# Ratched (2020)

> In 1947 a stylish, capable nurse arrives at a psychiatric hospital and her polished surface hides a growing darkness.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/69634

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 56 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama, thriller, mystery
- Created by: Evan Romansky
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Sarah Paulson, Finn Wittrock, Jon Jon Briones, Judy Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Greg Winter, Vincent D'Onofrio, Amanda Plummer
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7423538/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: sinister, stylish, suspenseful, dark, unsettling

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively, praising its stylish production and Sarah Paulson's performance while finding its horror-tinged take on the origin of a notorious nurse uneven.

## Synopsis

Ratched (2020) is an American limited series created by Evan Romansky for Netflix, a dark period drama reimagining the origin of the nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Sarah Paulson plays Mildred Ratched, a poised and capable nurse who takes a job at a leading psychiatric hospital in 1947 California, where her outward composure hides a growing appetite for control. Finn Wittrock plays Edmund Tolleson, a volatile drifter whose path tangles with hers, while Judy Davis and Vincent D'Onofrio add layers of institutional intrigue and menace. The engine of the show is Ratched's quiet ambition set against a system of coercive treatment, cover-ups and power plays, with each of its eight hour-long episodes peeling back another layer of the hospital's secrets. Shot in saturated, stylized period color, the series balances glossy elegance with unsettling brutality, and its mood is cool, sinister and suspenseful. Fans of American Horror Story and the institutional horror of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest will find resonance in its gothic tone and its portrait of psychiatric abuse. Its single season ends on an open note, leaving the story unfinished after a cancellation.

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