True crime is more and more a popular topic for movies, podcasts, and books. But the appeal is usually the result, how the bad guy is caught and the system works for the victims, even if it takes years. But The Good Nurse, a new film coming to Netflix next week will challenge that genre and the viewer’s conceptions of what evil really can look like when it goes unchecked.
Based on the book of the same name by Charles Graeber, The Good Nurse follows an ICU nurse Amy, as she starts to uncover the cause of the unexplainable deaths in her ward. The story is one we’ve seen hinted at in other medical mystery movies, or hear of only in other true crime stories – an angel of death taking charge in a hospital that may have tragic results.
There are times throughout the movie that The Good Nurse is a little slow, but never enough to pull you out of the movie. Amy (Jessica Chastain) struggles to work through her heart condition until she has reached her required time at the hospital and is given insurance enough to cover it. When Charlie (Eddie Redmayne) a new night shift nurse joins the team, she seems to finally have the support she needs to help at work and at home with her daughters. Charlie becomes someone she can lean on until his helpfulness starts to become overbearing and a bit scary.
Both Chastain and Redmayne give great performances throughout the film. Charlie slowly transforms from a devoted and helpful friend to someone who is truly insane and would make anyone question their safety around him. There are possible awards in the future for Redmayne for his portrayal of nurse Charlie Cullen.
The story of Charlie Cullen is compelling, and the movie will take viewers on a journey through his evil and eventual arrest. But at the end, the number of injustices that are left will leave you totally unnerved. From the families of victims who may never know the truth, to the hospitals’ culpability in these cases and passing the buck while covering up the truth, and even how long health care workers are forced to wait to even get insurance will leave you with a feeling of distrust of the systems as a whole. So what evil is still being left unchecked?
The Good Nurse is available to stream on Netflix on Wednesday, October 26th.
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About The Good Nurse:
Amy, a compassionate nurse and single mother struggling with a life-threatening heart condition, is stretched to her physical and emotional limits by the hard and demanding night shifts at the ICU. But help arrives when Charlie, a thoughtful and empathetic fellow nurse, starts at her unit. While sharing long nights at the hospital, the two develop a strong and devoted friendship, and for the first time in years, Amy truly has faith in her and her young daughters’ future. But after a series of mysterious patient deaths sets off an investigation that points to Charlie as the prime suspect, Amy is forced to risk her life and the safety of her children to uncover the truth.
A gripping thriller based on true events, THE GOOD NURSE is directed by Academy Award nominee Tobias Lindholm, written by Academy Award nominee Krysty Wilson-Cairns, and stars Academy Award winners Jessica Chastain as Amy Loughren and Eddie Redmayne as Charles Cullen, as well as Nnamdi Asomugha, Noah Emmerich, and Kim Dickens.