Nightshift is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel

Nightshift (1981)DramaRating 44/100

A gorgeously photographed work of surreal, somnambulant cinema, Robina Rose’s singular snapshot of London’s early 1980s art scene casts a hypnotic spell all its own. Over the course of a single nightshift, a West London hotel clerk plays silent witness to a nocturnal constellation of guests ranging from punk rockers and scenester magicians to seemingly staid businessmen and old-world gentry. As the hours march deeper into night and the varied clientele depart the waking world, the hotel transforms into an otherworldly liminal space swaying between the everyday and the enchanting.

Cast: Pamela Rooke, Anna Rees-Mogg, Mitch Davies, Jon Jost, Max Handley, Mike Lesser, Sebastian Allen

Director: Robina Rose