The Nurse

"The Nurse" is a modest but tense, little thriller — no frills or big name actors, but an eerie build up to twisted showdown between two women, one a psychologist (Brigid Brannagh) with some issues of her own, and the other a home-care nurse (Willa Ford) with a dark agenda.

After an opening tease — a chase and a seemingly random murder, the story begins when Cara (Brigid Brannagh) and her husband (Jack Noseworthy), move into their new home. Then, when Cara's estranged father (John Heard), has a stroke, Cara takes him in as well along with an in-home nurse, Lynette (Willa Ford). Right off the bat we know something's out of whack (I mean, a smoking hot nurse moves in to take care of everything…what could go wrong?) So, while Cara gets to work in her home office doing marriage counseling, Lynette gets to work on Cara's father…or does she? No spoilers, but as I'm sure you can figure out, Lynette's not really who she says she is, and as Cara begins to uncover the truth, Lynette's behavior gets stranger and more deranged. Eventually, the truth hits the fan and Cara has to fight back.

Beyond the fun of watching Willa Ford's nurse character twist everyone around her finger before coming unhinged, the story is also a crafty look at what makes people, well…come unhinged. Some of the same issues that made one woman become a shrink, made the other woman become a psycho. Guess we all could lose it, with a little push. Fun.

Where to start...

For a movie made in 2014, they did an incredible job at making it look 30 years old and not in a good way.

Cinematography is horrendous. Nearly every shot is a static that pans instead of cutting to a closer angle, making nearly every shot a wide shot, which is also usually too high and looking down on the characters for no reason. There is no focus on the character or situation, always wide angle.

In the first five minutes there are a series of shots around their new house that pan around like its a house hunting TV show, not a thriller.

Lighting is unnatural and also unbelievable, what hospital has ambient lighting??

Music is often too loud and does not fit with the scene.

Sound mixing is also very unnatural, dialogue is too harsh and sticks out like a sore thumb.

Acting, not good. But neither is the writing, so not entirely the actors fault.

Glad I could just change channel to get this off my TV.

Awful the majority of the time. This isn't even at Lifetime sappy level. Plus the mistakes, obvious ones I might add, are humorous. Watch John Heard's character Frank when he first meets his nurse. He's supposed to have had a right-sided stroke and needs rehab and yet he reaches for his walking cane with his...wait for it...right hand. Then he's in the pool later with his Physical Therapist and when he goes to get out of the pool he can use his right leg and arm just hunky dory. No problemo. Geesh. I watched this flick till the end just to see how much Cara was gonna babble her psychomumbojumbo BS whilst mysteriously speaking as just a head with pearls on. I mean come on. Composition of a shot anyone? I have already come to the distinct conclusion to quit watching anything that is rated 5stars or higher on IMDB. Seriously, does writing great (fake) reviews pay that well? Seems very few people have any integrity about themselves anymore. Rest assured I ain't gettin' paid to write reviews. I owe it to myself to be honest so others can make an honest call whether they want to watch an outright awful movie. This one is just that...an outright awful waste of time.