‘Late Shift’ Review: Didactic Swiss Nursing Drama Is ‘ER’ Meets ‘Boiling Point’
A fully occupied surgical ward staffed only by two nurses and a reluctant apprentice sounds like a recipe for disaster. “Late Shift”, a slight and simple drama about one nurse’s torrid night at the hospital, makes that clear, if it wasn’t obvious enough already. A fairly transparent attempt to show how tough life is for nurses even in clean, well-kept, highly advanced facilities, “Late Shift” even ends with cards of information about the shortage of nurses afflicting all four corners of the globe, and how it’s getting worse. But noble intentions aside, writer-director Petra Volpe’s film is ultimately too much think, not enough feel.
Leonie Benesch plays Floria, a worn out public servant (emphasis on servant) trying to coexist with chaos and finding those around her wanting. That much is similar to her breakout role in “The Teachers’ Lounge”, 2023’s Turkish-German classroom drama about a teacher tasked with investigating a pupil’s theft. But unlike that provocative social drama, “Late Shift” is lacking in any serious moral or allegorical exploration. Its conceit is straightforward, even frustratingly so. It’s as follows: nursing is very difficult, particularly when you’ve got no one to help and the patients are a nightmare. A colleague is off sick, exacerbating Floria’s pile of, yes, life-and-death work. The roar of ambulances reaching the hospital is a stark reminder that Floria’s workload will only get higher. And no one is coming to help.
More from IndieWire
The closest we get to a plot is in Floria’s clashes with her most taxing patient of all, Mr Severin (Jürg Plüss), the ward’s only private patient. Switzerland offers a two-tier healthcare system in which the wealthy can pay for better care and bigger rooms within hospitals where the poorer share. Mr Severin’s expectations, entitlement and outright rudeness stretch Floria to her very limits. If that doesn’t sound like a nuanced portrait of class and gender, that’s because it isn’t. But when Floria suffers another disappointment and snaps at Mr Severin, he exploits her misstep and we’re set up for a tense (or at least tenser) climax.
In less than 90 minutes, however, it’s hard to say much. The biggest crime of “Late Shift”, however, is that it barely tries. Satisfied just to be a slice of life soap opera, “Late Shift” by design stays on the surface in its relationships with Floria’s seemingly one sane colleague Bea (Sonja Riesen). The intern Amelie (Selma) appears and disappears. And even Floria’s strenuous relationship with her children is barely an afterthought, with one scene that could conceivably serve as a pressure point offering little more than half-baked exposition. There isn’t enough to learn anything. If Steven Knight’s car-bound one-man show movie “Locke” taught us that less can be more, “Late Shift” is a cautionary tale in spreading an ensemble with only half a meaningful scene each across a 90-minute movie.
In its country of production, “Late Shift” may shine a light on substandard care at Switzerland’s hospitals, with an aging population needing more care than ever and every country facing the inevitable demographic challenges of lots of older people, fewer young. Audiences in countries where such topics are obvious and much-discussed will be less well served. Writing from Britain, which has the developed world’s most equitable but perennially under-resourced healthcare system, the themes of “Late Shift” amount to something like: water is wet. But Volpe is talking to a native audience and appears to prioritise persuasion over particularly strong feeling.
That feels like an even more egregious mistake when Benesch’s performance is this good. Floria is a portrait of unflappable repression, the sort of level of stress that numbs the muscles in the face to be nothing other than blank. Never mind pale. She pulls this off brilliantly — and in acting as a nurse for 90 minutes, puts in an unavoidable physical shift for her efforts. High-adrenaline environments seem to be where she is most comfortable, at least as an actress, having also impressed in “September 5” as a television translator working throughout the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes. “Late Shift” is carried on Benesch’s shoulders, and she impresses. It’s just a shame she isn’t given more of a movie to act in.
If only “Late Shift” had more of a story and was eager to spend longer with its characters, it might make use of its solid lead performance and claustrophobic setting. But its attempt to preach runs cold and only shines a light on what might’ve been. Some things — in this case, a heroic nurse managing to be as emotionally intelligent as she is professionally superhuman — are simple enough to understand (never mind commonplace) as not to need the movie treatment. Or at least for more to be given to it.
Grade: C+
“Late Shift” premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
Want to stay up to date on IndieWire’s film reviews and critical thoughts? Subscribe here to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers.
Best of IndieWire
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
