It’s never really possible to know what’s going on in another person’s head, especially if they suffer from some sort of debilitating mental condition. But those who often understand them best aren’t always the family members who see them or even the doctors who assess their capabilities, but rather the caregivers who see and encounter them in all states. Night Nurse puts a dark spin on this critical lack of clarity, assigning ill intent to more than one of its protagonists but refusing to fully or solely condemn any one individual for their role in an undeniably sinister scheme.
Eleni (Cemre Paksoy) begins work as a night nurse at a luxury retirement community and quickly develops a close relationship with another nurse, Mona (Eleonore Hendricks). When she catches one resident, Douglas (Bruce McKenzie), making a phone call in the middle of the night, she quickly realizes that he isn’t the one who’s confused, but rather an operator taking advantage of his neighbors by having his nurses call pretending to be arrested grandchildren. This casual scam with seemingly low-risk consequences soon morphs into an addiction for Eleni and presents many questions about the nature of the power dynamic when it’s only Douglas and Eleni in the same room with no one else physically present.
This is the first feature film from writer-director Georgia Bernstein, which reunites her with her Snugglr star and cowriter Paksoy. While assisted living facilities are frequently the subjects of films and television shows, this is something altogether new and different. Opening with only the sound of Eleni’s voice and the image of a corded phone wrapped around a body, this film operates primarily away from the general public in a time defined only by those very same phones. There’s not much human contact away from Douglas and his other nurses, aside from Mimi Rogers as an evaluator of his condition who seems to live and operate in a much sunnier and more removed universe. Audiences know next to nothing about Eleni – or Douglas, for that matter – other than that she’s entranced by the allure of this pursuit of deception.
Night Nurse is not an inviting film for audiences unprepared for its tone and themes, nor should it be viewed by anyone considering home healthcare options in the near future in their own lives. But for the more curious viewer open and attuned to something experimental and deeply haunting, it’s well worth seeking out this dark vision of human connection forged by a shared secret indulged at the expense of others. There are many moral questions that remain unanswered because Eleni isn’t able to turn off what she feels and how much she needs to stay close to it, and the film only presents Douglas through her eyes, a surely unreliable perspective that doesn’t offer a full picture of who this man might have been at the height of his intellectual functioning.
This is a moody and brooding thriller that achieves its greatest suspense in its slowest moments, a difficult and rare feat that forces audiences to pay attention when there’s very little going on to grasp the subtext of a given interaction or, more accurately, a phone call where what’s being said doesn’t at all match what audiences are seeing on screen. Bernstein and Paksoy are clearly a formidable pair who have a rich and rewarding creative partnership which allows them to present a character like Eleni and a story like this without it being entirely off-putting and inaccessible. It’s inarguably and unapologetically dark, and its most memorable moments will definitely linger long after it ends, but Night Nurse is a decidedly unique and twisted specimen, unafraid to probe the recesses of the human capacity for self-fulfillment at any cost.
Movie Rating: 8/10
Night Nurse premieres in the NEXT category at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
