by Dan Skip Allen

“Night Nurse” is another in the long line of IFC Entertainment films that I didn’t know what to expect from. The title intrigued me because it’s the name of the character in Daredevil: Born Again played by Rosario Dawson. I’m a big fan of that show and the character of Daredevil. This film is nothing like that show or character though and as a whole that was a disappointment. It’s also not like the 1931 Black and White classic crime drama starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ben Lyon either. I like to be surprised with movies I haven’t really heard about but unfortunately this was a bad surprise. I wished I could say something more positive about it, but those are my thoughts.

Eleni (Cemere Paksoy) is a recently hired nurse at a facility that houses retirees. She is taken under the wing of a veteran nurse Mona (Elenore Hendricks) who shows her the ropes of the job. She also introduces her to an older gentleman Douglas (Bruce Mackenzie) who shows her how to make scam phone calls to other senior citizens who aren’t exactly all there. This is a way to take advantage of these people and their wealth. It’s not exactly on the up and up, but this young woman seems to get off from doing this sort of thing. She’s also attracted to this man as well. The further along they go the deeper and deeper the chances of getting caught are, she doesn’t care. She likes the thrill of it all.

Georgia Bernstein is the writer/director of this film, obviously came from a point of experience with the idea and story here. I hear all the time how senior citizens are being taken advantage of by scammers. Their old age and losing their faculties make them confused and sympathetic to scams. They can’t differentiate between right and wrong more often than not. That’s a shame. Seniors need a family member or loved one who they can trust and can be near them so these types of things can’t happen. I hate to see seniors taken advantage of like this. It’s not right.

One of the positives that I can genuinely say about this movie is its cinematography. Lidia Nikonova showed the characters in a lot of closeups but also gave the film a shadowy look. Mostly taking place at night gave the movies a darker tone. This darker cinematography helped with the overall aesthetic the film needed. It gave me, one of the viewers, an ominous feeling of dread. This was the only part of the story that I thought was exceptional. This was a visionary choice of the filmmaker of the movie. I just wish the rest of the film was this good unfortunately.

The main actors were fine in the movie. Hendricks and Mackenzie did a good job serving the story, but it was Paksoy who I was most impressed with. She gave a subtle and nuanced performance. She had to have an innocence about her while also trying to be intrigued by this older man and woman who took her under their wing. As a newcomer I hadn’t seen her in anything before, she kept me engaged and interested in the story. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the film. I hope she finds more work in other films that are better than this one was though. Her performance was wasted in a movie that has a mean-spirited idea behind it.Idon’y know if this was a good Idea to make into a film.

“Night Nurse” is a film I didn’t have a lot of hopes for. I requested it based on the thought of what I wanted it to be and that was wrong on my part. It turned out to be something I didn’t know it was going to be. Now the 1931 classic of the same name had a much better premise than this did. Even though they both had plot lines of people taking advantage of other innocent people. The cinematography was the best part of the film with Paksoy’s performance coming in second for me. These were the only two redeemable things about this movie though unfortunately for me. I always give films a chance but sometimes they let me down. That’s the case here as well.

🌟 🌟 stars