_The Good Nurse_ is an unassuming, fictionalized true-crime
story about a ICU nurse who is also a serial killer. Charles
Cullen puts insulin and other drugs into saline bags, killing
patients at random in many hospitals. Mindful of lawsuits,
his employers just keep firing him and letting him shuttle to
sister hospitals, like the way the Catholic Church deals with
pedophile priests. Both are in effect for-profit corporations
now.

Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) seems perfectly normal. He is even
extraordinarily kind to new partner Amy (Jessica Chastain).
When confronted with his deeds, however, he reveals his
psychotic ways, his hands and gangly fingers wrapping around
his face like aliens in _Wars of the World_. That part of him
is shut off from the world, cannot be talked about, touched.
Redmayne gets to show off his fine craft in explosive
interrogation scenes, but his character is totally opaque.

It is a stunning contrast with Chastain, who gives perhaps
the most transparent, truthful performance I have ever seen.
Her Amy has charming bedside manner and her face is so alive.
When she is exhausted or stricken with heart problems you
literally see the life drains out of her. (It is a truly
unglamorous role; she has two daughters, two fading winter
jackets, no health insurance or medical leave, barely any
make-up on, and her fingernails need manicure.) Amy isn't
used to hiding anything, and when she forces herself to be
guarded, duplicitous towards her partner who has literally
saved her life, her sonorous voice dries up, confusion is
written on her darting eyeballs. Chastain, immortalized
in her larger-than-life roles (_Zero Dark Thirty_, _Miss
Sloane_, _Miss Julie_,_Molly_, _The Eyes of Tammy Faye_
....), gives the smallest, most compact performance in a
long time. (Since _Eleanor Rigby_, or perhaps _The Tree
of Life_.) She excels at reaction shots here, instantly
conveying exactly she is feeling or thinking every single
moment on screen. She is simply incapable of striking
a false note. This is a small miracle of a performance
that apprentice actors should visit often. (I've seen the
film twice and counting).

The camera work is unobtrusive. Narrow doorways framed
inside the widescreen composition and slow zooms effectively
channel the tension. The soundtrack is just this the side of
manipulative but it is dialed down in volume. The sunless
hospital and police stations are drained of color. They
look so cold and the characters are so pale; even Chastain's
hair is dyed blond. Amy's home has more earth tones and
sunlight floods through her windows. Beyond that, it is
an actors' film all the way through. All the supporting
roles are perfect, but it is the initial warm rapport
between Cullen and Amy (he is so good with her girls),
broken by her growing realization and necessary betrayal,
and finally redeemed by a touching mutual confession and
reciprocation of truth in the end, that stays with you.
Amy tries to "interrogate" Charlie twice, the first time
with lies getting nowhere, and the second with empathy
and manages to touch his soul, if only just a little bit. It
makes for a very satisfying ending in a grim film.

For fans of Jessica Chastain, this is a quiet gem, another
of her career highs. I have visions of her directing
movies, even running for the President of the United
States, but watching a performance like this makes me
selfishly wish she would just keep on acting forever.