The Good Nurse
Two nurses, one good and one bad, form a friendship amid a spate of real-life hospital murders.
Special care: Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain
Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) is more than a good nurse. Diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, she is in desperate need of a heart transplant, but with no medical insurance she can but work longer night shifts in order to pay her bills. And although at risk of a stroke, she pushes herself harder and harder in order to be there for her patients and for her two young children, aged nine and five. She is dedicated to a fault, putting her own life at risk so that she can make a difference in the world and for those in her care. And yet her nine-year-old (Alix West Lefler) rants, “I don’t get anything – I don’t even get you!” And then Amy is gifted an accomplice, a male nurse who comes with excellent references (from several hospitals) and enormous experience. He is Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) and he is a boon, both for the stressful night shift and for her children. He tells her: “I’m going to help you get through this...”
The Good Nurse is both a chilling character-driven drama and a denunciation of health care in the US, a system in which corporate-faced hospitals close ranks, conscientious medical staff are exploited and the poor are left to die. And then there’s Cullen, possibly the most prolific serial killer in US history, America’s very own Harold Shipman. Like many a serial killer, he was extremely smart and lubricated his way into situations of trust through the fabrication of empathy. Murderers are stupid because they get caught – before they can become serial killers. Not so Cullen: he knew exactly what he was doing, although he never revealed why.
The Good Nurse is, if nothing else, understated. Even the suicide attempts that Cullen has made are merely suggested by a scar on Redmayne’s wrist – we have to pay attention. This is a disquieting psychological thriller propelled by the nuanced intelligence of its performers, with both Chastain and Redmayne at the top of their form. Not for a moment does Redmayne flag up the villain behind the caring mask, while Chastain reins in the volcanic emotions undoubtedly seething beneath her chest. Early on, the film reveals an ace card when Cullen, who has been tenderly washing the naked corpse of an elderly female patient, stares at her just inches from her face. It is virtually the only indication in the entire film of the evil written in the man’s DNA. If there’s any real suspense, it’s that the Danish director Tobias Lindholm (A Hijacking, A War) will slip into Paul Verhoeven mode and crank up the melodrama and sensationalism. Thankfully, he doesn’t, introducing the most disturbing moments in an almost matter-of-fact manner, such as when Amy clandestinely changes an IV bag when nobody is looking, in order to save a patient’s life. And so we profoundly care for the good nurse, even though we never really understand the motives of the bad one. However, we do believe him.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne, Nnamdi Asomugha, Kim Dickens, Malik Yoba, Alix West Lefler, Noah Emmerich, Gabe Fazio, Ajay Naidu, Moe Irvin, Maria Dizzia, Shaun O’Hagan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Judith Delgado, Jesus-Papoleto Melendez.
Dir Tobias Lindholm, Pro Scott Franklin, Darren Aronofsky and Michael A. Jackman, Screenplay Krysty Wilson-Cairns, based on the book The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder, by Charles Graeber, Ph Jody Lee Lipes, Pro Des Shane Valentino, Ed Adam Nielsen, Music Biosphere, Costumes Amy Westcott, Sound Morten Green, Dialect coach Michael Buster.
Protozoa Pictures/FilmNation Entertainment-Netflix.
121 mins. USA. 2022. UK and US Rel: 26 October 2022. Cert. 15.
