“The Good Nurse” (M) *** and a half

AWARD-winning Danish director Tobias Lindholm’s first made-in-US film begins by announcing that it is based on true events. For once, we may be assured of that truth.

It’s about Charles Cullen who, as Wikipedia puts it, is “an American serial killer who confessed to murdering 40 patients during the course of a 16-year career as a nurse.”

In 2006, Cullen was sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences and was not eligible for parole until 2388. Subsequent convictions have extended that period beyond 2400. Earlier release seems unlikely.

In Lindholm’s film, scripted by Krysty Wilson-Cairns adapting Charles Graeber’s book “The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder”, Eddie Redmayne plays Cullen. Jessica Chastain plays Amy, a nurse with a life-threatening cardiac condition who helps detectives by wearing a wire while talking with Cullen after work (which occupies a major slice of the film’s two-hour run time.)

The film’s look and overall feel combine to give it a sense of discomfort to prepare the viewer for its theme. There are movies galore that depict protagonists and situations that are distressing for whatever reason. This one doesn’t shriek its truth from the rooftops although it has a right to do so; Cullen’s score is known to have reached about 400.

Its gentle, matter-of-fact stylistic treatment supports the dramatic power of “The Good Nurse”. 

I have only one regret about it – having one or two more lights shining more often would not have detracted from some of its low-tension but high-dramatic moments.

At Dendy