Some films you can immediately tell are going to be for you, just from their descriptions and this was exactly the case for me and director Petra Volpe's “Late Shift”. I love films where you can feel the urgency of time and an anxiety that continues to build due to the time constraints within the story. Some of my favourite examples of these types of films include “Punch-Drunk Love”, “Uncut Gems” and the French film, “Full Time”. The consequences of time make these films play out more like thrillers even though plot elements within them rarely have anything you would find in a traditional thriller. “Late Shift” plays exactly like this and I found it both an exhilarating and exhausting experience.
“Late Shift” is director Petra Volpe's ode to nurses worldwide, as it highlights over a single shift just how hard and stressful their job actually is, whilst also being a cry for help, as the constant shortage of nurses worldwide is only making this job that much harder for the nurses that stay in the profession. At the very end of “Late Shift” a statistic is shown before the end credits roll, stating that most nurses only last four years in the system and this film clearly highlights why that is. It is such a hard job, day-in day-out, and at times so intense, that I am shocked that nurses can actually last four years of it because you could imagine them breaking down during every shift, as it is a lot for a human being to regularly handle. There is a moment very late in “Late Shift” when one of the patients asks Nurse Floria if she will be in again tomorrow (as he was impressed by her care and attentiveness). She says “yes” with an almost sigh of resignation, knowing she has to do all this again tomorrow. The tiredness behind her (very kind) eyes is also very telling.
So what is “Late Shift” actually about? Like the similarly titled “Nightshift” that also played at MIFF this year, the film is essentially plot-less, outside of the fact that we follow a worker through the entirety of her shift in a hospital. Unlike “Nightshift” and the hotel where the receptionist works where very little happens, in “Late Shift” Nurse Floria is constantly on the go, moving from one patient to the next whilst doing her rounds, and dealing with any other problems that occur at the same time. For the entirety of her eight hour shift, Floria does not stop. It isn't helped that a colleague has called in sick and that she is looking after a student nurse at the same time, but no matter what, she needs to attend to each patient with the same level of care, compassion and professionalism so they feel seen, and not just a number.
As I have already said, “Late Shift” is a film where you feel the consequences of time and to make her audience feel this, Volpe makes sure that her film is in constant motion. Very often the camera is behind Floria, following her, as she moves from patient to patient. If the camera does happen to be still, then Floria will be moving within the frame. There is rarely a moment when both camera and actor are still, giving the audience a chance to breathe. They do exist, but they are brief, and this is to accurately illustrate just how little time nurses have to themselves once they clock-on (this is further highlighted when Floria only gets to stop and eat in the elevator on her way out of the hospital when her shift has finally ended). To further enhance this anxiety, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch's score actually works more like a beat of a metronome rather than traditional music, which increases as the film's tensions do.
Actress Leonie Benesch is absolutely sensational as Floria, making us believe 100% that she is a competent nurse of many years. Benesch actually took on a nursing internship before filming began so she was confident with all the duties she needed to perform (and at speed) and to also make it look effortless, like she has done this hundreds of times before, each day. What it highlighted to me was just how much information and technique a nurse needs in her head to function in a successful manner. Things like knowing all the different pain relief and how to administer each one, remembering patient allergies, not to mention the constant washing of hands and the taking on and off of rubber gloves for each patient. The way Benesch prepared medicine (she does it all on camera), got syringes ready, sanitised benches after use and doing all these things at pace, it was so believable that she was really a nurse. She also had an ability to show through her hands and movements when the stress was starting to get too much for Floria, like the time she briefly struggles to put together a syringe and her hands start to shake. Not only that, Benesch then has to act a huge range of emotions, which most of them she has to hide and pretend everything is okay, just so the patient is looked after and cared for. Leonie Benesch is an absolute superstar in “Late Shift” and the film is only as powerful as it is because of her extreme skill and dedication.
As well as how much you need to know to be a nurse, “Late Shift” also shines a light on what you have to give up too, as the time you need to commit to be a nurse looking after strangers, ultimately comes at the price of your own family's time. There is a sad moment in “Late Shift” when Floria tries to make a quick phone call just to touch base with her young daughter, who is busy playing with friends. It isn't said in the film, but it feels like the daughter is used to her mother not being around often, even though you can see just how much Floria wants to be with her. She has to give up time with the most important person in her life to deal with strangers who may not appreciate her or even treat her like shit. This is another huge aspect of a nurse's job, as they have to deal with people when they are at their worst; either they are terrified for themselves or for the health of their loved ones, or in a lot of pain, etc. and their reactions to certain things aren't necessarily the most level-headed or considered, and can often lead to them abusing the one person who is actually trying to help them. Finally, one of the most obvious aspects of being a nurse that makes their job so stressful is that their mistakes can have life and death consequences, and even if everybody does everything right, they still have to deal with death on a daily basis and with the families who are devastated by this. It is simply an exhausting and stressful job that takes a very special person to want to do it. Personally, I actually have a friend who is currently a student nurse and I have seen her immediately after her shift at the hospital, and she looked absolutely drained and so tired that she was even a little out of it as I was talking to her. I have asked her before what the best part of being a nurse is, and she did not hesitate by answering with “the patients”, as her face lit up. I could see in her eyes in this moment, that helping people, to her, was well worth going through all the hardships that come with the job.
Overall, I thought “Late Shift” was a truly fantastic film that has been anchored by a top-notch performance from lead actor Leonie Benesch, who is simply sensational. While the film is essentially plot-less, I was enthralled from start to finish, and my appreciation and respect towards nurses and everything they have to go through to perform their job increased ten-fold, which I am sure was put of the reason director Petra Volpe decided to make “Late Shift”. It is an exhausting experience watching the film, so you can only imagine what it must be like to live it, day-in day-out.
4 Stars.
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