All the key details Netflix missed out about Charles Cullen in The Good Nurse

Content warning: Mention of suicide

The Good Nurse is Netflix’s latest true crime movie and it tells the story of serial killer Charles Cullen, who admitted to killing 29 of his patients, and how his friend aided the police is putting Cullen behind bars. The movie stars Eddie Redmayne as Charles Cullen and Jessica Chastain as Amy Loughren, the “good nurse” who helped the police in their investigation of the serial killer. Majority of the movie is told from the perspective of Amy Loughren and as such there are a lot of details and moments that are missing from the Netflix movie. Here are all the parts that have been missed out of The Good Nurse:

Charles Cullen’s early life was not mentioned in the movie

Charles was the youngest of eight children and for the most part, had a pretty unhappy childhood. Charles described his childhood as “miserable” and at nine years old, Charles attempted to take his own life and he claims that he attempted it at last 20 times.

When Charles was 17, his mother died and he dropped out of high school and joined the US Navy. During his time in the US Navy, Charles attempted to take his life again on several occasions and he was later medically discharged. After leaving the Navy, Cullen began studying nursing and graduated in 1986.

Charles Cullen was married and had two children

Although Cullen’s children are often spoken about in the film, they are never shown. In real life, Charles Cullen had two children with his now ex-wife Adrienne Taub. Following Charles and Adrienne’s divorce in 1994, Adrienne was granted physical custody of their children.

Following his arrest, Adrienne Taub only ever told the press to leave her family and children alonge. It is not known where Cullen’s children and ex-wife are now and it is assumed they have legally changed their names.

Charles Cullen is thought to have killed even more people than shown in the movie

The Good Nurse only shows Cullen’s murders at the hospital in New Jersey but he committed many more crimes than that. Cullen confessed to killing around 40 people and only 29 have ever been confirmed. However, some experts believe the number of people Cullen murdered could be closed to 400. The first murders Cullen committed were at the Saint Barnabas Medical Centre, where he worked in the burn unit.

Why did Charles Cullen murder all those people?

Another detail missed out in The Good Nurse is why Cullen committed his crimes. This is because the serial killer never gave an explanation for his crimes. However in 2013, he told CBS News: “I thought that people aren’t suffering anymore, so in a sense, I thought I was helping.”

How was Charles Cullen arrested?

In the film, Cullen is arrested after he leaves the restaurant where he was meeting Amy Loughren. In real life, Charles Cullen was arrested in a restaurant and charged with one murder and one case of attempted murder. Cullen later confessed to two charges and then admitted he had murdered around 40 people in his career. To this day, only 29 of Cullen’s victims have been confirmed.

The Good Nurse is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Who is Charles Cullen and where is he now? The serial killer from The Good Nurse on Netflix

• ‘Leave my family out of it’: What Charles Cullen’s wife said about him, and where she is now

• The Good Nurse Amy Loughren says she missed her friendship with serial killer Charles Cullen

Featured image credit via Netflix.