rating, confirming its positive reception.

The Pitt Shares Some Similarities With Code 3

Credit: MovieStillsDB

People who enjoyed The Pitt will likely also appreciate Code 3. Although the movie is funnier than the show, they share several similarities. One key element they both have is the use of a ticking clock to build tension.

We observe one shift happening live in The Pitt and another in Code 3, all within about ninety minutes. Both the series and the film realistically depict the difficult and often violent nature of the characters’ dangerous professions.

Both The Pitt and Code 3 feature intensely graphic scenes – The Pitt shows things like broken bones, childbirth, and severe burns, while Code 3 includes a disturbing injury involving an eye. Both also depict the difficult experience of children dying, which, while upsetting, are necessary parts of the story.

Both stories prioritize the medical drama over the characters’ personal lives. While we get glimpses into the doctors’ personal experiences through conversations and patient interactions, the main emphasis remains on the emergencies they handle.

Both Code 3 and its predecessor rely on showing us who Randy, Mike, and Jessica are through their relationships and how they react to events. This approach creates a sense of realism and avoids the overly dramatic tropes of soap operas, which many viewers find appealing and makes the show easy to connect with.

Code 3 Still Stands Out As Its Own Thing

Although the basic premise is similar to The Pitt, Code 3 definitely has its own unique feel. One key difference is the humor – while The Pitt has its funny parts, Code 3 is much more consistently funny. This is largely thanks to the comedic skills of Wilson and Howery.

The lead actors are both experienced in comedy, and the supporting cast, including Rob Riggle and Yvette Nicole Brown, are equally skilled. They have a knack for lightening serious moments with just the right amount of humor. A good example is a scene where the characters share a dark story, then immediately follow it with a joke.

What I really appreciated about the film was getting a little peek into Randy’s personal life – you could feel how much he was craving a change, even if he wasn’t always making the best choices. It also struck me how different the worlds of paramedics and emergency room doctors are. Paramedics are usually first on the scene, dealing with the initial crisis, but The Pitt doctors are the ones who have to figure out the long-term treatment, which is a fascinating distinction.

While not major changes, these differences are significant enough to let Code 3 stand on its own, without needing to be measured against other projects. Both Code 3 and the other project are unique and successful in their own ways.

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2026-02-07 17:41