Shocking true story behind new Netflix movie The Good Nurse

A chilling new film has arrived on Netflix this week and it's inspired by an even darker true story.

The Good Nurse, starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne, tells the story of the real-life crimes that were committed by Charles Cullen across New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the course of 16 years.

It was nurse Amy Loughren (Chastain), who was a key player in helping to put a stop to her colleague's killing spree and get him behind bars once and for all. This is definitely one to add to your Watch List.

The film, inspired by Charles Graeber's 2014 book The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder, also stars Nnamdi Asomugha and Noah Emmerich.

It follows Amy, a compassionate nurse and single mother struggling with a life-threatening heart condition, already stretched to her physical and emotional limits by the demanding night shifts at the ICU.

Amy finds help in Charlie (Redmayne), another thoughtful, empathetic nurse who has just started in her unit, and it isn't long before the two form a strong friendship.

But when a series of mysterious patient deaths set off an investigation, detectives start looking at Charlie as the prime suspect.

Realising what her friend could truly be capable of, Amy has no choice but to risk her life and the safety of her children to uncover the truth.

Netflix

Before she was being played by an Academy Award winning actor, the real Amy Loughren served at a nurse in the ICU of Somerset Hospital, New Jersey.

In 2003, her world got turned upside down when she was approached by two detectives, questioning her about her colleague Charles Cullen.

Charles was suspected of killing patients by injecting lethal doses of insulin and heart medications into their IV bags.

Before he got a job at Somerset, Charles had worked at nine hospitals across New Jersey and Pennsylvania - each new facility hiring him despite him being fired or forced out of the previous.

Amy risked her life by helping police with their investigation and going undercover to expose Charles, wearing a wire to record their conversations and eventually talking him into confessing.

Netflix

Charles was arrested in December 2003 on suspicion of the murder of several patients.

He eventually pleaded guilty to murdering 29 patients and attempting to kill six others.

Now, Charles is serving a life sentence at New Jersey State Prison.

In interviews since his arrest, it became clear that Charles had killed many more victims, who he couldn't remember by name. It's been estimated that Charles may have been responsible for 400 deaths, which would make him one of the most notorious serial killers in history.

The Good Nurse is now on Netflix.