Susan Granger’s review of “The Good Nurse” (Netflix)
It made no sense to have Netflix release “The Good Nurse” in late October, followed by a far-more detailed account of the same serial killer in its own “Capturing the Killer Nurse” in early November.
Based on Charles Graeber’s book “The Good Nurse: A True Story of Madness, Medicine, and Murder,” both follow the investigation that led to Charles Cullen’s arrest in 2003.
“The Good Nurse” is a true-crime drama, pivoting around Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain), a single mother and conscientious, caring nurse at Parkfield Memorial Hospital in New Jersey. When she’s partnered with a recently hired nurse, Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne), they soon become friends.
Amy suffers from cardiomyopathy, a life-threatening heart condition, but she’s afraid to tell anyone because her hospital health insurance has not kicked in yet. But while working with Charlie in the busy ICU, she suffers an ‘event,’ which Charlie agrees not to reveal to anyone.
Kind, supportive Charlie helps Amy with her pain, covers for her at work and soon becomes a pal to her daughters. She trusts him implicitly until, suddenly, patients under their care start mysteriously dying.
Charlie soon becomes the prime suspect in a police investigation, and courageous Amy is called upon to help unearth information about his previous employment.
Unfortunately, screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns and director Tobias Lindholm never delve deeper into the story. There’s no twist, no tension. He’s the killer; his capture and incarceration seems inevitable.
Unlike “The Good Nurse,” however, the real story, detailed in “Capturing the Killer Nurse,” offers far more insight into all the events that led up to Cullen’s arrest after killing 29 patients – with a possible total of 400. His methodology involved tampering with IV bags, filling them with lethal doses of digoxin, insulin and epinephrine.
What’s almost as horrifying is how the various hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania blamed one another without taking responsibility. As Cullen said, “They didn’t stop me.”
FYI: Amy Loughren now lives in DeLand, Florida, where she’s become a Reiki Master and hypnotherapist.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Good Nurse” is a frustrating 5, particularly when compared with its documentary follow-up a couple of weeks later – both streaming on Netflix.
