Summary

Night Shift offers a few genuine scares despite its supporting characters lacking development.
Night Shift’s twist ending feels unnecessary, detracting from the main character of the film.
Night Shift could benefit from a longer runtime to fully flesh out its characters and storylines.

A stuffed bear named “Yogi” that falls off the wall at inopportune times, cockroaches, used condoms, large rats, and that’s before we even get to a sinkhole at the bottom of an empty swimming pool bubbling inky black mud. These are all things that greet Gwen, played by Phoebe Tonkin, upon her arrival at the “All Tucked In” motor lodge as the new night shift manager in the appropriately titled Night Shift. If this slew of hotel nightmare visages isn’t enough to scream “horror film”, the flickering halogen lights and phone calls with no one on the other end are.

Night Shift follows Gwen Taylor, a woman who starts working the night shift at a remote hotel and begins to experience seemingly supernatural experiences – all while contending with a dangerous person from her past.ProsNight Shift offers a few genuine scaresThe horror film makes the most of its eerie hotel setting ConsNight Shift doesn’t focus enough on its supporting charactersThe film’s twist stalls the rest of the story

Night Shift comes from sibling directors Paul and Ben China, in their feature film debut, after their previous collaboration writing Sweet Virginia, which became a 2017 neo-western starring John Ber nthal. Now in the directors’ chairs, the China brothers have created a brief, but enjoyable, haunted hotel movie. In Night Shift, a young woman arrives at a rundown motel owned and operated by the friendly, if slightly apathetic, Teddy Miles (New Girl’s Lamorne Morris). Morris’ light comedic touch works wonders during the exposition of Gwen’s new duties at the hotel.

Night Shift Ignores Its Greatest Assets
The supporting cast does not get enough time to make an impact.

It’s here that Night Shift’s most glaring problem is first revealed. After Gwen inspects the dilapidated motel, and after Teddy identifies a few horror movie objects ranging from a fire ax to a brick to be used later, Teddy waves goodbye, leaving Gwen alone on her first night. He sure had a lot of trust in someone who seemed ready to leave at the mention of rats in the ceiling. Teddy’s excitement about having help and nervousness about impressing his new employee work well with Gwen’s uncertainty and quiet desperation, as she needs cash now for some unrevealed reason.

Teddy’s excitement about having help and nervousness about impressing his new employee work well with Gwen’s uncertainty but quiet desperation.

The problem is Teddy’s taken out of the film until the finale and Night Shift loses what could have been an excellent pairing. This issue arises multiple times throughout the film. After Teddy leaves, Gwen realizes she is being stalked by someone and, as the night progresses, her paranoia becomes reality as she sees ghostly apparitions following her. Intercut through these horror moments are characters who come and go, including Madison Hu as Alice, a hotel guest who befriends Gwen, and Patrick Fischler and Lauren Bowles as Warner and Birdie, a wealthy and breathtakingly obnoxious couple.

Fischler and Bowles come into the film like a lightning bolt and there’s hope that their introduction will spark a new vitality after the film’s meandering introduction, which is only filled with a few scares. However, their presence ends up being nothing more notable than a mildly funny sex joke. Night Shift may have benefited from focusing on more of these side characters rather than introducing them only to be quickly tossed away to move Gwen from one ghost scene to the next.

A Twist Ending Can’t Save Night Shift
Everything before the film’s twist ends up feeling unnecessary.

There’s a twist at the end of Night Shift. It’s fairly well executed though a little out of left field. While the twist does offer a unique take on the final girl trope, and produces some fantastic gore, it also hamstrings the film’s main character. Night Shift and the China brothers are waiting for this subterfuge the whole time, making everything that comes before seem incidental. Tonkin is a talented actor, appearing in the opening of Babylon as Jane Thornton and starring in The Originals as Hayley Marshall-Kenner, but the plot necessitates her underplaying Gwen.

The stinger ending shows what I would have liked to have seen Gwen do the whole time. It gives a glimpse into the more disturbing and exciting story the China brothers were going for. Night Shift blows by characters and sequences on its way to the twist; the movie could have used a little longer runtime. Two very chilling sequences in the movie cleverly use a telephone and a security camera to great effect and feature scares that are oppressive in how unrelenting they are, but even these tense scenes cut too early with too little payoff.

Night Shift blows by characters and sequences on its way to the twist; the movie could have used a little longer runtime.

Night Shift wisely makes the most out of its creepy motel setting. Whether it’s having someone fall in an abandoned pool, or pondering what happened to a motel key, the story and the creeping feeling that there is something behind every shower curtain, works. However, Night Shift doesn’t actually start until much later, when the real plot is unveiled.

Night Shift (2023) Director Benjamin China , Paul China Release Date March 8, 2024 Studio(s) Defiant Studios , Bradley Pilz Productions , Jax Media , Kodiak Pictures , Sunset Junction Entertainment Distributor(s) Quiver Distribution Writers Benjamin China , Paul China Cast Phoebe Tonkin , Christopher Denham , Madison Hu , Patrick Fischler , Lamorne Morris , Lauren Bowles , Connor Price Runtime 82 Minutes