AFTER THE NIGHT

In AFTER THE NIGHT, Sarah Kern wanted to explore a journey of evasion, following a character in search for his own path despite the constraints of self-imposed duty. It's a story about the yearning for renewal. In the past few years, she has met several psychiatrists due to visiting a family member who was interned in a psychiatric hospital. To her astonishment, she found out that many saw a decline in their mental health since they started working in a hospital, with more and more of them becoming patients themselves. The level of intimacy they develop with their patients – as opposed to other physicians who focus on physical illnesses – and the weight of the responsibility they feel towards them prompts many to question themselves too, and eventually doubt if they have enough strength for the job.


The question of authority was often brought up by the psychiatrists she interviewed for this film. How could they feel legitimate toward their patients when they themselves were also becoming someone else's patients? As a doctor, isn't Lucas an authority figure to Thierry as much as his father is to himself? Lucas had to resign during the night, a time when could avoid engaging in a call with his father or facing the scrutiny of the human resources team. Only during his night shift could Lucas find the strength to go against these forces that add to the pressure of duty, through a voice message and a resignation letter.


From the beginning, she aimed to make a drama film that integrates elements from a thriller. The film's escalating tension and austere tonality parallel Lucas' experience: to him, this life-changing decision feels like a perilous and lonely escape into the unknown. What will he do, if he leaves the hospital? On his way out, the weight of responsibility falls over him one last time in the form of a patient who needs help to escape the hospital de facto. His relationship with this man could create an empathic bond, reassuring Lucas of his choice, but it could also awaken him from his self-exile reverie – one that will never happen. In "After the Night," she aims to capture this internal conflict, questioning the extent to which one can stay sane when their sense of duty collides with a deeply ingrained belief that change may not be something one deserves.