Late Shift

Unfolding over a single, high-pressure shift in a surgical ward, Petra Volpe’s Late Shift (Heldin) follows Floria (Leonie Benesch), a dedicated and capable nurse, who faces the relentless demands of an understaffed hospital in Switzerland. Benesch delivers a finely nuanced performance, capturing both restrained frustration at unreasonable requests and boundless empathy for patients and their families. Yet, it is clear that Late Shift focuses more on the relentless pace of the work than on any individual character.

Time takes on an antagonistic role in the film, working against Floria, the overwhelmed surgical ward and the strained healthcare system they inhabit. Time dictates her every move, whether she’s hauling medical carts, inserting IVs, or rigorously disinfecting her hands to meet surgical standards. Even brief personal moments, such as a phone call to the daughter during a five-minute break by the medicine cabinet, are rushed due to the encroaching nature of an environment where respite is always in short supply. 

In a sharp critique of the two-tiered medical system in Switzerland and other countries that cater to affluent international patients, two of Floria’s cases embody this deep divide. The gentle, elderly Leu (Urs Bihler) is left in a nightmarish limbo even despite the nurse’s advocacy. Meanwhile, Severin (Jürg Plüss), a wealthy, privately insured patient, occupies a spacious private room at the end of the hall, making trivial demands of the staff. True to the near-clinical realism Volpe employs throughout the film, the characters bring no moral reckonings. Instead, illness and the time it steals serve as the great equaliser between them.

Like Floria’s shift, the move’s pace is unyielding, culminating in a swift, sudden conclusion that mirrors the unforgiving realities of the surgical ward, a space where life and death are constantly in flux. Forcing viewers to not just question the characters’ futures but the system that decides their fates, Late Shift is the ultimate call to action.

Christina Yang

Late Shift (Heldin) does not have a release date yet.

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