THE GOOD NURSE on Netflix is a new thriller starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne. This is based on the true story of a nurse who was a serial killer – killing patients. Read our full The Good Nurse movie review here!
THE GOOD NURSE on Netflix is a new thriller based on true events about a different kind of serial killer. The movie stars Academy Award winners Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne, who both deliver very strong portrayals.
This is the true story of a nurse who was killing patients. It’s quite difficult and heartbreaking to watch. And the final act had my pulse racing in suspense. While the runtime is just around two hours, it never feels too long. Overall, it just works remarkably well when it comes to both pacing and storytelling.
Continue reading our The Good Nurse movie review below. Watch it on Netflix from October 26, 2022.
The strong premise of this thriller
In The Good Nurse, we meet Amy (Jessica Chastain), who is a struggling single mother and the most compassionate nurse. Honestly, she is exactly the kind of nurse you’d want to meet. However, on top of fighting for her kids and patients, she has a life-threatening heart condition.
Just when things are looking very bad indeed, help arrives when Charlie (Eddie Redmayne) starts working the same shift at the ICU. Charlie is a thoughtful and empathetic nurse, who seems to have all the same values Amy has.
Working nights at the hospital, they develop a strong and devoted friendship. Not a romantic relationship, but more one along the lines of siblings. Unfortunately, this is followed by a series of mysterious patient deaths – and everything points to Charlie as the prime suspect.
A very different kind of serial killer
Because The Good Nurse is based on a true story, the basic premise is already known. Also, it’s revealed in the trailer, which makes perfect sense in the case of a thriller based on a true crime.
Jessica Chastain is breathtaking as always. To be fair, in The Good Nurse, she plays a woman with a serious heart condition who is working night shifts, and it shows. I love that she is allowed to look like someone who is not healthy because obviously, she isn’t.
Amy (Chastain) is in danger of having a stroke or simply having complete heart failure and it impacts everything in her life. Jessica Chastain plays this character beautifully. The real-life nurse Amy is based on is a true hero.
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Also, you’ll be seeing a very different kind of character for Eddie Redmayne. He’s very restrained which matches the murder method of this serial killer perfectly. Charlie Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) isn’t aggressive or angry. And really, this makes it even scarier!
Other key supporting characters also play a huge part in getting this story told the right way. They are portrayed by Nnamdi Asomugha (When the Street Lights Go On), Noah Emmerich (Suspicion), and Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, Fear the Walking Dead).
Watch The Good Nurse on Netflix now!
Danish director Tobias Lindholm gets his English-language feature film debut with The Good Nurse. However, this isn’t the first English-language project for Tobias Lindholm, as he also directed two episodes of Mindhunter season 1.
He also wrote one of these Mindhunter episodes and co-wrote the Oscar-winning movie Another Round with director Thomas Vinterberg. The Good Nurse screenplay is by Oscar-nominated writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho, Penny Dreadful) and is based on the Charles Graeber book.
From the opening shot of The Good Nurse, you know this isn’t typical Hollywood-serial-killer storytelling. Instead of all the drama and action, we see the quiet reaction of the person responsible for the death happening.
This makes for a very strong shot and the same depth and focus are used throughout the movie.
THE GOOD NURSE is out in select theaters on October 19, and on Netflix on October 26, 2022.
Details
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Writer: Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne, Nnamdi Asomugha, Kim Dickens, Malik Yoba, Alix West Lefler, Noah Emmerich
Plot
Suspicious that her colleague is responsible for a series of mysterious patient deaths, a nurse risks her own life to uncover the truth in this gripping thriller based on true events.
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