The Good Nurse (2022)

The Good Nurse is the kind of true-crime drama that gets under your skin not with shock tactics, but with a quiet, accumulating dread—and the unnerving sense that the real villain might be a system built to protect itself. Tobias Lindholm directs with a steady, human touch, letting suspense rise from fluorescent hospital corridors, hushed conversations, and the terrible ease with which questions can be delayed. Jessica Chastain brings weary resolve and tenderness to a nurse stretched to the breaking point, while Eddie Redmayne is disarmingly gentle in a way that keeps you leaning forward, unsure what to trust. It’s a sober, haunting film rather than a pulpy thriller, so if you want action and catharsis you may find it restrained—but if you like tense, performance-driven mysteries that linger after the credits, it’s absolutely worth your time.

The Good Nurse is clearly trying to be a grounded true-crime drama about quiet evil and a healthcare system more interested in liability than lives, and that intention is admirable. Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne do strong, restrained work, but the film often feels emotionally muted, with stilted dialogue and a pace that can drift into “waiting for the next scene” rather than building real tension. If you’re hoping for a sharp procedural mystery with clever turns, you may find it predictable and oddly low-voltage for such a horrifying story. It’s best for viewers who prefer slow-burn, performance-driven dramas and can tolerate a subdued, methodical approach over thrills.