There’s no understating the importance of Painkiller’s subject matter – but unfortunately the Netflix series feels all too familiar.
Let’s address the elephant in the room early on, shall we?
Although Painkiller sounded all too similar to Disney Plus‘s smash hit drama Dopesick when it was first commissioned, there was no major reveal as to what artistic direction this new Netflix series would go in.
The trailer revealed the series to be a rather upbeat and fast-paced exploration of the opioid crisis in America, and gave us our first glimpse of Matthew Broderick’s Richard Sackler, Uzo Aduba’s indomitable Edie Flowers, West Duchovny’s naive Shannon Schaeffer and Taylor Kitsch’s hardworking family man Glen Kryger.
But still, I remained hopeful in the belief that this series wouldn’t explore the epidemic in the exact same way as Dopesick. Surely, right? Well, I was wrong.
Despite concerns that it would have natural echoes of Dopesick – they explore the very same drug crisis, after all – the new six-parter pretty much uses the same multi-pronged narrative style and format to explore the US opioid crisis.
Painkiller is based on Barry Meier’s book Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic, and is also based on a New Yorker Magazine article, The Family That Built an Empire of Pain, by Patrick Radden Keefe.
While I thoroughly do believe that comparison is the thief of joy, in the world of TV, you can’t help it. And in this case, the parallels are so stark that you almost watch Painkiller pining for Michael Keaton’s harrowing Dopesick performance instead.
The series hones in on the characters at the heart of the crisis to provide a human element to it all, and to illicit anger, sympathy and concern over their growing proximity to OxyContin.
This is especially done through the journey of Glen, who is injured at work and is prescribed OxyContin, a narrative thread that imbues much of the heart-wrenching feel of Dopesick’s Betsy (Kaitlyn Dever).
But where Dopesick really envelops you in these emotions, the slightly odd characterisation of Purdue Pharma president Richard Sackler here jars you as slightly out of sorts in Painkiller.
While this is still a series that you’ll want to lap up once you start, it does have a tone that is starkly different from Dopesick: It embraces melodrama in the overblown portayal of Richard, doing so to outline him “as a person”, according to the team behind Painkiller, rather than solely presenting him as a faceless villain in the story.
The result is one of slight confusion as the character is haunted by the ghost of a dead family member while also ignoring doubts about OxyContin, blaming it on the people who misuse it and being the poster child for how extreme greed, wealth and narcissism can manifest in a person.
There are attempts at humanising him – especially through having the playful Broderick take on the role – and giving reason to his behaviour through windows into his past. But in this wider story of the mass production of a drug like OxyContin, it seems irrelevant to try to piece together a character study on the chairman behind it all.
Painkiller is mainly driven by the fact you can’t help but instantly root for the underdog, Evie Flowers (Aduba), as the only switched-on lawyer working at the US Attorney’s office who is investigating this new drug.
The dual timeline is (again) similar to another certain series – but here, it allows us to see just how Edie’s current feelings about Broderick’s Sackler and his family have changed over the years. Through this, there’s an exploration of the impact of being continuously disappointed in your pursuit of justice and the truth.
Aduba puts in arguably one of the strongest performances, and is a key reason to tune into the series – not necessarily by being the most likeable character, but by being slightly unknowable and personally motivated to see antagonists punished for their actions.
Edie is hardy and determined, providing one of the only voices of reason in a series that is consumed by the sheer excitement and wonder washing over the majority of the people in the drama.
We mainly get that glimpse through the almost caricature-like nature of the sales reps tasked with pushing the drug far and wide across America, here in the character of Shannon Schaeffer, who has left university and wants out of her parent’s house as quickly as possible.
In comes her new instant best friend and veteran drugs rep Britt Hufford (Dina Shihabi), who Edie aptly describes as a “madam” due to the way that she employs groups of young impressionable girls, gets them to live with her and dictates their days with pharma work.
It’s a dynamic that is explored more the further we get into the series, and sees Shannon – in the midst of death, harassment and a wild party – start to face up to the reality of the drug she’s been pushing onto small-town doctors.
The dawning realisations about the misuse and addiction caused by OxyContin is, of course, a reality viewers know about when tuning in, but this looming truth unfolds at a steady pace across the six episodes, still providing a chilling realisation no matter what.
Similarities to Dopesick aside, Painkiller is a strong series on its own merit – but just not the strongest. The story of the origins and people impacted by the opioid crisis in America cannot be stressed enough as a cautionary tale; you only have to take note of the brief stories you hear in the series’s opening credits.
But unfortunately, with fewer standout performances and more underdeveloped characters in Painkiller, this new Netflix series doesn’t draw you in as much as its Disney Plus rival – making for an important but slightly lacklustre drama.
Painkiller will be released on Netflix on Thursday 10th August 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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