Leonie Benesch, who rose to prominence with her performance as the harsh, young teacher in The Teachers’ Lounge, has an impressive presence again on the screen in Late Shift, directed by Petra Volpe, which is released this weekend in the UK and Ireland through Vertigo. Benesch appears as a realistic working night shift nurse, Floria, at a large Swiss hospital, and does it in a way that we know this story isn’t in the realm of hospital dramas. Rather than embellishing nurses’ work in all of the currently popular hospital dramas, Late Shift draws the focus on the nurses at a busy, overly complicated hospital, overwhelmed yet dedicated to caring for their patients.
For her new role, Benesch shadowed the night shift nurses in a Basel hospital before filming the movie. Benesch relied on her observations of their whole bodies, body language and actions of the nurses, as well as seeing how they made patients’ relationships a priority. She did actual night nurses shifts, and was able to see procedures and how the nurses made the switching between nursing roles and the emotional labour of the nurse their priority, as per reports by Deadline. Volpe gave her the freedom of authenticity when filming, a visual yarn that needs to be perceived as the everyday work of nurses. Overall, it made for a positive production experience and realistic movie experience.
In contrast to shows like Grey’s Anatomy or House, Late Shift allows medical care to be portrayed without melodrama. Apparent tasks like preparing IVs, passing out painkillers, and keeping track of patient charts are ongoing and real time, and the film appreciates those everyday tasks and the cadence of hospital life.
The film has been released at a time of increasing tension within healthcare. Junior doctors in the UK have just ended a five-day strike emerging from the dispute over pay and pensions, and nurses across Europe are dealing with chronic understaffing and burnout.
Benesch trained at the Guildhall School in London and now lives in Berlin, and her performance is grounded. When she plays Floria, you can really appreciate her respect for nursing professionals and the meaningful work they do.
Benesch broke through in Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon and has continued to build a career that has involved careful choices and strong performances. Late Shift provides a poignant and authentic picture of hospital life with a focus on the role that nurses play to keep healthcare systems functioning.
