The Day Shift (2008)

Dagvaktin
Eleven-Part Television Serial | Comedy-Drama | Iceland | Icelandic | 4h57m | Dir: Ragnar Bragason | Scr: Ragnar Bragason, Jón Gnarr, Jóhann Ævar Grímsson,Jörundur Ragnarsson, & Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon | DP: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson | Prod: Magnús V. Sigurdsson, Harpa Elísa Thórsdóttir, & Kjartan Thór Thórdarson | Ed: Sverrir Kristjánsson | AD: Júlía Katrínardóttir | SD: Huldar Freyr Arnarson | Cast: Jörundur Ragnarsson, Jón Gnarr, Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon, Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir, Arnar Freyr Karlsson, Magnús Ólafsson, Ævar Thór Benediktsson, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, Herdís Erna Gunnarsdóttir

After the loss of their jobs on The Night Shift, Daníel (Ragnarsson), Georg (Gnarr), and Ólafur (Sigfússon) find themselves working at a remote country hotel in northern Iceland, owned by the sexually aggressive Gugga (Jónsdóttir), with the managerial hierarchy having been switched, with Daníel now being the headman and Georg finding himself on the lowest rung of the ladder. However, when Georg’s sociopathy makes itself bloodily apparent, the old order is soon restored, in Bragason’s hugely entertaining follow-up to The Night Shift (2007), which proves to be much darker (figuratively rather than literally) and generally more aggressively funny. The performances are all still excellent, with the additional cast members proving more than adequate foils to the central trio. Visually, The Day Shift is also more interesting than its predecessor, which struggled to find anything striking in its single location, jet-black skies, and neon lighting. However, the plotting is never quite as intricate or subtle as before, making this a much bigger, louder, and generally less refined, though still hugely entertaining television serial in comparison.

Part of the Vaktin Trilogy.