Night Shift (2023) Review

Published 8/08/2025

Rating : 7/10 Recommend.

Night Shift, as the name implies, follows a young woman, Gwen (played by Phoebe Tonkin), on her first night shift job at a remote motel that already seems to be falling apart. Rats in the attic, sinkhole in the pool, animal ornaments falling of walls. What a craphole.

What looks like a basic, boring maintenance job at first quickly turns into a living nightmare for Gwen when she realizes that the motel might be haunted and holds some long-buried secrets. Written and directed by the China Brothers the filmmaking duo take their time to establish Gwen down-on-her-luck situation. We can easily relate to her plight. The motel owner( played by Lamorne Morris) does just enough to cast doubt on whether his plans to refurbish his family's business will happen, or if he's just trying to clear his new employee's apprehensions.

The All Tucked Inn feels like the Bates Motel without the creepy mother.

It doesn't take long for Gwen to experience hallucinatory episodes. She begins seeing (in rather dramatic fashion) a dead girl reaching out to her through the motel's phone system. One confrontation after another lends credence to the fact this isn't your normal motel. Of the limited guests Gwen sees, one girl is nice, while another couple couldn't be any more hostile. Par for the course right? Again, the China Brothers take their time (without wasting time) in building the scares. Shout out to Madison Hu for playing the role of Alice Marsh, the only person Gwen can count on as a friend of sorts.

A dark car passes by more than once. Gwen's hold on her sanity begins to fray all the while of news coming through that an escaped murderer is on the loose. If we say any more than spoilers would follow -- and we hate spoiling! All told, this is a fun ride. Night Shift benefits from a small cast, giving viewers plenty of time to connect with the characters. While produced on a budget of $500k the film betrays its limited funds. This has the look and feel of a Blumhouse/A24/Neon film.

You can catch Night Shift streaming on Hulu. We feel Hulu has reached the pantheon of credible horror streaming destinations. Since Disney's acquisition the platform's quality programming has skyrocketed -- much to our gruesome delight. Go watch!