Ryan Murphy's vision for Ratched, the prequel series featuring One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest's infamous nurse, is a tantalizing take on the nefarious angel of Mercy.
Where the original film deals in the drab tones you'd expect in a hospital, the new
series boasts plenty of color in its 1940s picturesque setting - which makes the horrors
of Lucia State Hospital that much more prominent.
It's quickly evident to viewers that the psych ward's cheery nature isn't reflective of the
profoundly flawed psychiatric practices conducted in the '40s, starkly contrasting the show's
sinister vibe.
Masked in the eerie glow of life in a bygone era, Ratched makes fans question everything
they thought they knew about the titular nurse, offering a modern twist on the decades-old
character without trying to rewrite the book and film that came before.
But while Ratched's ward is closed until season 2, there are plenty of like-minded films to
satisfy fans until the followup season drops.
Between plots surrounding serial killers, sham hospitals, genetic splicing, and another
Ryan Murphy project, there's enough material to entertain Ratched fans until the wicked
nurse is back on duty.
Most patients in Ratched's care are generally worse off after they leave than they were
when they entered the hospital - if they leave at all, that is.
The same can be said for the asbestos team tasked with clearing Danvers State Mental
Hospital, a local abandoned psychiatric facility in Massachusetts, in the film Session 9.
Even though the patients are long gone, the echoes of their pain and suffering remain
in the dilapidated halls of the towering structure - and viewers have to figure out whether the
ghostly events of the film actually happened, or if it's all in the protagonist Gordon's
head.
Session 9 is the perfect choice for psychological thriller fans who want a truly mind-bending
experience.
The 2001 film - starring talents like Cursed's Josh Lucas and CSI: Miami's David Caruso - prompted
endless fan theories that attempt to explain the film's events.
Is the ward haunted by the spirit of a patient with dissociative identity disorder?
Was Gordon actually a former patient plagued with repressed memories?
You'll just have to figure out the mystery for yourself.
If you're looking for a wild science fiction ride, look no further than 2009's Splice,
in which every moral taboo in the book is brutally broken.
The film, a fun tribute to Frankenstein, chronicles the unpleasant events that happen when scientists
try to play God.
In Splice, Elsa and Clive are on a mission to mix human and animal DNa to create a hybrid
creature that could transform medicine and science.
Unsurprisingly, their attempts don't exactly go as planned.
Like Nurse Ratched, Elsa and Clive have some pretty dubious morals, which undermine their
misguided quest to save the world.
Even when they question if what they're doing is truly for the greater good, their thirst
for power, credit, and their respective savior complexes rule every decision, and they never
seem to learn.
Similar to Ratched, bits and pieces of humanity surface in our protagonists, but it's never
enough to stop them from plunging forward with their goals.
"Good girl."
"Good, see?"
another movie for the experimental science books is Eli, which takes the cake for plot
twists galore.
The story revolves around a young boy named Eli who's allergic to just about everything
and is forced to live in a bubble as his parents desperately search for a cure.
Cue Doctor Horn and her mansion-turned-hospital.
Oh, and the hospital might be haunted.
Between the possible ghosts, the sketchy doctor, and the mysterious young girl who shows up
to lend a helping hand, Eli is a stumper until the very end.
But for horror and psychological thriller fans who like a neat ending, Sinister 2 director
Ciaran Foy delivers a shocking twist ending that you won't see coming.
For fans whose favorite part of Ratched is the psychological thrills, the slow-burn thriller
Clinical should be next on the binge list.
Much of the 2017 movie centers around protagonist Dr. Jane Mathis and her journey to work through
the trauma of watching a patient's brutal death.
as Dr. Mathis works with her own psychiatrist to escape her guilt and put the traumatizing
event behind her, she begins seeing patients again.
In particular, one patient aggressively seeks her out to help him work through an accident
that deformed his face, and Dr. Mathis has to decide if the prospect of helping the traumatized
man is worth the boundaries he continually tries to cross.
It's unclear whether she's haunted by real ghosts, the memories that plague her, or something
else entirely.
