The Conjuring's Vera Farmiga Starred In An Apple TV Miniseries That Flew Under The Radar

Given how popular HBO Max's "The Pitt" has become, it's baffling how few people have seen Apple TV's similarly masterful miniseries, "Five Days at Memorial," just three years prior. Granted, John Ridley and Carlton Cuse's 8-episode show (based on Sheri Fink's non-fiction book, "Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital") wasn't solely a medical drama but also a disaster series that took place in a New Orleans hospital during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Since it's a depiction of a real-life tragedy that has taken numerous lives over the course of five days, it's an emotionally taxing and heartbreaking watch. If you think of the heaviest moments in "The Pitt," they all pale in comparison to the wringer that "Five Days at Memorial" puts you through under eight hours. Much of that is due to the show's structure, which is framed from the POV of survivors (medical professionals and patients) who recall the events of those five days (that unfold in flashbacks) and the investigators who try to determine the cause of death of 45 patients from both a legal and criminal standpoint.

Chief among them is "The Conjuring" regular Vera Farmiga's Dr. Anna Pou — a conscientious, deeply caring, and resilient woman — who ends up getting charged with second-degree murder alongside two other nurses from the Memorial Medical Center. Although the criminal investigation becomes more important as the story progresses, the show's core remains those five grueling and impossible days that you get to witness and relive through the staff and patients of the hospital.

There aren't too many shows portraying a real-life tragedy as painfully realistic and gently empathetic as "Five Days at Memorial." The unthinkable actions and harrowing decisions the staff has to make as the conditions progressively get worse after the hurricane strikes simultaneously bring out the best and worst of the people trapped in the hospital. Desperation mounts alongside the heat after the generators and electric equipment stop working, and as the promised rescue stalls, doctors, nurses, and ailing patients begin to realize that perhaps not all of them will make it out alive.

While this drama aptly focuses on the characters, their daunting task to survive and save each other, and the humaneness they manage to keep intact amidst the chaos and despair, the miniseries also raises the issue of the inadequacy of evacuation protocols in U.S. healthcare establishments. What the medical professionals had to do during those unrelenting days might not be ethical from a legal or moral standpoint, but there's not one moment in the show when you think they weren't right. As sad and depressing as the series is due to its nature, the execution of it is a pure masterclass as far as prestigious television goes.

From the sharp writing to the exceptional acting and immersive direction, "Five Days at Memorial" is a significant, gut-wrenching, and pivotal piece of work that deserves every praise it gets. It's an eye-opening subject matter and narrative achievement that should've gotten a lot more attention than it initially did. If you missed it back in 2022 and you're a fan of quality TV dramas, you should certainly give it a watch.