The making of a famous villain: Ratched review

Ratchet is an American psychological and suspenseful thriller drama based in the 1940’s. It is developed my Rayan Murphy and stars Sarah Paulson in the main role along with Fin Whittrock and Cynthia Nixon. Season one of the series was released in November 2020, with 8 episodes of around 50 mins each. It is also been said to be scheduled for 4 seasons in the future.

Ratched if based off the character of the famous, heartless and cold nurse Ratched from the book turned movie, One Flew over the Cookoo’s nest. The series is said to be an unofficial prequel to the book, leading up to the events that take place in the it.

It starts off with Mildred Ratched( Sarah Paulson) arriving in California to get employed as a nurse for a leading psychiatry hospital, Lucia State Hospital. She presents herself as a polished and experienced nurse who had once served as an army nurse to get hired there. This is while the hospital is specially preparing itself to house a mass murderer, who killed 4 priests, Edmund Tolleson. The director of the hospital, Dr. Hannover, is pressured to punish Tolleson rather than re-habilitated him by the governor to gain funding for the hospital.

Ratched follows the narrative of ‘ people are made monsters and are not born cruel’. It finds a balance between the wrathfully nurse Ratched and the true Mildred Ratched. It doesn’t make the viewers accept what Ratched does but makes them understand why she did what she did. The series is able to explore various plot points ranging from mental health issues and the oppressive way of life of the LGBT+ community in the era to drug abuse and politics.

It features strong female leads and gets through the message of girl power. The costume and hair for each character are beautifully put in place to depict their personality. The set design has a lot of intricate details to it and is well thought out. The beautiful music and out standing acting by every cast member is a cherry on top. Certain people have found the plot confusing due to the twists and turns in the story but I personally felt that it keeps the thrill going.

It is a must watch for fans of series like The haunting of Bly Manor, The Haunting of Hill house and The American Horror story. It features drama, action, romance and ,depending on your definition of thriller, has thriller and/or horror undertones. I definitely recommend this tittle to everyone apart from people disturbed by its themes and contents because it does contain some violence.

by: Siya Tanwar, author for The Lucid Lama