Based on Charles Graeber’s 2013 novel of the same name, The Good Nurse is a Netflix original crime thriller that features some autobiographical elements. The criminal drama depicts the story of killings, sanity, and healthcare misinformation.
Amy, a kind but overworked nurse who does not have an easy existence, serves as the focal point of the story. Her night shifts at the hospital drive her to the limit on an emotional and physical level in addition to the fact that she is a single mother and suffers from a serious heart condition. Fortunately, she receives help from Charlie Cullen, a former coworker who has become a friend.
With time, Amy and Charlie become closer, and when Amy is reassured about the future, she experiences a rare moment of hope. He is identified as a main suspect in a series of murky patient deaths, so she must use every tool at her disposal to find the truth.
Any movie’s title is important, but “The Good Nurse” has a special significance because it is based on the terrible serial killings of numerous patients by a not-so-good nurse who put lethal poisons into IV bags. Charles Cullen is unquestionably not the “good nurse” in the title of the film, not even in an ironic sense given that he was a real-life serial killer who was found guilty of countless killings and was arguably among the most prolific killers of all time.
Instead, Jessica Chastain, who plays his coworker Amy Loughren, is the nice nurse since she initially accepted Cullen as her friend, later developed suspicions about him, and ultimately helped the police catch him.
Based On A True-Crime Story
The semi-autobiographical thriller could have easily turned into another terrifying true-crime thriller by focusing on serial killer Charles Cullen, but instead, it opts for a totally different strategy to make its compelling point.
The method used makes this plot engaging and distinctive. The major focus is typically on the serial killer, and the other people involved are typically only a minor inclusion since the main plot nearly always revolves around the killer, even when we catch a peek of the victims and their lives, the people who bring their crimes to light. This strategy also allows the movie to show us how, occasionally, the genuine heroes who are in charge of finding the serial killers are overshadowed by the killer himself, which is a depressing truth.
Even the filmmaker of the heartbreaking feel-bad movie isn’t worried about making an educated guess about the reasons of Cullen, who is currently serving multiple life sentences. Cullen, played by Eddie Redmayne, tries to explain who he is, but Lindholm drowns him out with the sound of a police siren and somber music.
A Serial Killer For 16 Years
How could Cullen get away with the killings for 16 years while working at nine different healthcare facilities? was one of the pressing concerns Lindholm and the other author, Krysty Wilson-Cairns, wanted to solve. Were his organizations lacking the resources and personnel to notice? Did they grow so terrified of legal repercussions that they forcibly removed Cullen from their neighborhood without a bad recommendation letter, much less making a call to the police?
The professional who kills victims is the obvious bad guy in this circumstance, but the hospital’s organizational culture prioritizes business and reputation over morality. These are both ominous and terrifying.
A Gogol-esque satirical undertone can be detected in the plot, which involves two investigators being impeded by medical staff who dismiss deaths as “unexplainable happenings,” in the words of an unnervingly composed risk manager. The movie’s viewpoint is that Cullen is essentially a result of organizational cancer.
This suspenseful thriller has a dark, frightening tone and builds gradually before becoming very intense. The film also benefits from being extraordinarily well-crafted, with great pacing and a lot of silent tension. Considering that it is based on a serial killer, this crime drama isn’t especially gory or brutal.
Redmayne portrays Cullen as being so unremarkable that he could disappear into the background. He even dresses in a grey cardigan, obviously paying attention to the descriptions in the book, particularly the one where the author calls the serial killer “a melancholy Mr. Rogers type.” He lacks a recognizable persona, making him a true puzzle.
The movie shows Charlie being kind and compassionate to Amy in between scenes, establishing the tragedy of this storyline as the opening scenes involving him and Chastain almost make you overlook who he truly is. Redmayne does, however, display the ruthlessness you expect during the sparse death scenes.
The two investigators assigned to the case, Noah Emmerich and Nnamdi Asomugha, are especially noteworthy because, in contrast to other movie cops, they seem incredibly genuine and different.
The Good Nurse is an excellent criminal drama, but it is hardly a crime thriller. Beyond examining Amy’s background and viewpoint, the story does very little to examine the serial killer’s mentality.
Although we are aware that the “Good nurse” is the main subject of the film, it would have been fantastic to learn more about the murderer.
Unfortunately, we are not even provided an educated estimate as to the reasons and methods.
Although we are aware that the movie is based on a serial killer, the trailer leaves one with the unavoidable impression that it contains far too much information. Despite this, The Good Nurse is a good film that is well worth seeing.