So for Halloween weekend, what’s an excellent setting for some creepy cinema chills? Sure, big creaky dark mansions are usually the “go-to” locale, and if they’re next to, or even attached to, a crumbling cemetery, well they fit the bill…in many flicks. But what about a public place, not the museums (as in the NIGHT series), or a shopping mall (as in the original classic DAWN OF THE DEAD)? In this fright film, the main action occurs in a hospital. And unlike the second in the series, HALLOWEEN II, the shocks are more than doubled because this new one is a true story (or the “inspired by true events” genre). Oh, but this location is dedicated to healing and helping, right? And that’s the really frightening aspect. But the whole thing is not overly exploitive thanks to the Oscar-winning duo who portray a pair of healthcare workers. Needless to say, some of those patients aren’t fortunate to be treated by the one that’s THE GOOD NURSE.
The opening “prologue’ does involve a nurse, Charlie Cullen (Eddie Redmayne), who calls for backup when one of his charges takes a turn for the worst. From there the story changes its setting location and its focus to another nurse, Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) who is working the long night shift, seemingly alone. Lifting and moving her patients truly exhausts her, as she almost collapses in an empty supply closet. But she makes it till dawn and returns home to relieve her sitter and see her two pre-teen daughters off to school (their daddy is out of the mix). With the girls gone, Amy heads over for a heart check-up. Her doc insists that she make time for a valve repair, but Amy is months away from getting on the hospital health plan, so she’s got to “plow through” and keep her own health issues a secret. Luckily she gets a new co-worker for the late shift, as Charlie joins the staff. The two quickly bound over their failed marriages and custody conflicts. But then several patients unexpectantly expire. A grieving spouse contacts the local police where the investigation heads to two “plainclothesmen”, Braun (Noah Emmerich) and (Nnamdi Asomugha), who had come across a similar incident previously (then they were too late for a needed autopsy). Unfortunately, the duo is hampered by the hospital’s board of directors and their public relations exec Ms. Garran (Kim Dickens). But as the death toll rises, the PDs finally get to interview the workers and get some cooperation from the puzzled Amy. But will her friendship with Charlie silence the inner voice that warns her of a most deadly conspiracy? And will she put her career and family in jeopardy to learn the truth?
The title character (not giving anything away here) is superbly portrayed by Ms. Chastain in her first dramatic role (I’m not counting the excruciating action-thriller THE 355) since taking the Oscar gold for THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE. Like that former role, she brings a great deal of empathy and emotional and physical (just charging up a flight of stairs is harrowing) vulnerability as the working-class hero. Her pressures are towering both at work and at home, as she worries about being the “bad Mom” as her eldest constantly ‘tests her”. Her Amy needs a supportive shoulder which make her “awakening” and shift into “truth-seeker mode” more powerful and another triumph for Chastain. Though not a the forefront of the narrative, Redmayne as the mysterious Charlie, underplays in order to make the “gurney-pusher” non-threatening which aids his quest to almost merge in to the hospital’s shadowy corridors. He too, zeros in on a “work buddy” to share in his struggles, through his passive-aggressive demeanor and soft-spoken asides. It’s thanks to Redmayne’s skills that Charlie has some sympathy even as he destroys families while “glomming” onto Amy’s broken home (if he’s not the father figure, at least he’s the cool uncle). Speaking of “working stiffs”, the police pair (with Amy and Charlie as the medical duo) are played with steely determination by, starting with the senior lead PD, Emmerich as Braun who projects an affable persona, but is a keen observor whose gaze can seemingly “burn” into someone’s brain. At his side is Asomugha’s fiery Baldwin, who’s not doing the “good cop/bad cop” cliche with Braun, but rather he’s the more passionate. This helps when he’s doing the research, but can backfire in a memorable scene where he loses his cool with one of the “higher-ups”, though he had shown remarkable restraint. Testing that is Dickens, a superb character actress, whose Garran wants to be seen as an aloof, unflappable businesswoman, but conspires and manipulates with an icy cold hand.
In his English-language feature film directing debut, Tobias Lindholm imbues this story with a sense of dark dread. Really, the hospital proves to be a foreboding shadow space, especially at night. I’m aware that it’s not as well lit after “visiting hours”, but it’s a wonder that the staff doesn’t carry around some pocket flashlights. Of course, this amplifies the hidden evil there and the old adage that “light is the best disinfectant” since those in charge need to keep us, the public, “in the dark”. Aside from the visuals Linfholm keeps us “off-kilter” with an undercurrent of suppressed tension at the core of nearly every scene. This even goes for the detective subplot as the partners try to “run around” and “leap over” the near-constant obstacles in their way. The soundtrack by Biosphere is equally muted, like the cinematography, and doesn’t build up to the usual thriller tropes. The many fans of streaming true crime stories will eagerly consume this but may find themselves hungry for a resolution. There are no clear-cut reasons given for the crimes, much like Simon Oakland provided in the final moments of PSYCHO. Perhaps this is to drive home the fact that horrible real-life incidents can’t be “tied up cleanly with a bright shiny bow”. It’s awful and messy, but sometimes ordinary folks can put a stop to it. But the misery goes down a touch easier thanks to the terrific acting duo who make THE GOOD NURSE very good indeed.
3 Out of 4
THE GOOD NURSE is now playing in select theatres and is streaming exclusively on Netflix
