The Good Nurse

Sympathy isn’t an issue with The Good Nurse, which arrives at a time when our beleaguered healthcare workers deserve our appreciation more than ever.

That’s certainly the case with Amy (Jessica Chastain), a single mother who hasn’t accumulated enough time working the overnight shift at an intensive-care unit to qualify for health insurance, so she can take the necessary time off to raise her two daughters and deal with her heart condition.

Strong performances add depth to this slick medical thriller from Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (A War), in which contrivances undermine the ethical complexities and topical urgency of the true-life subject matter.

Amy’s new co-worker, Charlie (Eddie Redmayne), becomes an instant soft-spoken confidant. Despite some personal and professional turmoil in his past, he commits to helping Amy not only on the job, but also as a platonic friend while her health deteriorates.

“I’m gonna help you get through this,” he reassures her. However, we sense Charlie is hiding secrets well before Amy, mostly because she needs the emotional support, free childcare, and maneuvering to get her on the transplant list.

When a patient dies because of a mysterious insulin overdose, and then another, the hospital launches an internal investigation — merely to cover its own bases — followed by police involvement. When evidence suggests Charlie’s involvement in the deaths, Amy’s loyalties are torn.

Chastain gives the film an emotional anchor through a resilient woman whose actions blur the line between what’s right and what’s lawful. Her scenes with Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) convey an understated intensity in which body language and facial expressions speak as loudly as dialogue.

The film reveals some unsettling truths through an exaggerated scenario, as the hospital coverup demonstrates a cold ambivalence not only toward patients but to its own rank-and-file employees.

The embellished screenplay by Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917), based on a true-crime novel by Charles Graeber, offers a sharply observed critique of institutional corruption and greed through a character with relatable socioeconomic struggles rather than resorting to heavy-handed preaching.

Yet as it juggles parallel storylines, the lurid twists begin to strain credibility. Lacking consistent suspense beneath the surface melodrama, The Good Nurse transitions into a standard-issue procedural more befitting a small-screen medical drama.

Rated R, 121 minutes.