Netflix has released the first trailer for its upcoming horror series Ratched and it looks incredible. Based on Miloš Forman’s Oscar-winning 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the show stars Sarah Paulson as Nurse Mildred Ratched, who seems like the perfect nurse on the outside but is actually a dark and sinister woman capable of some unspeakable horrors.
- Ryan Murphy is behind Netflix’s Ratched. He and Paulson are old friends who’ve worked together before on American Horror Story and they’re back to create more magic together. Murphy was fascinated with the character of Mildred, telling Vanity Fair, “I feel like Nurse Ratched is sort of a shorthand for barbarism. She became almost like a catchphrase for any sort of institutional abuse of power. What was interesting was trying to create an emotional character from a reputation that’s very cold…trying to figure out every little detail about her childhood, her relationships, her sexuality. Because when people think of Ratched, they think of her as shutoff and cruel and uncaring.”
- Paulson found something relatable in Ratched. While on the surface, Ratched seems like an absolute monster, Paulson took on the role because she found the humanity beneath and “identified very deeply with her loneliness.” She explained, “I think ultimately at the end of the day, that is sort of what drives Mildred. A pursuit of survival and of finding some sense of home. Even though the methods that she chooses to achieve that internal security are somewhat questionable, I would argue that she’s doing them with a potentially selfish need, but a survival need nevertheless.”
- Netflix has pulled in some incredible stars for Ratched. In addition to Paulson (who is an absolute delight in every way), Ratched also features some other big Hollywood names including Sharon Stone, Cynthia Nixon, Judy Davis, Charlie Carver, Jon Jon Briones, and Finn Wittrock.
- Sadly, there’s still a bit of a wait. Netflix is holding out on us a bit here, and sadly, Ratched won’t premiere on the streaming service until September 18. Being patient is going to be so hard!
