There’s no place like home. Except in horror films, in which case, there’s no place that’s safe. Part of the tension in a good horror film is the realization that danger lurks whether you’re in a cabin in the woods or your house in the suburbs — death waits everywhere. But when darkness falls, hunter and prey can often get mixed up as dogs become wolves, wolves become monsters, and no one can tell which is which or which is worse. Teaming up for their co-directed debut are brothers Paul and Benjamin China with Night Shift, a horror thriller set within an isolated motel whose grimy exterior may just be hiding a grimier secret.
Phoebe Tonkin as Gwen Taylor in NIGHT SHIFT. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
Settled into obscurity is The All Tucked Inn, a family-owned motel currently run by Teddy Miles (Lamorne Morris). When a conflict arises that requires him to abandon the night shift, he calls in Gwen Taylor (Phoebe Tonkin), a young woman looking for a gig. After giving her a brief tour of the 18 cabin facility, he takes off while she settles in. But when strange occurrences around the property begin which seemingly aren’t connected to guests, Gwen starts to wonder what exactly she signed on for and whether or not she’ll make it until morning.
Lamorne Morris as Teddy Miles in NIGHT SHIFT. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
This is not the first foray into horror for The China Brothers. Paul wrote and directed the 2011 thriller Crawl, and Benjamin produced Crawl and co-wrote, with Paul, the 2017 thriller Sweet Virginia. What Night Shift represents is the first time both wrote and directed a film together. What follows will not include comparisons of style or themes from their prior projects as this reviewer is not familiar with them, but there does seem to be a recurring theme of darkness, mystery, and untrustworthy perception. This comes together in Night Shift as Gwen, our lead into the film, serving as both the audience’s proxy (her first time at the motel is the way by which we, the audience, receive a natural introduction to all of its spaces) and is, herself, a bit of mystery given that she’s perpetually looking over her shoulder from the moment she arrives at The All Tucked Inn. That and the fact that she’s interested in both cash gigs and long term employment, two things that appear contradictory upon meeting her, creating the first mystery of several throughout the film. It’s not uncommon for a horror thriller to use an unreliable narrator or to set things up so that we’re uncertain if they’re unreliable or merely subject to outside influence. Here, it’s a combination of the script’s own framing of the plot, the cinematography from Mac Fisken (Offseason), and Tonkin’s (Transfusion; Babylon) performance which create a general sense of unease. Put another way, Gwen is to Night Shift what Theodore (Tim Roth) is to Four Rooms (1995), a caretaker faced with various disquieting situations and scenarios which escalate until enough is had; except here there’s one story, the guests are more grounded, and the laughter (when it comes) is dark.
Madison Hu as Alice in NIGHT SHIFT. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
Another element that keeps the film just slightly left of center is the score from composers Blitz//Berlin (Psycho Goreman; Brooklyn 45). Unlike the synthy vibes that permeate the 1980s throwback nature of Goreman, their music here shits between standard tension-filled lower keys and light, often playful tones. The two don’t cross over so much as play at disparate, though appropriate, times. It may seem strange, at first, that the music is almost delightful as she cleans a room up that had not yet been tended to and then turns chilling when Gwen is scared as she receives calls from an unoccupied room, the off-putting Room 13. The first presumption is that the film is trying to offer the audience a refuge from terror, that this is only a movie, but there’s cleverness in the use of music wherein The China Brothers offer a hint at what is going on under the surface for Gwen and the motel. Gwen must either be deluded or unstable to handle such mood swings as things go from hostile to calm and back again during her shift, but before the audience can get a pin on if it’s one, the other, or something else entirely, the writers give the audience another reason to believe in Gwen’s chastity and the threat being external. This matters as the script tries to keep the audience off balance in its pursuit of a single-location thriller where the disquiet could be a simple matter of rats in the ceiling, roaches on the bathroom floor, an indignant guest with a punishment complex, or a murderer on the loose who’s found their new target at the low-traffic motel. Most filmmakers would utilize the score to convey tone or to set or enhance emotion or tension within a scene, but The China Brothers use it to keep the audience off-balance, thereby making the mystery the courses through Night Shift a holistic one.
Phoebe Tonkin as Gwen Taylor in NIGHT SHIFT. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution.
Even for all this good stuff, the thoughtfulness that goes into the execution and the way Tonkin manages to hold down the entire film as Gwen, Night Shift tips it’s hand too early for those who are observant. This doesn’t detract from the concepts explored or the way that revelations regarding the motel are handled, so much as educated audiences will be able to foresee the conclusion up to a point. One thing this reviewer didn’t see coming is so truly screwed up that it made the ending both darkly hilarious and tragic, intended or otherwise. Is it a moment worth checking in to The All Tucked Inn motel? You’ll have to decide that for yourself. But it’s a moment that bears a clear signifier that The China Brothers are willing to go to filthy places that no all-purpose disinfectant can clean.
In select theaters and on VOD March 8th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Quiver Distribution Night Shift webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Leave a Reply