Late Shift

Floria, a nurse on the surgical ward of a Swiss hospital, starts the evening shift. The ward is short-staffed and twenty-six patients have to be covered that night. A patient who is dying, another whose pain will not settle, another whose bell never stops, and conversations with families. The film follows that single shift from beginning to end. The film is not interested in a portrait of a heroic nurse. It is interested in time not being enough: Floria cannot give any patient the attention they deserve and works knowing it. Its tension is not a medical crisis but the risk accumulating in every task postponed. The form is close to real time: corridors, patient rooms, a camera in constant motion. Ninety-one minutes with almost no pause. Petra Volpe wrote and directed. A nurse consultant was present on set and Leonie Benesch did an internship at Liestal Cantonal Hospital for the part. A Swiss-German co-production with a budget of 3.7 million euros, it had its world premiere in the Berlinale Special Gala on 17 February 2025 and opened in Switzerland on 27 February. Leonie Benesch plays Floria and is in nearly every frame. Who it is for: viewers who like occupational realism and single-location tension. Who it is not for: anyone uncomfortable in a hospital. The film shows pain, death and the details of care directly and offers no relief.