New Delhi

There is a sense of stillness throughout 'The Good Nurse'. Just like hospital corridors are devoid of any emotions and life, where medical practitioners work tireless for unending, where sickness and disease hang heavy in the air, and where there is a sense of gloom lingering at every corner, 'The Good Nurse' too gives the audience the same feeling. 

Directed by Tobias Lindholm, the film is based on serial killer Charles Cullen who during his stint as a male nurse in over 9 hospitals, killed at least 29 people. Medical experts though feel the number could go up to 400. In Lindholm's film, Cullen is played by Eddie Redmayne who befriends Amy (Jessica Chastain) at his new job in a hospital in New Jersey. Amy is a hardworking single mother, who works late nights and has recently discovered she has a heart condition that can be fatal if not operated on. She doesn't have medical insurance which the hospital will only grant to her once she completes a year of working. Amy and Charlie become friends, often covering each other's shifts and tending to each other's patients. Knowing her heart condition, Charlie also helps Amy at home and almost becomes a proxy parent to her two daughters in a span of a few months. 

When an elderly woman both Amy and Charlie had tended to, dies in mysterious circumstances, the hospital conducts an internal inquiry and eventually informs the state police as a protocol, seven weeks after the incident. Things initially don't appear complicated or suspicious for Amy but when the two investigating officers (Nnamdi Asomugha and Noah Emmerich) make her study the final reports of the deceased she realises that the death has been caused due to double dose of insulin in the body. 

The officers are suspicious of Cullen as he has a history of trespassing but none of his previous employers are ready to speak to them about the man. How Amy helps in cracking the case by risking her job and friendship forms the rest of the story.

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The film, written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns takes its time to establish itself. At little over two hours, the screenplay heavily relies on its actors and their performances. The theatrics are at minimal (Redmayne displays some at the fag end of the film) and yet the film manages to keep you hooked- with its morbid theme, shots of desolated halls of hospitals and tired workers. Set in the early 2000s, the film once again reiterates the gross exploitation that medical workers undergo as they clock in endless hours in the hospital. Most are weary and tired and hospitals put too many conditions in place to ensure that staff stays on- for a better life. 

While the film centers around the eerie Cullen who apparently never offered a coherent motive behind killing so many patients, it also subtly highlights the lack of empathy that the US Medical system has for its patients. The film questions the hospitals for never reporting Cullen to authorities and instead brushing the problem under the carpet by firing him. Each time the deaths increased, discrepancies were seen, and Cullen was fired but no investigation took place lest the hospital's laxity is questioned by the state authorities. And so it is left to a single mom, who are limited means and resources to sustain her and her daughters, to fight the system for the sake of her patients. The investigating officers always reach out to her - every time they reach a dead end to get Cullen to admit. 

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While the film's premise is tense and eerie throughout, the narrative turns empathetic towards Cullen by the climax just to give a perspective on how both he and Amy are just products of a faulty system. 

Redmayne and Chastain- both credible actors- deliver restrained performances in the film. Chastain plays the tired, sick mother who has too much on her plate while Redmayne plays a steely cool killer who chooses the people he wants as friends and whom he wants dead. A scene where the duo is talking at an eatery near the climax stands out for its complexities, and performances from both actors. The scene is the high point of the film and stays with you. 

You may know how 'The Good Nurse' would end as there is a lot of stuff on Cullen on the internet already. But that's where the challenge lies- to make a known story engaging with superlative performances and good writing. And 'The Good Nurse' ticks both of these boxes. The film is streaming on Netflix.