Rating: NR | Runtime: 95 minutes
Release Date: July 10th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Independent Film Company
Director(s): Georgia Bernstein
Writer(s): Georgia Bernstein

It’s amazing to be needed, isn’t it?

We never find out what “misunderstanding” got Eleni (Cemre Paksoy) fired from her last nursing job. Only that she took time off and is now ready to get back to helping people. Dr. Mann (Mimi Rogers) either doesn’t think it was too bad or can’t worry about caring if it was due to a dearth of candidates because she hires her on the spot. Douglas (Bruce McKenzie) is a “difficult” patient and beggars can’t be choosers. Desperation rules them all.

Writer/director Georgia Bernstein’s grandmother almost fell victim to the “grandchild in trouble and in need of money” scam before a bank teller refused to hand over her savings, so she understands the psychology behind the crime. That being said, however, Night Nurse isn’t really about the con. This isn’t Thelma with the victim hunting down her predator or some mystery to be solved by the audience or characters on-screen. It’s about compulsion and control.

Because we learn very early on who the culprit is and why he doesn’t actually need the money. No, he does it for the excitement of knowing he can. He does it to wrap his accomplices around his finger and create a psycho-sexual dynamic that makes it so they’ll do anything he asks. And they assist him because doing so is literally their job. It’s their purpose to give him purpose and his belief that doing so also gives purpose to their marks to “save” their family.

This isn’t quite the sadomasochistic thriller you might expect, though. The bond formed between Douglas and Eleni isn’t about sex as much as it is about the absurdity of the situation. Bernstein admits the on-screen logic is intentionally rendered to feel dreamlike in its execution as it moves from scene to scene. The act of indoctrination itself happens so quickly that you must wonder if it’s real. That’s how strong of a drug this warped idea of “caring” proves.

Eleni becomes addicted the moment Douglas hangs up the phone after wrapping it around her body to use as a restraint both so she doesn’t ruin the call and so he can assert his power over her. She falls in line with his whims in a way that ultimately pushes his other nurse Mona (Eléonore Hendricks) to the fringes. Sometimes it feels like Eleni’s excitement is exactly what he craves to keep going. Sometimes it feels like she’s a bit too excited even for him.

Bernstein blurs this line between help and lust throughout. She portrays the intimacy of elder care as a hotbed for sensuality whether it’s a hand on the waist as the nurses lead their male patients around the pool or a spying eye through the crack of a door as another applies lotion to their chests. Even Dr. Mann’s yearning to alleviate the pain and confusion of her patients inevitably comes off as a fetish by the end as every interaction with Douglas carries subtext.

The film I thought of most while watching was Natural Born Killers and its crazed depiction of love transcending immorality and insanity. Because right when we know for certain that Douglas has been faking his dementia to secure his spot in this luxury retirement community, something shifts to make us question just how lucid he is. We must also wonder if he truly believes he is helping his victims since a tragic moment of letting one down sparks his decline.

While that uncertainty of what’s real is the point, it can be somewhat tiring to endure as the pacing grinds much of the narrative propulsion to a hazy halt of clouded lethargy. Eleni’s obsessive desire to keep going. Douglas’ loosening grip on time. The addition of more nurses falling prey to his allure for fun even if they’re unaware of his extracurricular activities. I did worry that Night Nurse was spinning its wheels for a good portion before its climax arrived.

Sure, the acting is very good with Paksoy’s descent and McKenzie’s audacity, but it wasn’t until the finale blurred lines even more via a role reversal to smack us all sober prior to delivering one last “good deed” that I really started to see what the film offered. It’s not going to be for everyone since it enjoys playing with its viewers’ patience and comprehension, but that’s also the part of this ride that will definitely appeal to the rest.

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Cemre Paksoy in NIGHT NURSE; courtesy of Independent Film Company.