In an overcrowded and under-supervised Danish hospital, a patient is discharged before immediately collapsing unconscious. As their life hangs in the balance, blame for the potential mistake moves from intern to consultant to surgeon in one tense, seemingly endless shift.

Second Victims is a tense procedural drama, and the directing debut of Zinnini Elkington – a Danish actor now moving into filmmaking herself. It is a supremely confident debut, with powerful performances, a strong sense of realism, and only a few small defects and drawbacks. If this is what her work looks like the first time around, I cannot wait to see how her craft develops.

The term ‘second victim’ refers to the emotional toll taken on health care workers, who start to obsess over feelings of guilt, shame, and anxiety when medical treatments run awry. It is a powerful foundation on which to build screen drama, and pulls in a number of associated matters including hospital overcrowding, public treatment of medical professionals, workplace behaviour, and grief. It is superbly developed stuff, but it is also heavy-going too. Expect a fulfilling night at the cinema by all means, but it will not exactly be a breezy one.

The film centres on Alex (Özlem Saglanmak), a skilled neurologist on a high pressure shift of an emergency ward. A young man arrives with his mother Camilla (Trine Dyrholm), complaining of a severe headache. A nervous intern (Mathilde Arcel F.) wants to run an MRI scan but a cost-conscious Alex doesn’t think it is necessary. Within minutes of his discharge, however, the 18-year-old patient collapses with an undiagnosed brain haemorrhage. When the attending surgeon (Olaf Johannessen) refuses to operate, it places Alex and Camilla on a highly-charged collision course.

Alex is the centre of the film, from its visceral long take opening to its haunting final moments. She dominates the narrative, and exhibits a powerful shift as the story progresses. She begins the film warm and confident, but as the day goes on that confidence becomes increasingly brittle and the warmth shifts to a sort of desperate cruelty. Smart decisions give way to vacillation, and determination to doubt. The journey is powerfully played by Özlem Saglanmak. While the behaviour wavers, and poor choices are made, she keeps her character consistently believable throughout. Trine Dyrholm is similarly effective, with a difficult range of emotions required as Camilla’s grief turns from panic to sorrow to rage. Arcel and Johannessen are both hugely effective in their supporting roles.

Anybody with experience of hospital life and medical procedures will find a few moments to nitpick; for one thing the hospital operates the fastest MRI suite in the world. It’s best to ignore these minor irritations: Second Victims is a very confronting, powerful, and particularly human experience. There are no heroes or victims, just mistakes – and furtive attempts to correct or atone for them.

Second Victims is screening across Australia at the 2025 Scandinavian Film Festival in July and August. For more information, click here.