Late Shift

If you saw "Boiling Point" (2021) then you will have an idea what to expect on this nightshift spent in an hospital ward with "Floria" (Leonie Benesch). She's a nurse who arrives for work only to discover that there is almost a full complement of twenty-five patients but only one other nurse and and intern to help her out. Filmed as if it were an almost continuous documentary, we follow this cheery and professional lady as she sets about her rounds. Initially, all is steady, busy, but fine until gradually thanks to some nervous, anxious and sometimes quite irascible patients and some concerned family members - including one on the other side of the world, she begins to start to feel the stresses and strains of her understaffed shift. She can't be in two places at once, she's doubling us as a caterer, a porter, a counsellor, a cleaner and a pharmacist - and with the pressure mounting, will she be capable of retaining her cool? Benesch delivers a character here that is both convincing and sympathetic, and that latter element is contagious. We are drawn into the her work and it's complicated balancing acts and made to realise just how difficult this vocation is to carry out, day in day out, all whilst surrounded by a gamut of other human emotions that deliver erratic standards of behaviour that can make her already tough task even more onerous. If anything, this effectively shows us just how much of a labour of love nursing is and how under-resourced this vital area of healthcare can be, and it also shows us something of the skills and dedication that prevail despite the constant workload.