Night Nurse is a Sundance screening filled with interesting themes. Eleni (Cemre Paksoy) has started a new job as the nurse at a retirement community. She will be working with a particularly difficult patient named Douglas (Bruce McKenzie). Before long she is caught up in a world of perverse scam calls and strange desires.
It is an interesting premise that seems like a twist on the erotic thrillers of days past. Things certainly start off that way. The opening is reminiscent of a phone sex commercial. All the while soft sensual music plays. (The score is one of the strongest parts of Night Nurse). Once the movie begins, it is able to create sexual tension in its earliest moments. Writer-director Georgina Bernstein sets up stunning shots.
The plot moves at a leisurely pace, but it is not long before desire takes over Eleni and Douglas. It is an uncomfortable scene that can be used to describe the entire film. Night Nurse introduces an intriguing premise, then proceeds to do little with it. Why do either of the characters act like they do? The expectation is for this to be explained over the course of the runtime. Maybe it is spelled out explicitly or maybe it is through subtle hints and context, but by the end you should be able to form some sort of opinion.
This never happens in Night Nurse. Lots of things occur- illicit relationships, swindling the elderly out of money, all night parties – but there is never a reason why any of it does. Many times, the audience is just thrown into a scene. This includes an odd get-together that is handwaved away towards the end and someone’s involvement in the climax that someone watching is just supposed to accept.
The end result is a frustrating watch that leads to the wrong kinds of questions. Eleni mentions being jealous in Night Nurse’s final moments, but this is never even hinted at. Douglas seems to have free reign of the retirement community, but no one even makes an offhand comment as to why. Everything culminates in a final shot that seems to be aiming for lust, romance, and even humor, but ends up falling flat.
Night Nurse is screening at the Sundance Film Festival.
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