Review: 12 Hour Shift (2020)

Directed by: Brea Grant
Starring: Angela Bettis, Chloe Farnworth, Nikea Gamby-Turner
Written by: Brea Grant
Music by: Matt Glass
Country: United States
Available on: Blu-ray/DVD (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
IMDb

This black comedy about an organ-harvesting scheme gone awry in a hospital during the titular 12-hour shift is the second screenwriting and directing feature from Brea Grant, an actress perhaps best known for her work on the NBC superhero drama Heroes. But Ms. Grant has been making a name for herself in the indie horror scene over the last few years, and those experiences in the genre have obviously informed her filmmaking work. 12 Hour Shift also provides a rare starring role for Angela Bettis, a very talented actress who’s been unfortunately quiet over the last decade or so. But she’s front and center here and wonderful, as always, as Mandy, a cynical, junkie nurse caught up in providing black-market kidneys to fuel her addiction. But Chloe Farnworth’s Regina steals every scene in which she appears, as Mandy’s cousin with extremely squishy morals and no sense of propriety. In the tradition of many black comedies, an already shady scenario quickly and completely collapses into chaotic shenanigans. Though the witty, tight screenplay could have fleshed out Mandy a bit more — and discussed how she got involved in illegal organ harvesting — it still does a great job of ushering the audience through ever-worsening circumstances and allowing for character development here and there. Grant’s writing does some amazing work threading opportunities to witness both scummy and redeeming moments for nearly every major cast member. It’s a major feat that Regina, despite having stolen, betrayed, murdered, and generally debauched with the emotional hesitation of a sociopath, comes out at the end seeming somehow innocent and sympathetic. Beyond the humor, pacing, and acting, 12 Hour Shift’s score, provided by Matt Glass (who fulfills multiple roles on production of the film), is so fascinating. It’s a very idiosyncratic staccato string-based score, with shades of about a dozen different musical styles, and its use is inspired. I wish I had seen this when it came out last year, so I could have included it in my year’s best.

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10