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Philippe Le Guay's low-key psychological drama is a slow-burning film about how much intimadation one man is prepared to take from another.
When bottle factory worker Pierre (Laroche) switches from the day to the night shift, his life becomes a misery. His wife and son are willing to accept the fact that he's working odd hours, and Pierre himself is pleased to move from maintenance to the production line. But what he can't deal with is the relentless bullying from his new colleague Fred (Barbé).
Picking on Pierre for no apparent reason, Fred vandalises his car, shows him up in front of everyone, and generally tries to intimidate him as much as possible. What can Pierre do, though? Fred's an amateur boxer, everyone likes him, and he's a good worker. But when he gets mixed up with Pierre's adolescent son, enough is enough.The tension between these two men gets tighter and tighter with each successive scene. "Night Shift" dissects the group dynamics that glue these men together - everything from porn and homophobic jokes to basketball - and carefully illustrates the way this masculine workplace is based on a set of codes that no one fully understands. Pierre can either ignore Fred's jibes or simply try and "punch him out".
What really confuses the issue is the director's hints at the masochism which fuels the relationship between the two men. As Pierre says to his wife in a telling moment of clarity, the bullying has made him forget who he is and who he loves. A clue that perhaps the relationship between the bully and the bullied is based on something more complex than hatred.
Although well paced with compelling performances from Laroche and Barbé, it stops short of being truly thought-provoking.
In French with English subtitles.
