SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2022 Honors Ron Howard, Goes Wild for Eddie Redmayne in ‘The Good Nurse’

Awards Daily’s Megan McLachlan is back in Savannah for the 2022 SCAD Savannah Film Festival.

After being at the humongous, sprawling Toronto International Film Festival back in September, I was excited to be back at the 2022 SCAD Savannah Film Festival. There’s nothing like this one! Eddie Redmayne agrees. In his acceptance speech for SCAD’s Virtuoso Award, Redmayne commented on how integrated the Savannah community is with the college and how passionate everyone is for this fest.

There’s always something in the air during this week, as I was only here a little over an hour when I got thrown into an extraordinary encounter. After running into Variety’s Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis, who was doing the Q&A with Ron Howard following the screening of Thirteen Lives, he pulled me into the green room where I got to hang out with him and Howard’s family ahead of the Lifetime Achievement Presentation and Q&A—and then got to join the family in the first row for the presentation. I’m sure everyone was disappointed that the redhead in front wasn’t Bryce Dallas Howard (sorry!). Frankly, I’m disappointed I’m not Bryce Dallas Howard, too.

Ron Howard Lifetime Achievement Presentation

When accepting his award from SCAD president and founder Paula Wallace, Ron Howard spoke with great fervor that accepting an award like this put some fire in his belly to keep working. He also spoke about what two of his most recent projects have in common, including Thirteen Lives, which details the real-life story of the Tham Laung cave rescue.

“It’s emotional to look back [on my career],” said Howard, “but what’s especially gratifying is that I’m so proud of my most recent work as a director. You saw Thirteen Lives and I have a documentary that’s out now to be seen on Disney+ called We Feed People about Chef José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen. This creative work has been amazing and inspiring because both films are about modern-day heroism and the power of volunteerism.”

He also told stories about early in this directorial career when he worked with director Roger Corman and Bette Davis, who refused to call him “Ron” (“I will call you Mr. Howard until I decide whether I like you or not!”). Davis ended up asking Mr. Howard—or Ron—the question that I had wanted to ask him: Can we expect Ron to turn the camera lens on himself in a Fablemans-type of film in the future? Ron stays mum for now, but there’s definitely an interest (given his two encounters with Corman and Davis, can you imagine all of the other stories?).

Eddie Redmayne and a Special Guest Cause a FRENZY at The Good Nurse

For last year’s festival, the red carpet was inside at the Gutstein Gallery, but this year, with many of the COVID protocols lifted, it was back outside, with a crowd of students gathered around ala The Today Show window.

Eddie Redmayne caused an absolute frenzy when he appeared on the red carpet, and he was so lovely to speak with about playing a 21st century role as opposed to his mostly period characters.

“It’s been years in the coming,” said Redmayne. “I definitely had a tweed period. I made it into the 19th century with Les Mis, eased into the ’60s and ’70s with Chicago 7, and finally I’ve made it into the ’90s, early 2000s. I tell you the amazing thing is when you get to go to work every morning, rather than spending an hour putting period costumes on, it’s like five minutes—in and out—it takes no time!”

Before he headed into the Trustees Theater, he signed autographs and generally—and genuinely—worked the crowd. So very not Newt Scamander!

The Good Nurse is truly an acting showcase for Redmayne and Jessica Chastain. While watching Tobias Lindholm’s film, I was reminded of the book The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule, which details Rule’s real-life friendship with serial killer Ted Bundy and how she never suspected that her friend could do such horrific things. Nurse has a lot of themes percolating, including how well you know your friends and how broken our healthcare system is (still—this takes place in 2003). Redmayne electrifies, especially in an interrogation scene where he goes from childlike to monster and back to childlike in mere moments. Redmayne is good in everything, but this might be my favorite of his performances. Some criticism has been that we don’t know enough about his Charlie Cullen, but Redmayne fills in the gaps. He’s a tortured individual who might not even completely understand why he did what he did.

After the film, Clayton Davis interviewed Redmayne, who brought “real-life Jessica” Amy Loughren to discuss what it was like watching this turning point in her life—and many people’s lives—play out on screen.

“For me, the most important thing about this film is to give the soul back to those victims and there are hundreds of them,” said Loughren. “Yes, it’s bizarre to see it on film, and one of the most bizarre things is a true testament to Eddie’s part. Because knowing Eddie in person, and we’ve known each other for a couple of years, he’s not Charlie Cullen. To watch him become this person, I have only been able to watch this movie once because it is my friend Charlie up there on screen; it’s not Eddie. It’s just amazing to watch.”

The crowd absolutely went nuts for Loughren and screamed as loud for her as they did Redmayne. Between Ron Howard’s discussion of Thirteen Lives and the true bravery from Loughren in The Good Nurse, Day 2 of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival was really about real-life heroes.