Review - The Good Nurse, Netflix

Adapted from a review published in Midwifery Matters, the magazine of the Association of Radical Midwives.

December 2022.

Netflix recently released this film based on Charles Graeber’s 2013 true-crime book of the same name. It follows the relationship between serial killer Charles Cullen (played by Eddie Redmayne) and fellow nurse Amy (played by Jessica Chastain). Although Cullen is American and the real life events took place in the US system of nursing, there are many interesting comparables to trust organisation and NMC regulation in the UK.

Overall the film is atmospheric and engaging, it is a slow emotional burn with enough interest to keep you guessing. There are many things readers of Midwifery Matters will find relatable; the pressure to keep working through illness, the understaffed shifts and the importance of relationships with colleagues. Some aspects of the US system are less relatable; the need to continue detrimental employment in order to gain health insurance as well as electronic pharmaceutical systems.

At heart, this film is about the friendship between two nurses and the impossible situation of beginning to suspect your best friend and having to turn against them. It confronts head on some of the challenges we may face as individuals. However, what makes this film of even greater interest is that it also looks at the failings of Cullen’s many employers (the hospitals) and how despite suspicion falling on Cullen on many occasions, none of the hospitals investigated or acted in any way to prevent his crimes continuing. Although these suspicions resulted in Cullen being fired multiple times throughout his decades long career, innocuous reasons were given and references were provided, which enabled him to gain further employment and ultimately, murder many more victims.

The film questions our moral judgements and our ability to speak up as individuals, it also looks at how institutions and systems can block individuals from successfully raising concerns. It demonstrates in great detail how self-protective many institutions can be; at the detriment of the people in their care.

I highly recommend giving it a watch, and the true-crime book looks at the systemic errors and police investigations in greater detail if that is of interest too.