The doctor's ethics fly out the window completely when she steals prescriptions from her psychiatrist
and begins self-medicating - further blurring the line between reality and fiction.
While Dr. Mathis' intentions are pure, it's unclear throughout the film who the real villain
is.
How responsible is the good doctor for the deadly events that keep following her around?
Dr. Mathis and Nurse Ratched would have a lot to talk about.
"Why am I here?"
"We're going to get you the right care, I promise you."
Ratched fans may notice a vaguely familiar face when tuning into The Boys in the Band.
Charlie Carver, whose face is badly burned from the war in Ratched, plays Cowboy in this
movie.
"Ohhhh."
Just as with his work on Ratched, producer Ryan Murphy pulls out of all of the stops
to create a compelling period piece with Boys in the Band. as is usually the case with Murphy's
catalog of work, the film makes a statement on society's continued mistreatment of the
LGBTQ community and the deadly damage it can cause - which is also a prominent theme in
Ratched.
While there aren't any power-hungry nurses in the film, any Ratched fan will appreciate
the brilliant costume and set design that mirrors life in the '60s. at its core, it's
a movie about a group of gay men discovering who they are while navigating the prejudices
of the time.
Fans of the Broadway show won't be disappointed with the casting, either, as the film reunited
the original ensemble.
Included in the star-studded cast are Zachary Quinto, Jim Parsons, and Matt Bomer.
That's a lot of talent for one screen - and it shows.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind chronicles the topsy-turvy relationship between Joel
and Clementine, which plays out of order on-screen.
Memory isn't precisely linear, and the film amps up that notion as viewers experience
the couple's highs and lows.
This romantic drama with a dose of science fiction imagines what would happen if there
was a way to erase someone from your memory entirely.
Would we be better off - or even the same person - without all of the memories and experiences
that make us who we are?
"Clem, I didn't mean it.
alright?"
The shady memory wiping company that claims Jim Carrey's character as a client has a heap
of a-list actors playing employees: From Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo to Kirsten Dunst and
Tom Wilkinson, Lacuna Inc. is the place to be.
Well, unless you value your life's experiences.
The idea of exploring faith in relation to corruption is a theme woven into Ratched as
well The Devil all the Time.
The drama focuses on multiple characters' lives as they fit together to tell a larger
story.
among the impressive cast is Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgard, and Robert Pattinson, just
to name a few.
Despite the heavy focus on faith in both projects, the devil the characters are fighting all
the time is actually inside.
Suffering from the PTSD of seeing a soldier crucified on the battlefield, a man's warped
view of religion goes on to shape his son, arvin, who ends up on a quest for vengeance
against a local preacher.
It's a hell of a story with a ton of twists, and arvin's arc has a lot in common with Ratched's
Edmund Tolleson.There's a lot to unpack when it comes to the parallels between The Devil
all the Time and Ratched, but they're much more fun to uncover after an all-night binge
session.
any Ratched movie marathon simply must include the wretched nurse's original on-screen appearance
in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Released in 1975 and set in the early '60s, the classic film revolves around the petty
crook Randall Patrick McMurphy and his scam to evade incarceration by pleading insanity
and getting locked up in the local psychiatric hospital.
If only he'd known that Nurse Mildred Ratched's ward would be darker than any prison cell.
Like Ratched, the film seeks to shed light on the inhumane psychiatric practices that
were prevalent during the time.
While many of the "treatments" shown in the film and series have since been abolished
in most countries, both succeed in shining a light on the stigma attached to mental health
that's still an issue today.
Jack Nicholson's captivating performance as McMurphy and Louise Fletcher's chilling portrayal
of Nurse Ratched earned them Oscars.
Other top-tier talents like Danny DeVito joined the dynamic duo - along with real patients
from Oregon State Hospital, the psychiatric hospital where filming took place.
This Oscar-winning film has long since cemented itself as a classic.
But the world isn't done with Mildred Ratched... and Mildred Ratched isn't yet done with the
world.
"Let me through.
Let me through!"
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