The Good Nurse Review: Inert but intense, this slowburn thriller is bolstered by compelling performances

On paper, The Good Nurse is a cinematic adaptation of a book with the same title is a chilling true story. But it fumbles with the screen translation.

 

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Lobias Lindholm( of Hunt, Another Round fame), the film is based on a true incident of mid 90s where a male nurse was responsible for serial deaths in thd hospital.

 

Charlie Cullen( Eddie Redmayne) is silently killing off his patients, triggering a suspicion in his colleague and friend, Amy( Jessica Chastain), who his a single mother of 3 and is grappling with an acute medical condition. On the surface, Charlie is very supportive of Amy helping her out in the gruelling night .But she is flabbergasted with the growing disappearance and death of some patients in her ward who were in their path of healthy recovery otherwise.

 

With rumours around Charlie's dubious past at other hospitals, local homicide detectives Danny Baldwin(Nnamdi Asomugha) and Tim Braun( Noah Emerich) observe a pattern here but can't do much because of the hospital's bureaucracy and have to retort to Amy as their last hope.

 

Redmayne delivery an understated yet cathartic performance as Charlie. The reason behind his killings are neither revealed nor his clear confession. It is a significantly complex role but he treads that with remarkable finesse. Chastain is stolid and exudes a poignant and weary vibe, emerging with resolute moral standards for Amy.

 

But the Good Nurse fails to evoke a sense of dread and urgency. The tension unfurls quite lazily until it snaps. The crime story lacks in it's screenplay to generate the requisite intrigue to hold it's audience and that's the major problem area, which boasts of compelling performances from its lead actors who have Academy awards in their dazzling repertoire.