‘The Good Nurse’ surprises at Toronto with ‘bone-chilling’ Eddie Redmayne performance
For better or worse, Netflix has made a lot of noise during these early days of awards season with the acclaimed Toronto International Film Festival premiere of “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and the divisive Venice Film Festival debuts for “Bardo,” “Blonde,” and “White Noise.” But it’s one of the streamer’s inconspicuous titles that could ultimately prove undeniable to awards season voters: “The Good Nurse,” which premiered in Toronto on Sunday with strong reviews for its two stars, Oscar winners Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne.
Calling the Netflix release “one of the best films of 2022,” Deadline awards expert and reviewer Pete Hammond wrote that Chastain is “terrific” in “The Good Nurse,” but reserved his biggest huzzahs for Redmayne. “Redmayne, playing the kind of dark character we have never seen him do before, is simply astonishing bringing an eerie vocal tone and specific physicality to the role that will give you chills.”
“The film truly belongs to Redmayne who delivers one of his best performances,” wrote Mina Takla for Awards Watch. “The gifted actor’s posture, eyes, voice, and body language all work together to paint a picture of a deeply troubled, reclusive, and solitary man.”
Added Tomris Laffly in her positive review for Variety, “Redmayne mostly delivers a believably disquieting performance as the reserved murderer, save for an out-of-place outburst where he overemphasizes Charlie’s disturbed psyche. (Let’s say that if Redmayne were to get Oscar nominated with this role, the said showy moment would be his ‘awards clip’ — it’s that scenery-chewing.)”
She added of Chastain that the actress, who won Best Actress this year for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” is “simply magnetic in a low-key role” and that, in her estimation, Chastain’s work in “The Good Nurse” is “more impressive” than what she did onscreen as Tammy Faye Bakker. “Subtly projecting love, dignity, and empathy, Chastain brings Amy [the nurse who helps bring Redmayne’s character to justice] to life as a flesh-and-blood do-gooder, especially shining in the film’s smaller moments as a sharp but vulnerable soul who needs to stop her friend from causing further harm.”
Praise for Chastain and especially Redmayne extended to some of the Twitter responses to “The Good Nurse” as well.
“His unsettling performance is one of his most magnetic & convincing, especially in the third act,” wrote Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture, who added that Redmayne was “bone-chilling” in the part.
“Chastain’s fantastic and Redmayne is even better in a ticking time bomb of a performance,” added another viewer of the film.
Based on a real-life serial killer, a nurse named Charlie Cullen, who was convicted of killing 29 patients with unauthorized insulin injections, “The Good Nurse” comes from “1917” co-writer and Oscar nominee Krysty Wilson-Cairns and is directed by Tobias Lindholm. The film is out in theaters on October 19 before it streams on Netflix beginning on October 26.
Redmayne, who won Best Actor for “The Theory of Everything” and anecdotally seems to relish campaigning for his awards-worthy performances, told Vanity Fair he found playing a serial killer to be an enlivening opportunity. “The truth is I hadn’t been looking for something specific—every script, I just react to what is presented in front of me. But I do like the idea that a lot of the characters I played have empathy as something inherent to them. What I found intriguing about ‘Good Nurse’ is this was someone who seemingly had empathy and then weaponized that empathy in a way that was terrifying,” he said.
Redmayne is known for his exacting research process and that was no different for “The Good Nurse.” He told Vanity Fair that he worked with a dialect coach to nail Cullen’s New Jersey accent and also used Charles Graeber’s book on which the film is based as a key resource.
“One of the things I enjoy about acting is that constant conflict between control and chaos. And that’s what I also think Charlie is,” Redmayne said. “He was incredibly control-freaky and precise, mixed with just erupting out into the world. I find in acting, there’s an element of that.”
See more responses to the film below.
THE GOOD NURSE is better than you think. Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne excel in this gripping and uber-dark medical thriller. Shades of Fincher with its coldly calculated frames and atmosphere #TIFF
— Jordan Ruimy (@mrRuimy) September 12, 2022
THE GOOD NURSE is a slow burn to the point of feeling at times like it's wasting time. But my queen Jessica Chastain gives a phenomenal performance (of course) and Eddie Redmayne is very good. A much-needed cutting critique of the inadequacies of the medical industry. #TIFF22 pic.twitter.com/7IsgmPCAf6
— Nicole Ackman @ #TIFF22 (@nicoleackman16) September 12, 2022
THE GOOD NURSE is damn good (especially Eddie Redmayne) but it doesn’t quite stick the landing in its climactic scene to be Netflix’s Oscar hope. Still, devastating stuff. If you already thought the US healthcare system was fucked… #TIFF22
— Andrew Marszal (@andrewmarszal) September 12, 2022
THE GOOD NURSE: Chilling account of a serial killer working the hospital system with horrible effectiveness. Tobias Lindholm an inspired choice for this kind of procedural material, and a tour-de-force from Chastain and Redmayne, who plays with a quiet ferocity. #TIFF22
— Piers Marchant (@Kafkaesque83) September 12, 2022
THE GOOD NURSE is a gripping, slow-burn true crime thriller that takes its time to unveil its dark underbelly. Jessica Chastain is typically solid, while Eddie Redmayne excels at playing against type. Tighter editing may have helped, but still engrossing all the same. #TIFF22 pic.twitter.com/9rYktpxF9R
— Doug Jamieson @ #TIFF22 (@itsdougjam) September 12, 2022
The Good Nurse is different than I expected, in a good way. Dark, brooding, mature thriller that unfolds with simmering tension. Becomes quite gripping and very disturbing once it hits its stride. Jessica Chastain nicely understated, Eddie Redmayne is chilling to watch. #TIFF22 pic.twitter.com/J4BSvBGcad
— John Corrado @ #TIFF22 (@1Movie5Views) September 12, 2022
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