All you need to know about One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest before watching Ratched

It’s the original movie the Netflix series was based on

4 years ago

Netflix’s latest thriller series Ratched premiered on Friday and explores the origin story of Nurse Ratched from the book and film One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

The series has eight episodes and was created by Ryan Murphy, who has already had many shows out on Netflix this year, seriously does this man ever sleep? Nurse Ratched is played by Sarah Paulson and the rest of the cast is equally impressive with Cynthia Nixon and Sharon Stone playing key roles.

Ratched is about exploring what happened to Nurse Ratched and what caused her to be the cruel nurse everyone knows from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. However, if you haven’t seen the film, which is fair enough as it came out in 1975, you probably haven’t got a clue what everyone is on about.

So this is everything you need to know about Nurse Ratched and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest before watching the Netflix series:

What is the plot of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is about Randle McMurphy who is transferred from prison to a mental asylum in order to carry out the rest of his sentence for the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl.

At the asylum he makes friends with the other patients and challenges the natural order of the asylum. He breaks out and takes many of the patients with him on a bus around town, and soon starts to plot his escape all together.

Randle is given electric shock therapy and throws a Christmas party leading to chaos in the asylum. At the end of the film Randle is given a lobotomy and is suffocated in his sleep by another patient, who then escapes from the asylum. So an all round cheery film.

What role does Nurse Ratched play in it?

Nurse Mildred Ratched is the main antagonist in the film and keeps order within the asylum by being cold and creating a joyless existence for the patients. She senses Randle’s threat to her authority and so punishes the other patients by taking away their cigarettes and card playing privileges.

Ratched is the one who sends Randle to the shock therapy room which makes him even more determined to over throw her rule.

Throughout the book and film she is a cold hearted tyrant who is meant to represent the “oppressive mechanisation, dehumanization, and emasculation of modern society.” It is said her background as an army nurse is what causes her cruel personality.

What happens to her in the film?

Near the end of the film Randle throws the Christmas party, in which he brings two women in and one of the patients, Billy, sleeps with one of them. They are discovered by Nurse Ratched the next morning who tries to embarrass Billy by saying she will tell his mother. She then puts Billy in the doctor’s office where he commits suicide.

Seeing this Randle strangles Nurse Ratched but she is saved by another asylum worker. However when she returns with a neck brace and a weak voice she discovers she has lost control over the patients as they no longer fear her.

Ratched season one is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.