‘The Good Nurse’ (2022) Review: Thriller Explores the Dark Side of the Healthcare System
Tobias Lindholm’s The Good Nurse is based on the true-crime case of the serial killer nurse Charles Cullen. In 2003, Cullen was arrested for murdering hundreds of patients by administrating lethal overdoses. Krysty Wilson-Cairns crafts the screenplay based on Charles Graeber’s book and tells a story that discusses the deep-rooted issues of the healthcare system. Lindholm (The Hunt and Another Round) is drawn to the complex characteristics of Cullen and the hero arc. It is presented through the real-life figure Amy Loughren, who befriended the serial killer and helped the detectives catch him.
Amy (Jessica Chastain) is a single mother and a nurse, who occasionally is prone to faintness but she still has a few more months at her job before she can get health benefits. Amy covers up her cardiac condition and continues the job regardless of her doctor’s orders. She keeps this information from her bosses and colleagues, except for the new nurse, Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne), her new work best friend. He helps her to take care of her patients and secretly provides her with stolen medication supplies. Amy becomes complicit in his dysfunctional behaviour. Shortly after Charles’ employment, some of the patients die due to unexpected deaths. During the internal investigation, the hospital administration alerts the detectives, and things become more complicated. Amy finds out that one of the patients received a double dose of insulin. When the detectives begin to dig deeper into the unexplained deaths, all the roads lead to Cullen’s employment history and his trail gets longer when another patient dies under his care.
Amy is the beacon of hope in this movie. She’s a nurse — a good nurse. She cares and empathises with all of her patients. Through her characteristics, Lindholm focuses on the hero arc. Amy is the humanity and it is implied that she is the reason why Cullen decides to confess to the murders. Cullen was confirmed to have killed 29 people, but it is suspected that it might have been in the hundreds. While The Good Nurse tries to show Amy’s resilience and actions through that journey, it is important to note that the hospital administration did nothing in order to stop Cullen. With his questionable employment record and the rumours that were left behind after his termination from nine hospitals, all of which failed to perform their moral duties and hold him accountable. Amy is the only person who broke this pattern by helping the authorities solve the case and arrest him.
While The Good Nurse explores these characters and their motivations fall off immediately. What is unique about the plot is that we are able to see Amy living through a heart condition and the true crime story lingers alongside her health issues. While Wilson-Cairns crafts an excellent screenplay that is subtle in its reveal, it is valid to question if the slow burn is a mistake on the writer’s part. With a runtime of 121 minutes, could Wilson-Cairns have done more to poke at the thriller aspect?
The Good Nurse tries to discuss the broken hospital systems. It barely scratches the surface and leaves a less resounding solution to figure out what is wrong with everything. It’s a political thriller, but it barely leaves a mark that leaves a profound impact on the faults of the system. All the movie addresses are the hospital administration’s part to sweep their hands clean from the wrongdoings of one person and pass Cullen to another healthcare facility, which would mean that he would continue his murderous trail. The truth is that The Good Nurse shows how hospitals recklessly abandon patient care to protect their reputation. It shows the inherent evil system that fails to protect the patients. A mix of serial killer thriller and an exposé that shows the dark reality of the healthcare system and the actions of one good nurse that showed humanity to save her patients.
