Have you ever had to live with the knowledge that a split second decision that you made has changed the entire course of someone’s life?
In healthcare, the “second victim” refers to the healthcare professionals who experience negative psychological consequences after being involved in a patient safety incident. This includes incidents such as medical errors or adverse turns of events. Second Victims by Danish actor-turned-director Zinnini Elkington explores the heavy emotional toll on medical staff when things go pear-shaped on their watch.
The film starts with neurologist Alexandra Borgen (Özlem Saganmak). She is starting what she expects to be a routine shift in the overcrowded and understaffed Danish hospital where she works. Meanwhile, new intern Emilie (Mathilde Arcel F.) is thrown into the deep end with triaging patients when the experienced triage nurse calls in sick.
Emilie calls Alex over for help regarding an 18-year-old patient who presents with a seemingly simple headache. Emilie wants to send him for an MRI but Alex deems it unnecessary. Shortly after Alex discharges the young patient, he collapses from a brain haemorrhage, and falls into a coma. What follows is a tense and emotionally charged battle between Alex, the patient’s mother (Trine Dyrholm) and Esben (Olaf Johannessen) the head of neurology. Blame is thrown around and guilt and self-doubt wrecks Alex’s psyche.
The stellar cast does an authentic job at bringing us on the roller coaster of emotions from this scenario. We see a mother’s utter devastation and anger over the loss of her only son due to perceived medical negligence. We also witness the stress of medical staff having to navigate an already overloaded healthcare system while making snap decisions knowing they may have severe, and in this case, fatal, repercussions.
By the end of the film, I was left with a profound sense of respect for all healthcare professionals. Not only do these superheroes have to think fast and rely on their medical knowledge, instincts and professional experience to make life and death decisions on the daily, when inevitably things go wrong (because afterall they are only human), they treat people with kindness and compassion while those left behind deal with big, dark feelings.
Second Victims opens at Luna Palace Cinemas as part of the Hurtigurten Scandinavian Film Festival 2025 on Friday, 25th July.