One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

An unscrupulous man looking to shorten his sentence feigns a mental illness and ends up admitted to a crowded state hospital. Once inside, his quick humor and stubborn streak unsettle the daily ritual, drawing other patients into his orbit. They start to test the rules, question the authority that runs the ward, and rediscover a sense of possibility that had faded behind the locked doors. The ward is ruled by a rigid nurse whose demand for order keeps everyone under her thumb, and she regards the newcomer as a threat to the fragile balance she maintains. What begins as misdirection becomes a clash over control, individuality, and the price of conformity.

Milos Forman directed this adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel with a screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. It was released in 1975 by United Artists and became a landmark in Forman's English language cinema, admired worldwide today and beyond.

The film won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director for Milos Forman, Best Actor for Jack Nicholson, Best Actress for Louise Fletcher, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Bo Goldman. Its sweep is still cited as one of the era's defining cinematic achievements worldwide across audiences and critics.

Nurse Ratched and McMurphy became enduring icons of power and resistance, shaping how we picture institutional control. The film influenced later depictions of psychiatric settings and rebellious protagonists, and its imagery and themes echo in later works across film and television. Its influence extends into classrooms, parodies, and pop culture.

Critics praised the performances, direction, and screenplay, highlighting the film as a sharp critique of conformist systems. It blends dark humor with tragedy to explore freedom, dignity, and the line between care and coercion in a locked ward. Its balanced approach to human frailty remains a touchstone for discussions of authority and individuality.