Netflix have unleashed an explosive final trailer for Ratched.

A prequel to classic movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, the long-awaited thriller series stars Sarah Paulson as the infamous nurse and heartless title character who uses her authority to torture her patients.

Ratched is set in 1947 and follows Mildred as she arrives in Northern Carolina to “seek employment at a leading psychiatric hospital where new and unsettling experiments have begun on the human mind,” where she will present herself as the “perfect image of what a dedicated nurse should be.”

The series, which has received a two-season order at Netflix, also stars 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 and Charlie Carver as Huck.

Deep breath for even more star power: 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. Harriet Sansom Harris, Brandon Flynn and Hunter Parish have also been cast in undisclosed roles.

The final trailer invites viewers to “meet the woman before the monster” and shows Nurse Ratched as she begins her reign of terror. There’s murder, torture and a queer romance, proving why it should’ve just been titled American Horror Story: Ratched.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Paulson said she “identified very deeply” with Mildred’s loneliness and that is what ultimately drives the character, “a pursuit of survival and of finding some sense of home.”

 

She continued: “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. Sort of an animal need that blinds her to the inappropriateness of some her actions.”

Michael Douglas, who served as producer on the original film, will return as executive producer alongside Aleen Keshishian, Margaret Riley and Jacob Epstein of Lighthouse Management & Media. Writer and creator, Evan Romansky, will also co-executive produce with Paulson.

Ratched premieres 18 September on Netflix – watch the final trailer below.