{"id":4070,"date":"2026-07-08T21:06:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T21:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070"},"modified":"2026-07-08T21:06:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T21:06:55","slug":"review-unsettling-night-nurse-is-a-nightmare-for-the-caregiver-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070","title":{"rendered":"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>Two of the most elemental desires humans possess are the need to be cared for and the need to be needed. Georgia Bernstein\u2019s unsettling directorial debut focuses on how warped and perverted those desires become when they\u2019re taken to their insatiable extremes.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4068\">NorCal native comes home, as ex-Jr. Sharks star signs with PWHL San Jose<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bernstein\u2019s provocative, disquieting psychological thriller confines itself to a restrictive retirement community where resident Douglas (Bruce McKenzie) engages in a twisted and dangerous thrill-seeking game that involves phone scamming at-risk older people with memory-loss issues. When a peculiar new nurse named Eleni (Cemre Paksoy) arrives on the job, she is a newcomer escaping her own past and more than susceptible to Douglas\u2019s erotically charged charms. Soon she\u2019s serving as the lure or \u201cthe voice\u201d in duping the vulnerable out of their money.<\/p>\n<p><span><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"youtube-player\" height=\"360\" loading=\"lazy\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JP8Xj5_6VSE?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" style=\"border:0;\" width=\"640\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The scam goes something like this: a relative \u2014 aka Eleni \u2014 calls late at night desperately claiming that she\u2019s in imminent peril and that her captors are demanding discretion and money or else.\u00a0 The con works nearly every time and it serves another purpose, making both Eleni and Douglas feel more alive than they have in some time. Their togetherness turns into a parasitic relationship, and Douglas\u2019 debauched transgressions also draw in other nurses as they participate in bacchanal-like nights of partying with IVs.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4066\">Teens left group home to find a \u2018better life.\u2019 They ended up being trafficked in Oakland, police say<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Douglas mostly escapes detection from those in charge, including Dr. Mann (Mimi Rogers), by acting like he suffers from short-term memory loss. Bernstein\u2019s fearlessness in exploring unsettling themes is admirable and centers on the kind of people and voices we don\u2019t often see expressed in films, indie or mainstream. Equally commendable is how she takes a cue from David Cronenberg and David Lynch in making \u201cNight Nurse\u201d feel as if we\u2019ve just entered a dream or an hallucination.<\/p>\n<p>Never once does she break that spell, even in the film\u2019s disturbing final act \u2014 a talker that flings open the door for so many more questions surrounding the relationship between the caregivers and the care cravers.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4064\">San Jose man charged in fatal shooting of girlfriend at Fourth of July party<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018NIGHT NURSE\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>3 stars out of 4<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rated:<\/strong> R (language, erotic and adult situations, substance abuse)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Starring:<\/strong> Cemre Paksoy, Bruce McKenzie, Eleonore Hendricks, Mimi Rogers<\/p>\n<p><strong>Writer\/director:<\/strong> Georgia Bernstein<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Running time:<\/strong> 1 hour, 35 minutes<\/p>\n<p><strong>When &amp; where:<\/strong> Opens July 10 in theaters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two of the most elemental desires humans possess are the need to be cared for and the need to be needed. Georgia Bernstein\u2019s unsettling directorial debut focuses on how warped and perverted those desires become when they\u2019re taken to their insatiable extremes. Bernstein\u2019s provocative, disquieting psychological thriller confines itself to a restrictive retirement community where [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two of the most elemental desires humans possess are the need to be cared for and the need to be needed. Georgia Bernstein\u2019s unsettling directorial debut focuses on how warped and perverted those desires become when they\u2019re taken to their insatiable extremes. Bernstein\u2019s provocative, disquieting psychological thriller confines itself to a restrictive retirement community where [\u2026]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T21:06:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T21:06:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070\"},\"wordCount\":438,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f62499b75cde0d3467033b07d52e83a4.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070\",\"name\":\"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f62499b75cde0d3467033b07d52e83a4.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T21:06:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f62499b75cde0d3467033b07d52e83a4.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f62499b75cde0d3467033b07d52e83a4.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":576},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4070#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation - Next City Digest","og_description":"Two of the most elemental desires humans possess are the need to be cared for and the need to be needed. Georgia Bernstein\u2019s unsettling directorial debut focuses on how warped and perverted those desires become when they\u2019re taken to their insatiable extremes. Bernstein\u2019s provocative, disquieting psychological thriller confines itself to a restrictive retirement community where [\u2026]","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-08T21:06:55+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation","datePublished":"2026-07-08T21:06:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070"},"wordCount":438,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f62499b75cde0d3467033b07d52e83a4.webp","articleSection":["Things To Do"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070","name":"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f62499b75cde0d3467033b07d52e83a4.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-08T21:06:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f62499b75cde0d3467033b07d52e83a4.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f62499b75cde0d3467033b07d52e83a4.webp","width":1024,"height":576},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4070#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Review: Unsettling &#8216;Night Nurse&#8217; is a nightmare for the caregiver generation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}