Carl Roberts 
“Late Shift (German: Heldin) is a wonderful and powerful drama. It gives us a new respect for health professionals, thanks to Leonie Benesch’s excellent performance.”
Late Shift (German: Heldin) is a drama directed by Petra Volpe. The film focuses on a young nurse, Floria, who works with unwavering dedication in an understaffed hospital ward, but on this day, her shift turns into a nerve-racking race against time. The talented actress Leonie Benesch takes the lead in a role that essentially focuses on her character of Floria throughout. The movie is a Swiss-German co-production, which is in the German language. With English subtitles, the fact that the film isn’t in English may deter some viewers. If it does, they will be missing out on a movie that is heartbreaking while also being outstanding.
PREMISE
Floria, a devoted surgical nurse in Switzerland, manoeuvres through a demanding late shift in her understaffed ward. Despite the pressure, she meticulously tends to a critically ill mother, an elderly patient awaiting a diagnosis, and a high-maintenance private patient. However, a grave error brings her to the brink of collapse, threatening to derail her shift.
THOUGHTS
Anyone going into the film needs to realise that they won’t be seeing a film full to the brim with action, comedy or violence. There’s no CGI here. What they can expect is a film that will hold them in its hands throughout with a mix of drama, heartbreak and sadness. Without a doubt, when the movie ends, the audience will have a newly found respect for nurses. They do a job that many of us couldn’t handle. From being run off their feet attending to patients, taking people down to surgery, making rounds and handing out medication while also examining them, they do a tireless job.
The main surprises come when Floria knows some patients are dying but cannot tell them as she’s not a doctor. Add in that she has to attend to a patient who has passed away, tying on a toe tag before taking them down to the mortuary and placing them in the dedicated freezers for the deceased, and we feel bad and sad for her.
LEONIE BENESCH
Leonie Benesch, so effective and brilliant in September 5, gives a performance that needs to be seen to be believed. She has the whole film on her shoulders throughout; she appears in every scene in the movie. It is a burden she carries with ease, never allowing the audience not to know what she’s going through. The writing and directing have her moving throughout some extended sequences without cutting away from her. The actress delivers her dialogue without missing a beat. It is a powerhouse of a performance from the actress, one that should rightly be award-nominated. It is one of the best performances I have ever seen delivered.
Even when we see the emotion on her face and the toll the job is taking on her and her life outside, we can’t take our eyes off her. One scene even has us laughing out loud and cheering around three-quarters of the way through. Floria finally allows some emotion and anger to emerge from her. And it is 100% justified. Floria has taken so much, including abuse from patient relatives and even patients themselves, that we can’t help but feel it’s a release she truly needs. Floria understands that the abuse she gets from certain relatives is distress and grief emerging. She takes it all in her stride, knowing it’s not personal. But when she receives verbal abuse she doesn’t deserve, she finally allows her emotion to emerge for a brief second, something she regrets. It is an incredible performance from Leonie Benesch.
PETRA VOLPE
Petra Volpe writes and directs the film brilliantly. Her dedication to the script, making it feel authentic, is exemplary. It almost feels like we are watching the events in real-time, through our own eyes. The film is a little too real, a little too close to the bone. It is the film’s core strength. The tone, events and emotion conveyed are extraordinary. The way she handles the drama through her lens is another highlight of the film. There is no aspect of Floria’s shift that is missed; we see it all in a truncated form. From her arrival for her shift right through to her journey home, we are there with her at every turn. Petra Volpe’s camera captures it all, from happiness and fun to sadness and despair, and to the final shot, it is all directed superbly.
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS IN THE FILM
Leonie Benesch as Floria
Sonja Riesen as Bea Schmid
Selma Aldin as Amelie Afshar
Alireza Bayram as Jan Sharif
Ali Kandaş as Nabil Bilgin
Aline Beetschen as Evelyn Bühler
Jasmin Mattei as Claudia Bach
Urs Bihler as Mr. Leu
Nicole Bachmann as Dr. Strobel
Doris Schefer as Pascale Schneider
Margherita Schoch as Mrs. Kuhn
Lale Yavaş as Patient
Pema Shitsetsang as Doctor
VERDICT
Late Shift (German: Heldin) is a wonderful and powerful drama. It gives us a new respect for health professionals, thanks to Leonie Benesch’s excellent performance. It shows us the human side to these nursing professionals, from their professional demeanour through to their personal feelings. From their frustrations to the sadness, despair and occasional joy they experience. The human feelings they possess when a patient under their care passes away that they cannot show to the families. Many of us will never experience this, taking for granted the emotion they so carefully hide from the world. This is a lesson for us all.
Every time Floria’s phone rings, we feel for her. We know that every call is piling more pressure on her. Many of us would buckle under this stress. Nurses don’t have that luxury. Instead, we expect them to be at our beck and call, to hold all the answers to our questions. We sometimes fail to see the person under the uniform, expecting them to be our mother or father, at times, to be there to hold our hand. The final shot of the film says it all. It shows us that these professionals can’t help but take their work home with them on occasion. It is an emotional ending to an emotional movie. The ending is also an extremely fitting one. It evokes emotions in us as we understand what Floria feels. This is what cinema was made for. An emotional rollercoaster that hits us in every feeling we possess. This is a stunning drama, a complete revelation. Don’t miss it.
Late Shift is in cinemas from Friday, August 1st, courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.
Introducing Carl! As the News Editor at Future of the Force, Carl has been an invaluable member of our team since early 2016. His expertise and dedication have made him an integral part of our editorial staff. Beyond his professional role, Carl is a fervent supporter of Liverpool F.C. and an avid follower of pop culture. He has a deep passion for Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the iconic movie franchises Star Wars and Star Trek.
He can be found either at his neighborhood cinema, enjoying the latest releases on the big screen, or at home streaming the newest blockbuster movies.
