GOOD NURSE, THE
(director: Tobias Lindholm; screenwriter: Krysty Wilson-Cairns/based on the book “The Good Nurse” by Charles Graeber; cinematographer: Jody Lee Lipes; editors: Michael Rolt/Adam Nielsen; music: Biosphere; cast: Eddie Redmayne (Charles Cullen), Jessica Chastain (Amy Loughren), Kim Dickens (Linda Garran), Noah Emmerich (Tim Braun), Mnandi Asomugha (Danny Baldwin), Alix West Lefler (Alex Loughren), Malik Yoba (Sam Johnson), Denise Pillott (Nurse 1); Runtime: 116; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Scott Franklin/Darren Aronofsky/Michael A. Jackman; Netflix; 2022)
“Creepy serial-killer story.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (“A War”/”R”) directs this creepy serial-killer story without injecting it with more trauma than needed. It’s based on the real-life story of a New Jersey nurse in 2003 who apparently killed hundreds of patients over the years by using on them lethal, intravenous overdoses.
It’s scripted by Krysty Wilson-Cairns and based on the 2013 non-fiction book “The Good Nurse” by Charles Graeber.
Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) is an overworked single mom nurse, who works with the caring male nurse Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne). She’s stressed because she doesn’t have enough time on the job to receive health benefits and has a child at home who needs her love and care at home. Cullen shows her how to steal meds from the hospital’s locked supply cabinet. But when she suspects him of foul play, she works with the police to catch him (he was caught in 2004, killing as many as 400 people).
Meanwhile the hospital tries to hide from the public a number of unexplained deaths. They try to prevent Detectives Danny Baldwin (Nnamdi Asomugha) and Tim Braun (Noah Emmerich) from freely investigating the deaths.
Redmayne coolly plays the bland psychopathic killer nurse, who never explained his motive as he serves out his life sentence in a New Jersey prison. It’s a watchable tawdry crime story that‘s uplifted by its talented star leads.
Without its A-list cast it would probably be a forgotten straight to video film, rather than opening in theaters.
REVIEWED ON 10/26/2022 GRADE: B-