The Good Nurse movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Good Nurse

This dark, dramatic crime movie is now available on Netflix.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 2 hours 1 minute

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

Amy, a compassionate nurse and single mother struggling with a life-threatening heart condition, is stretched to her physical and emotional limits by the hard and demanding night shifts at the ICU. But help arrives when Charlie, a thoughtful and empathetic fellow nurse, starts at her unit. While sharing long nights at the hospital, the two develop a strong and devoted friendship, and for the first time in years, Amy truly has faith in her and her young daughters’ future. But after a series of mysterious patient deaths sets off an investigation that points to Charlie as the prime suspect, Amy is forced to risk her life and the safety of her children to uncover the truth.

This is the first movie in English directed by Tobias Lindholm.

The filming was done in Connecticut.

THINGS I LIKED:

The strength of the movie is, by far, the 2 leading Oscar winners: Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne. They give incredible and perfectly subtle performances, as expected. I adore them both in everything they do.
The supporting cast was also good, but my eyes were firmly planted on the two stars.
I teach classes at a nursing school, so I was especially intrigued by this story and will definitely be talking to my students about it.
The Good Nurse, Amy Loughren, currently lives in Florida where she is still a nurse and a practicing Reiki Master and hypnotherapist.
The fact that this disturbing story is based on true events is what makes this movie even more compelling.
We see how hard nurses work physically and the emotional burden they bear every day.
We also see a tribute to hard-working, single mothers.
What’s especially frightening is realizing that a hospital crime like this could easily happen again.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It is extremely slow-moving and would have been better with a shortened, tightened screen time.
SPOILER: It’s infuriating to learn that the hospitals did nothing to stop a wayward nurse, nor were they ever prosecuted for their negligence.
Because we don’t get all of the answers we want, we’re left feeling a little unsatisfied.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be extremely bored.
We see dead bodies, including a topless, dead woman.
A woman passes out due to her medical heart condition.

THEMES:

Life and death
Truth
Friendship
Single mothers
Nurse integrity
Hospital corruption
Emotional strength

FUNNY LINES:

“There’s a code to access the bathroom, very importantly, the highly original code: 4-3-2-1.” – Amy (Jessica Chastain) “Uncrackable.” – Charlie (Eddie Redmayne)