‘Night Nurse’ Has a Unique Dreamlike Style And An Unsettling Scene

Night Nurse was thought to be an indie thriller about a nurse who encounters spooky happenings during her night shift:  a summary you make up in your mind when you go into a film without reading the synopsis. Adjust your expectations now because you will not be prepared for what the film actually entails. Night Nurse is a psychosexual thriller born of a Cronenberg/Lynch vibe that flips the power dynamics of caregiver and patient on its head. Yes, you read that right.

There have been a series of perverse scam calls plaguing this quaint retirement community. Remember this info for later. Elani is a new hire at this luxury retirement community. Immediately, she notices there’s something odd about this place. There’s a rhythm to it, almost as if she’s outside of a conversation being had subliminally by everyone else in the space. She gets assigned to Douglas, a patient with dementia. One night, during her night shift, Douglas forces Elani to make a prank call. It’s here that the tables turn and the film makes an unexpected detour. Douglas isn’t a sick man; he’s a scam artist. And he’s pitched his sights at Elani to lure her into his world.

This is the most intense scene in the film because the audience is waiting to take their cue from Elani, played wonderfully by Cemre Paksoy. Douglas (Bruce McKenzie) begins to assert himself, pressing her body against the fridge as he gives her commands, running his traditional game to see if Elani will take the bait. Paksoy runs through a gamut of emotions. Her eyes widen and her body writhes as we wait to conclude if she’s feeling pleasure or pain. Douglas doesn’t let up, as if he already knows what her choice will be. And in the end, she falls into his trap.

Surprisingly, the film’s scam-call aspect is inspired by director Georgia Bernstein’s grandmother, who once received a scam call and was nearly duped into wiring money. Night Nurse would still have worked without that aspect, but it’s a nice twist that someone within the vulnerable community is preying on the very community he is part of.

The film’s nightmare is draped in a dreamlike aesthetic. But there’s also this claustrophobic, sweaty tone to it, too. It looks as if it would fit an intense, passionate love story, though this is anything but that. This film would serve more as a cautionary tale for both people who receive scam calls and for our main character, Elani.

The film is hard to sum up in words, but essentially, though Douglas has become the dominant force, Elani remains a caregiver of sorts, and her desire to care for Douglas and to be his sole caregiver drives her to very dangerous places by the end. The film could’ve benefited from a little tightening because there are spots that become a little unclear and moments where the main character fades into the background. 

Georgia Bernstein’s debut is an unsettling thriller that will leave you wondering whether you should even be watching it. It’s visually delicious, morally wrong, and very unexpected. That ending… I won’t dare spoil it. For Night Nurse to be a debut feature, you can only clutch your pearls at what Bernstein might cook up next.