'Ratched' trailer featuring Sarah Paulson reminds fans of 'AHS: Asylum', another Ryan Murphy creation
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s upcoming Netflix series ‘Ratched’ tells the origin story of asylum nurse Mildred Ratched. In 1947, Mildred, played by Sarah Paulson, arrives in Northern California to seek employment at a leading psychiatric hospital where new and unsettling experiments have begun on the human mind.
On a clandestine mission, Mildred presents herself as the perfect image of what a dedicated nurse should be, but the wheels are always turning, and as she begins to infiltrate the mental health care system and those within it. Mildred’s stylish exterior belies growing darkness that has long been smoldering within, revealing that true monsters are made, not born, as per Netflix.
‘Ratched’ is inspired by the iconic and unforgettable character of Nurse Ratched in Ken Kesey’s famous story, ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest’.
The trailer for ‘Ratched’ dropped on Tuesday, August 4, and it looks absolutely stunning. A bright color palette, high contrast, and a sugary-sweet visual aesthetic of the series complement the sinister and dark overtones of the story and the morbidity of the premise. And Paulson, of course, shines as a visibly cold nurse with deep dark secrets.
But for many on YouTube and Twitter, ‘Ratched’ brought back memories of something much older but weirdly related. “This is like Lana Winters from AHS Asylum but reverse, instead of them f***ing her up, it's her f***ing them up,” wrote a Twitter user. A person on YouTube commented on the trailer, “This is like an alternative world of AHS Asylum.” Yet another YouTuber commented, “This looks like a new season of AHS.”
This is like Lana Winters from AHS Asylum but reverse, instead of them f*cking her up, it's her f*cking them up #Ratched pic.twitter.com/07i0HD0qpn
— Navi (@NaviKRStan) August 4, 2020
‘American Horror Story: Asylum’ was the second season of the FX horror anthology television series ‘American Horror Story’, which originally aired from October 17, 2012, to January 23, 2013. It was also created by none other than ‘Ratched’ creator Murphy along with frequent collaborator Brad Falchuk. Of course, the similarities did not end at the title of the show and its creator.
There is also a cast member common to both: Sarah Paulson. In the season that centered around the fictional mental institution, Briarcliff Manor, following the stories of the staff and inmates, Paulson played Lana Winters, a journalist who tries to investigate what’s going on inside the facility, but gets committed to the institute by the tyrannical Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), because of her homosexuality.
The irony was visible to many fans of ‘AHS’ who pointed out that Paulson went from inmate to nurse in ‘Ratched'. A YouTube user commented, “It's like ‘Asylum’ and ‘Freak Show’ had a baby. This is gonna be so good,” referring to season 4 of ‘American Horror Story’ that focused on a circus and freak show in the ‘50s.
Others also pointed out certain visual similarities between ‘Ratched’ and ‘Asylum’.
Funnily enough, on August 4, during a Netflix panel for ‘Ratched’, Paulson announced that she will be involved in Ryan Murphy’s new spinoff series ‘American Horror Stories’, but not necessarily on-screen. “What can I say?” she said. “I’ll be directing something.”
According to Deadline, ‘American Horror Stories’ has been described by sources close to the project as a companion anthology series to the FX anthology series where each episode is a stand-alone ghost story.
Aside from Paulson as the titular lead, ‘Ratched’ features Cynthia Nixon as Gwendolyn Briggs, Judy Davis as Nurse Betsy Bucket, Sharon Stone as Lenore Osgood, Jon Jon Briones as Dr. Richard Hanover, Finn Wittrock as Edmund Tolleson, Charlie Carver as Huck, Alice Englert as Dolly, Amanda Plummer as Louise, Corey Stoll as Charles Wainwright, Sophie Okonedo as Charlotte and Vincent D’Onofrio as Gov. George Wilburn. The series is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Sarah Paulson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Aleen Keshishian, Jacob Epstein, Jennifer Salt, Margaret Riley, Michael Douglas, Robert Mitas and Tim Minear.
'Ratched' will premiere on September 18, 2020, only on Netflix.