The 2023 horror-thriller “Night Shift,” directed by the China brothers, starts with a creepy atmosphere, promising a terrifying experience. However, it quickly sheds its horror skin, morphing into a psychological thriller. Unfortunately, this psychological intrigue remains frustratingly underdeveloped. The film’s premise feels stretched thin, suggesting it might have originated as a short story. This results in a plot that feels slight and ultimately fails to deliver a satisfying payoff.
“Night Shift” does manage to spark some interest, particularly with the unsettling swimming pool scene. But its reliance on tired jump scares feels like a missed opportunity in the horror department.
Spoilers Ahead
Night Shift (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“Night Shift” opens with Gwen Taylor coming to report to a motel. She is about to be appointed as a caretaker for the night shift. Gwen is supposed to report to Teddy Miles, who owns the motel. However, she couldn’t find him in the lobby. So, she starts wandering around the motel when Gwen finds a certain room’s door is opening due to the wind. Right after she closes the door, Teddy suddenly comes out of nowhere and introduces himself.
Later, he hands over the responsibilities to Gwen, saying that he will come back around 7 AM in the morning, and until then, she is all alone. There is only one guest staying right now in the motel so things should not be difficult anyway. A bear head slips from the wall multiple times, which is the only irritating thing inside the lobby. Gwen asks about security since she is alone in the whole area. Teddy says that nothing will happen because nothing has ever happened in this area before.
How do Gwen and Alice become Friendly?
Later that night, Gwen goes to clean a particular room. There, she comes across an eerie atmosphere. Gwen closes the window, cleans the bed, and later confronts a ghost, which makes her run away from the room. Outside, she meets with Alice, a young woman who is seeking help from her because the hairdryer is not working. Gwen goes to the storeroom to find one. Alice accidentally removes the brick, which leads to the door of the storeroom locked. Teddy has already cautioned Gwen about this because the storeroom door can not be opened from the inside.
Alice is claustrophobic, so she starts screaming for help from inside the storeroom. At that moment, the food delivery boy arrives with Gwen’s order. He helps them by opening the door. Later that night, while sharing the food, Gwen learns that Alice has run away from her house because she had a spat with her mother. By sharing these feelings, Alice becomes very friendly with Gwen. They also sort of survived a near-death experience inside the storeroom, which makes their bond even more special.
What does Gwen Reveal about Her Family?
While Alice complains about her mother and how she has decided on her own to leave the house, Gwen shares her part of the story, in which she was a victim of a tragic incident that changed her life completely. She tells her that her mother and sisters were stabbed to death by a criminal named Walton Grey. Before he could kill Gwen, too, the police arrived at the spot to take him into custody. Just like Alice, Gwen also comes to this motel because she has heard that Walton Grey has recently escaped jail.
Gwen says that she has even seen a car crossing the motel on multiple occasions, and she now thinks that Walton Grey is coming for her to finish his unfinished business once and for all. Alice suggests to her that she should call the police and let them know about Walton following her. Gwen tells her that Alice must stay inside her room no matter what happens until she figures out what needs to be done and how.
What does Gwen find in the Swimming Pool?
As the night progresses, an old couple enters the motel to have some fun for an hour. Gwen tries to explain to them that this motel is not that kind of an establishment where they can pay hourly. They need to take a room for the whole night and pay the amount upfront. Listening to all of this, they behave badly with Gwen, leaving her in tears. But somehow, Gwen tries to cope with the situation as they agree to pay the night charge. However, they leave in some time as soon as their business is over.
Later, Gwen goes near the swimming pool, where she looks into the sinkhole that was created before, resulting in exhausting all the water from the pool. While Gwen is looking right into it, she accidentally falls into the pool and sees a ghost coming out from the sinkhole. Gwen screams for help. Alice comes and extends her hand to rescue Gwen out of the pool. Later, Gwen hears from Alice that this motel is famous because it is considered a haunted place.
Gwen calls Teddy to let him know she will not be working here from tomorrow because she never knew that this place was haunted. Teddy tries to calm her down by saying that there is no ghost living in the motel. However, Gwen does not listen to Teddy. Gwen even sees the ghost through the CCTV camera and inside the lobby. Subsequently, she locks herself inside the cabin for the time being, thinking that this way, she can avoid confronting those ghosts.
Night Shift (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
What does Walton Grey Reveal about Gwen?
Soon, Walter Grey enters the lobby and asks for a room. Gwen thinks that he does not recognize her. When she goes to show him the room, she finds a pair of scissors from before when she left it while cleaning the room. Gwen thinks that Walter has come to kill her, so before he can make his move, Gwen stabs Walter in his throat with the scissors. Walter is struggling to breathe as he is bleeding a lot when he discloses that he is not a killer but Gwen’s doctor.
Walter says that he has followed Gwen to take her back to the mental hospital from where she has escaped. Gwen has always been a mentally challenged person who had killed her mother and sisters. The ghosts are only of Gwen’s mother and sisters, and they still haunt her wherever she goes. Walter is in charge of taking care of her. But since she has escaped, Walter has been trying to find her, and finally, he ends up in this motel.
Walter has already called for the ambulance. After cutting Walter’s tongue and killing him, Gwen goes after the two staff from the hospital who are here to take her back. When all this is going on, Alice comes to find out what is happening. She sees the dead bodies and finds Gwen in the middle of killing a person. Alice tries to run, but ultimately, Gwen is able to kill her as well. Later, when Teddy comes, he finds Alice in the pool area, where she is hiding the bodies inside the sinkhole.
What does Gwen do with the Motel?
At the “Night Shift,” we see the bear head falling down from the wall once again, and we see some blood spat on the wall there. This clearly suggests that Teddy was murdered here, as Gwen must have thrashed his head against the hook from where the bear’s head hangs. She has full authority over the motel now, and she has colored it the way she wants. When a visitor comes to stay and looks at the pool, which is now filled with water, Gwen approaches him and jokingly says that once there was a sinkhole here that could take five bodies inside.
The traveler laughs at this as he does not know what actually has happened in this place. There is a possibility that whatever is seen at the end of the film is Gwen’s dream because the motel seemed a bit unrealistic with all the pink and blue colors and the clean pool. Maybe she is still inside one of the rooms of the motel, dreaming about turning this place into something like that. Anyway, when the traveler arrives at the lobby to make the payment, Gwen sees the ghosts of the people she has murdered.
One more detail is that the traveler here is also coming from Ashford, the same place from where Gwen has arrived, as she had told Teddy. This perhaps means nothing, just a bizarre coincidence. However, it is possible that Gwen is thinking about this inside her head, and she cannot escape her idea of living in a motel and serving guests since her mother used to work in a hotel.
This is not an implausible theory because of two things: one, the absurd setup of this new motel, which really feels dream-like; two, the traveler being a resident of Ashford, the same place Gwen said she came from. If you think anything different, let me know in the comment section.
