Late Shift (Heldin) is a superb portrayal of one evening and night in the life of a hospital nurse. Written and directed by Petra Volpe, it stars Leonie Benesch as Floria Lind. Among her other credits, Benesch starred in the Academy Awards-nominated The Teacher’s Lounge.
The film is based on the 2020 autobiographical novella by German nurse and author Madeline Calvelage about the shortage of nurses. Calvelage served as script consultant for the film.
Nurses receive less attention than doctors, but, in my experience, they are more important to patients than doctors. Most doctors (not all) treat patients as “cases.” They zip in and out and give orders. Most nurses (but not all) treat the patients not as “cases”, but as human beings. It is the nurses who are more likely to give emotional and spiritual support.
Floria begins her shift under stress almost immediately because the hospital where she works is understaffed. There is only one other nurse on call and one student nurse.
One of the patients Floria tends to is Mr. Leu (Urs Bihler), who is anxiously awaiting his diagnosis. Floria knows it is terminal, but she is not allowed to say so. Exasperated, Leu walks out on his own to be at home with his dog. He leaves a note for Floria thanking her for her kindness. She runs outside to try to call him back, but it is too late. He is gone. Later, Floria, who had repeatedly asked the doctor to visit Mr. Leu, confronts the doctor as she leaves for home. The doctor is shocked that a nurse would speak to her in such a manner, but she does not relent.
Another patient, Mrs. Kuhn (Margherita Schoch), is dying. Her three sons are distraught. Her daughter calls from Boston wanting to know if her mother is going to die. Floria calms Mrs. Kuhn by singing with her, but she does die. Part of Floria’s responsibilities is to take care of Mrs. Kuhn’s body after she passes away.
A man from Burkina Faso (Urbain Guiguemde) has no one, but he has a kind demeanor, and he appreciates Floria’s kindness.
A Turkish woman, Mrs. Osmani, (Albana Agaj) knows she is dying, but she is peaceful and continues to enjoy her family’s visits. Because she has known Floria from previous hospital stays, she even asks Floria about her own daughter.
One patient, a rich businessman (Jürg Plüss), Mr. Severin, is so rude that Floria finally grabs his watch and throws it out the window. Severin breaks down because he has pancreatic cancer, and he knows it is terminal. Having myself lost two loved ones to pancreatic cancer, it is painfully realistic when Severin cries out, “Why me?”
The film’s ending, as Floria says goodnight to the patients, is wonderfully satisfying. In a coda, we learn that in Switzerland 36% of nurses, because of burnout, leave the profession within four years.
Petra Volpe’s previous feature film was the equally excellent The Divine Order.
