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From
Switzerland, this strikingly involving drama traces a single shift in
the life of an overworked nurse, highlighting the job while pointedly
commenting on the global shortage of hospital nurses. And in Leonie
Benesch's wonderfully transparent performance, details emerge that are
strongly resonant for any audience. Writer-director Petra Volpe uses
expert camerawork, smooth editing and a propulsive pace to hold the
interest through both loud and quiet moments’ - Rich
Cline, Shadows on the Wall.
We join Floria as she arrives for her afternoon shift to find she is
understaffed, with only one nurse and a student to help her. Constantly
on the move from one patient to another, from one crisis to the next,
the camera (and us) follow her all the way, involving us in her stress
and the odd short moments of calm. Leonie Benesch (whose last two films
were Oscar nominated) gets much credit for this for her ‘unnervingly
nuanced performance’ (Rich Cline again) as Floria,
aided by the time she spent learning with nurses on a ward.
‘Viewers
will be as relieved as Floria when the night shift arrives; but the
cycle continues and ‘Late Shift’ pays tribute to those who
somehow make it work. End credits point out how endangered Floria’s
profession is, making this not just a normal hospital drama but a
global cry for help’ - Fionnuala Halligan,
ScreenDaily. The English title is certainly to the point here, but the
original title means ‘Heroine’; amen to that.
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