This Netflix thriller series prequel to Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest begins in 1947 and follows Nurse Mildred Ratched (Sarah Paulson) as she turns from nurse to full-fledged monster tracking her murderous progression through the mental health care system.
Another Ryan Murphy pean to an earlier era, again the set design and production values are first rate but initial impressions were that it was less One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and more a spin on Murphy’s own American Horror Story. Indeed Paulson and Finn Wittrock had both appeared in that show.
Cast: Sarah Paulson as Nurse Mildred Ratched; Corey Stoll as Charles Wainwright; Finn Wittrock as Edmund Tolleson; Sharon Stone as Lenore Osgood; Amanda Plummer as Louise; Jon Jon Briones as Dr. Richard Hanover; Cynthia Nixon as Gwendolyn Briggs; Judy Davis as Nurse Betsy Bucket; Charlie Carver as Huck
Creator: Evan Romansky / Executive Producers: Ryan Murphy, Michael Douglas, Aleen Keshishian, Margaret Riley, Jacob Epstein / Producers: Sarah Paulson, Paul Zaentz / Co-Executive Producer: Evan Romansky
USA / Netflix – Fox 21 Television Studios / 8×50 minute episodes / Premiered 18 September 2020