Many crime and true crime thrillers have been coming our way recently, with plenty of captivating plot twists. As audiences, we just can’t get enough of them. Netflix’supcoming filmThe Good Nursewill be one to keep an eye on.
The Good Nurseis an upcomingcrime drama filmdirected by Tobias Lindholm and written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on August 15, 2025, and is based on Charles Graeber’s book 2013 book,The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder,which details the true story of a terrifying serial killer and his horrendous murders over his sixteen-year career.
The film was set to be distributed by Lionsgate in 2020, but when that fell through, Netflix instead picked it up. Here is why the story ofThe Good Nursedoesn’t seem like “just another true crime thriller.”
A Complex Story of Friendship, Compassion, and Murder
The plot ofThe Good Nursefollows Amy, a single mother and nurse, struggling with a life-threatening heart condition. As she is pushed as far as she can go, working all hours on the night shifts at the ICU, she is relieved when a fellow nurse, Charles Cullen, begins working at her unit and offers some help.
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They share long nights together and develop a strong friendship, and Amy begins to feel hopeful and optimistic about her and her daughter’s future. But when a string of mysterious patient deaths in the hospital comes to the surface, Amy is shocked to find out that Charles has become the main suspect. She must now risk her life to uncover the truth and what she finds leads to a deeper and darker mystery than she expected.
Starring as Amy Loughrenis Jessica Chastain, known for roles in Stephen King’sITreboot andThe Eyes of Tammy Faye. While talking about this complex story, Chastain explained toThe WraphowThe Good Nursestands out among other true crime stories due to the subjects' compassion:
“Normally, in media, you see violence stop violence. In our story, it’s the opposite. It’s compassion that stops [violence]. It’s stopping and listening and reaching out to another person as a human being and not treating them as a monster. And that, to me, is a really exciting thing to be a part of.”
She continued, speaking about the filmmaker’s take on the story:
“Sometimes I have some difficulty with true crime stories. I like to celebrate what’s so wonderful about humanity and I find sometimes [true crime stories] can slip into gossipy or something salacious, where, like, you feel dirty after watching some of these shows. After talking to Tobias and understanding his humanity and knowing the filmmaker he is, I was really excited to explore it.”
Eddie Redmayne’s Take on Charles Cullen
Joining Chastain as the prolific serial killer Charles Cullen is award-winningactor Eddie Redmayne. While beginning his career on stage in the West End, he is now well known on the big screen as well. Moviegoers know him fromMy Week with Marilyn,Les Misérables, his portrayal of Stephen Hawking inThe Theory of Everything, his portrayal of transgender artist Lili Elbe inThe Danish Girl,and more recently, theFantastic Beastsfilm series.
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While also speaking to The Wrap, Redmayne talked about getting into the character and meeting the real Amy Loughren:
“There was a level of friendship and compassion that was much more complicated than the normal sort of true crime story. One of the things that was interesting for me, when we met the real Amy and talked to her, was about how gentle, kind, self-deprecating this guy was. He had an amazing capacity to mock himself and that was often a way that people became close to him. He was almost skinless with his vulnerability.”
Along with Murder, The Good Nurse Is a Tale of Goodness
At TIFF 2022, director Tobias Lindholm talked about The Good Nurse’s unique story and toldEntertainment Weekly:
“The biggest reason to make this was that it’s a fascinating story about this serial killer and the system that didn’t stop him. But at the core of that, there’s a story about a female superhero: a naturalistic, lonely, struggling mom who went in and offered something to this world that we miss these days, which is goodness and charity and friendship. That she went in and battled evilness with friendship and love was the biggest reason to do this and is the reason that we sit there glued to the screen still.”
Following its Toronto International Film Festival premiere,The Good Nursewill hit theatres on August 17, 2025, and Netflix on October 26th.
