‘The Nurse’ Review: A Familiar Tale That Is Just Too Real

In September of last year, Netflix released The Good Nurse, a small film dedicated to telling the story of a nurse who was killing people during his rounds. It was a freighting tale that warned us that those who swore to care for others could not be fully trusted. Now, Netflix has released a small miniseries just called The Nurse. The series consists of only four episodes but tells a similar and terrifying story in Europe instead of America. Can these two similar stories live with one another without overlapping?

The Nurse is a Danish TV series developed for Netflix and created by Kasper Barfoed. The series stars Fanny Louise Bernth, Josephine Park, Peter Zandersen, and Amalie Lindergard. The series tells the story of the Christina Aistrup Hansen case. In this case, a Danish nurse was charged with the murder of three patients at the Nykobing Falster hospital. The series follows the story from the point of view of Pernille, a new nurse who just arrived at the hospital, and her suspicions that Christina might be doing things that she shouldn’t do.

Finding out that there are two very similar stories and that they are both true is not easy to swallow. In effect, it adds an entirely new layer of terror to the entire story. The show does a very good job of creating the proper atmosphere for the story to thrive, and it becomes evident that the creators want you to feel the dread of seeing this woman act so normally when she is breaking every single moral law under the sun. The fact that the show is only four episodes also helps to create an anxiety effect, as the climax is soon to come.

So, having a show that goes straight to the point is very welcome. Just this week, Netflix released several shows that just seem to be able to meander around a plot point endlessly. The Nurse doesn’t have time for that; it needs to keep propelling the story forward in every possible way. The dialogue, and the characters, are all there in service of the story, and while some developments can be seen from a mile away, they still manage to feel relevant to the story we are being told. This much makes The Nurse something worth watching.

Respecting the audience’s time already gives the show tons of points. On top of that, the show also makes excellent decisions regarding its narrative. Focusing on another nurse to tell the story is an excellent way of exploring the matter because one of the most frightening details in these cases is that the people who work around the criminal don’t notice it, or they turn a blind eye to it. Focusing on a person who notices it and then acts on it is a good example of what must be done in real life.

The acting might be the best thing about the show. Bernth is an excellent protagonist. She has this innocent quality in how she talks and moves, making it a good contrast against her working environment and the people surrounding her. Pernille might not be the most complex or interesting of characters. Actually, she is quite mundane, but I would say that is what makes her special. Most of the people who will find themselves in situations like this are not extraordinary, but they can be.

Josephine Park also excels at playing this dark figure that uses people’s trust to cause harm. Park’s Christina is certainly the most complex part of the show. For a person to choose to kill others without any rational reason is quite difficult to understand. And so, as the series starts peeling off the layers of Christina’s characters, Park also starts revealing herself as one of the best performers in the Danish scene. She has appeared in other recent Netflix productions, and keeping an eye on her is necessary. She always delivers.

However, this is not to say the series is perfect. There are a couple of choices that definitely feel like they drag the show instead of propelling it. One of those choices comes from the story being based on a real-life event. The show seems to know that people also know that this happened in real life and focuses very much on trying to telegraph certain moments. This makes the show a bit predictable, even for those of us who don’t know all the details of the real-life case.

This also evolves into making the characters feel a bit shallow in retrospect. As we said before, our main character is not the most complex of characters, which is fine, but there could be hints that she is more three-dimensional than most and that she has things going on outside the series’ plot. Most of the supporting cast falls into this category as well. It is even worse for the patients and potential victims, as they are clearly focused on, only to kill them minutes later.

A little more mystery would have made the entire premise more believable. As it is, the show depicts Christina’s crimes as being done in broad daylight for everyone to see, and yet, no one did. A bit more exploration of why people let this go through for so long. It is not easy to balance things out. You want to get the facts out there and not change too much, but you also want to keep things entertaining. It is a challenge, without a doubt.

Ultimately, The Nurse is a short and sweet TV series that can be binge-watched in the afternoon, which you will probably do. The episodes have an average runtime of an hour, and in the blink of an eye, you will find yourself watching the final episode. The acting and atmosphere are great, and even though the series telegraphs some of the big moments a bit too much, the story still works. If you have an afternoon to burn, then this is a great option.

SCORE: 8/10