Why Ratched is one of the best things to happen to Netflix in a while: REVIEW
Ratched took me less than 24 hours to get through and despite being a praiseworthy production from acting to lighting to costume, its brilliance goes beyond visuals.
I think we can all agree that Sarah Paulson is probably one the most untouchable actors on the market right now. With 7 Emmy nominations under her belt, her career has been outstanding, giving fine performances in all eight seasons of American Horror Story and most recently as Marcia Clark in American Crime Story . The creators of the show including writer Ryan Murphy have kept her on as a vengeful and headstrong nurse in the new limited series Ratched on Netflix. Based on the character of Mildred Ratched in One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest no one saw such a fine performance from Sarah Paulson coming and there’s even more to come from her next year, in Season 2 of Ratched.
Along with Sarah Paulson, the likes of Finn Wittrock, Sharon Stone, Brandon Flynn and Sophie Okonedo are also part of this twisted and well executed tale. The performances in this are flawless from all parties and though most of the talent in Ratched aren’t well known, it's certain they will be now.
Like in every season of American Horror Story, Ratched begins with a murder; four of them to be exact, all of which are priests. The culprit, Finn Wittrock’s character, Edmund Tolleson is declared insane and sent to Lucia State Hospital, where our leading lady Mildred Ratched lies and deceives her way into getting a job there, to be closer to her brother, who is now a psychotic murderer. Whilst the owner of the hospital, Dr. Hanover (Jon Jon Briones) seems to buy Mildred’s persona and actually be impressed with her past work, the head nurse of the hospital Betsy Bucket (Judy Davis) is rather displeased with Mildred’s presence. The two feud quite often throughout the series and my favourite scene between the two is probably them arguing over a peach. The dialogue is crisp in this moment and represents the entirety of the two women’s distaste for one another in a single scene.
At the forefront of the entire hospital, are its patients who come from an array of backgrounds and grievances. Probably the most memorable is multiple personality disorder patient, Charlotte Wells (Sophie Okonedo), who graces the series in Episode 5 with an unforgettable character. Her performance is marvellous and quite hilarious as each of the personalities introduced to us are bolder than the next.
In a bid to save the hospital from shutting down, Dr Hanover goes to a Governor (Vincent D’Onofrio) for funding. The Governor supports the funding in hope that his bid to execute Edmund Tolleson for his crimes will boost his election as Governor. The Governor’s right hand (wo) man, Gwendolyn Briggs spends quite some time at the hospital and becomes infatuated with Nurse Ratched. Meanwhile, a wealthy and vengeful woman, Lenore Osgood (Sharon Stone) wants Dr Hanover’s head on a plate, in revenge for a treatment gone wrong on her psychotic son, Henry (Brandon Flynn).
Flynn’s performance in Ratched is exemplary and out of everyone in the series, he certainly surprised me in his take on a bratty, cold hearted son that was world’s away from his character Justin in 13 Reasons Why.
Writer Ryan Murphy and actors Sarah Paulson and Finn Wittrock aren’t the only elements kept on in Ratched from the highly successful tv series American Horror Story. Costume designers Lou Eyrich and Rebecca Guzzi and production designer Judy Becky have all been part of AHS for many years, which is prevalent in their AMAZING work for Ratched. From the second the series begins, you are graced with stunning visuals of beautiful set design and tantalizing costumes. Mildred Ratched always looks good in this series and each one of her costumes is picturesque.
The series had five directors who shared their talent amongst eight episodes. Jennifer Lynch also worked on AHS as a director, whilst Jennifer Yu is best known for her direction in Fosse/Vernon and 13 Reasons Why. It's clear to see that all the writers, directors and production crew are masters at their craft, have years worth of experience in creating exciting tv and can execute their visions in a distinct way for the screen. Visually, the entire series is marvellous and it's clear the art department on Ratched have a strong understanding of 50s interior and costumes, but are able to put a modern, never seen before seen twist on it. Colours, colours, colours; each frame of Ratched is rich and vivid with them and the colour combinations created in this series will send chills of excitement down your spine.
Perfect cast, extraordinary set design, phenomenal directing and flawless writing. Is Ratched too good to be true? Not at all, in fact it’s the product of skilled and creatively ambitious minds coming together.
Perhaps the most satisfying thing that nips everything in the bud for Ratched is the strong female leads who come together and by the end, have ditched all their male counterparts. Despite most of the series being built on the service of men, this is certainly gone by the end. It's not something you see often on screen and certainly shows that we are changing and adapting to the environment around us whilst making content influenced by these changes. The relationship between Mildred and Gwen is also to be noted, as same sex relationships between women are still finding their feet on screen. Mildred, Gwen and Betsy didn’t discard their male counterparts purposefully; they were just orchestrated so that the three women had no use for them.
Dr Hanover was manic and heartless, Edmund was a murderer and the Governor was a misogynistic pig. What use would these three women have for such men? This is certainly an uncommon ending seen on screen, as for decades, callous and self centred men have still been supported by women.
Maybe things are changing and female characters are releasing the true worth of their male counterparts and themselves. Maybe the strength, intelligence and independence women used to see in men, they are now seeing in themselves…
Mildred Ratched certainly proves this and Ratched is now available to watch on Netflix.
