TAKING LIVES (THE GOOD NURSE)

© Netflix 

There's something heartening about a solidly made, edge of your seat thriller.

It used to be you could rely on the studios to produce them along with their action movies, their sci-fi adventures and comedies.

But nowadays if you want a sure footed, superbly acted drama you have turn to streaming services to find them.

And so it is with Danish director Tobias Lindholm's 'The Good Nurse' which after a brief cinema release has quickly wound up on Netflix.

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Lindholm is probably best known as the screenwriter behind Thomas Vinterberg's excellent, challenging movies 'Jagten (The Hunt') and 'Druk (Another Round').

However he also directed the superb 2012 modern day pirates thriller 'Kapringen (A Hijacking)' and the 2015 Best Foreign Language film nominee 'Krigen (A War)'.

'The Good Nurse' is his fourth feature as a director and his first in the English language.

Adapted for the big screen by Scottish screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns, it is based on the American journalist Charles Graeber's 2013 true crime book 'The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness and Murder' about the serial killer Charles Cullen who is serving time in New Jersey State Prison in Trenton for up to 22 murders.

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At the start of Lindholm's film, we see Eddie Redmayne's Charlie Cullen in scrubs, framed in a doorway, as he raises the alarm while a patient's feet start to twitch.

As the rest of the medical staff swing into action to resuscitate the patient, Jody Lee Lipes' cinematography slowly draws the viewer into a mid shot of Cullen as he stares at their efforts to save the person while their heart monitor beeps rapidly.

Eventually the monitor goes into a high pitched monotone while the patient is declared dead.

The film jumps forward to Parkland Hospital in New Jersey where Jessica Chastain's nurse Amy Loughren is tending to an elderly couple.

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Amy has the perfect bedside manner, gently ribbing Judith Delgado's patient Ana Martinez and Jesus-Papoleto Melendez's Sam about being lovebirds on discovering they had only married three years ago.

Even though it is against hospital rules for relatives to stay overnight, she finds a chair Sam can sleep in while Ana, who has had an allergic reaction to accidentally taking his penicillin, slowly recuperates.

Myra Lucretia Taylor's head nurse Vivian Neal summons Amy to get office and mildly reprimands her for accommodating Sam.

She informs her that she has managed to secure an experienced nurse with excellent references who is going to join the team.

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That nurse is Redmayne's softly spoken Charlie Cullen and on his first day, Amy shows him the ropes.

They bond over some dodgy egg salad with soggy croutons made by her eldest daughter.

On his first night, Amy introduces Charlie to the Martinezes who he is in charge of for the night.

During their break, Charlie tells Amy he secured work in Parkland to be as close as possible to his two daughters but they are six hours away and his ex-partner is making his visits as difficult as possible.

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The following day as they arrive for their shift, Vivian informs Amy that Ana Martinez just passed away unexpectedly and they dress her as Sam rushes to get to the hospital.

Seven weeks later, Nnamadi Asomugha's Detective Danny Baldwin and Noah Emmerich's Detective Tim Braun are summoned to Parkland where they are told there has been an unusual death by Kim Dickens' former nurse and risk manager Linda Garran, David Lavine's lawyer Duncan Beattie and Bruce MacVittie's city councillor Malcolm Burrel.

The detectives are shocked to be told Ana Martinez died seven weeks ago and that the hospital chose to report it only after completing its own investigation which suggested there was nothing to see.

To make matters worse, her body was released to her family for cremation, preventing an autopsy.

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Asking for a copy of the report from the hospital's investigation, they get the sense that the authorities are dragging their heels.

When the detectives also start to dig into the background of staff, it throws up alarming question marks around Charlie and his departure from several hospitals who are loathe to explain why he left.

But with no body for an autopsy, it is hard to justify a murder investigation.

At Parkland, Charlie and Amy's friendship grows deeper as he realises she is ill, suffering from cardiomyopathy and sometimes finds the physical demands of nursing just too much - struggling for breath.

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Told by a consultant she needs a heart transplant, Amy cannot afford health insurance and won't be able to until she completes one year in her job.

He promises to help her get through the remaining four months, even helping her out with the raising of her kids, Devyn McDowell's Maya and Alix West Lefler's Alex who she barely gets time with because of her shift patterns.

With Detectives Baldwin and Braun insisting on interviewing staff, Amy is surprised when she is questioned to see a report that reveals Ana Martinez's insulin levels were high.

When another patient, Anjelica Bosboom's Kelly Anderson unexpectedly dies and the detectives approach Amy about their concerns about Charlie and the hospital authorities' reluctance to probe the Martinez death, Amy finds herself in a whistleblower situation as she realises there are uncomfortable questions about her friend.

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True crime movies and dramas demand sensitivity in how they treat their stories and fortunately Lindholm and Wilson-Cairns are up to the task.

The director and his screenwriter carefully construct a taut 'Michael Clayton' style thriller but let the facts speak for themselves 

Consequently, 'The Good Nurse' doesn't sensationalise the taking of lives by Cullen but is just as interested in the cover-ups.

Wilson-Cairns' screenplay is very well crafted, providing a steady foundation upon which the entire movie is built.

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The dialogue is unfussy and to the point and Lindholm is able to draw strong performances from his cast and build eye catching visuals while maintaining the right narrative pace.

Chastain and Redmayne are just superb in the lead roles.

As Amy, the 2022 Best Actress Oscar winner exudes kindness, professionalism and integrity while conveying her struggle with ill health and financial woes.

Redmayne shrewdly underplays Cullen's murderous intent, going about his business and showing compassion to Ava.

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Asomugha, Emmerich and Dickens are the other standout performers.

As Detectives Baldwin and Braun, Asomugha and Emmerich capture their doggedness in the pursuit of the truth but neither actor hits a false beat in their depiction of the investigators.

Dickens is wonderfully shifty as a hospital administrator who, as a former nurse, really ought to know better and be asking more questions but doesn't seem to want to.

'The Good Nurse' is a terrific example of how good writing yields good performances from a good cast and crew.

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Under Lindholm's leadership, it is a shocking tale well told that never feels exploitative.

Jody Lee Lipes' camera is allow to pry on the wards as Amy tries to decipher what is going on with Charlie while the hospital setting only adds to the level of discomfort.

The film is a wonderful throwback to the sort of sophisticated dramas the studios used to make for adults and which used to get decent theatrical releases.

Those days have long since gone but here's hoping that streaming giants continue to provide a home for this kind of thriller.

'The Good Nurse' is simply a great, grown up, must watch movie.

('The Good Nurse' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on October 19, 2022 and was made available for streaming on Netflix on October 26, 2022)