It’s 1998 and over the course of one night at an Arkansas hospital, a junkie nurse, her scheming cousin and a group of black market organ-trading criminals get caught up in a heist gone wrong.
The film begins as we are introduced to Mandy, a middle-aged woman who works at a hospital who we find out early sells the organs of the dead bodies for cash.
We are the early exchange between Regina and Mandy go down for an organ, and when Regina gets to where she needs to go, the organ is missing, which boss man Nicholas (Mick Foley) isn’t happy. Nicholas threatens if she doesn’t bring back the kidney, he is going to take hers.
Moving on, Regina and Mandy struggle to come up with a plan to get another kidney. As the night progresses, dead body after dead body piles up, and this is where we have some great dark comedy between the pair.
Speaking of Mandy, who is played by Angela Bettis, who gives one of the best off-kilter performance of the year. She has this nonchalant attitude about her that is charming and yet hilarious. Bettis shows depth because while the world seems like it’s coming to the end, she has this ability to make us believe she has got it all under control.
Technically speaking, this film has some wonderful elements. Matt Glass served as the Composer and Cinematographer, and he knocked it out of the ballpark. The color palette was equally as dark as the film, and the tone of the score meshed well with not just the palette but the movie as a whole.
I was extremely impressed with Brea Grant’s direction in the final twenty minutes of this film. It was tightly shot, fast-paced, a lot happens, and it puts the finishing touches on this movie.
The Verdict:
12 Hour Shift is a well crafted dark comedy with a phenomenal performance from Angela Bettis.
Jacob is a film critic and co-founder of the Music City Drive-In. He is a member of the Music City Film Critics’ Association and specializes in the awards season. You can find him on Twitter @Tberry57.
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