Painkiller producer on Netflix drama: ‘A crime hiding in plain sight’

“It’s aided and abetted by the most powerful forces in the United States.”

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Wednesday, 09 August 2023 at 16:06 PM

Upcoming Netflix drama Painkiller is set to explore the American opioid crisis and its origins in close and character-driven detail.

The new series follows “the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are altered by the invention of OxyContin”, according to the synopsis, while also giving insight into how opioid OxyContin was marketed by Purdue Pharma, leading to users being misled about the pill’s addictive qualities.

It’s a case that has been described as a “crime hiding in plain sight” by Painkiller executive producer Alex Gibney. Talking to Netflix ahead of Painkiller’s release, Gibney was asked what he found out that really stuck with him or put him in a state of disbelief while researching for the drama.

Gibney said: “What really put me over the edge when it comes to the opioid crisis is that this is a crime that’s hiding in plain sight. And it’s aided and abetted by the most powerful forces in the United States. I’m talking about the Department of Justice failing to properly prosecute. I’m talking about Congress failing to properly legislate.

“That, in a way, is what really shocked me; that we know what happened, but we didn’t bother to really pay attention. This is a crime hiding in plain sight. It wasn’t the detail, so much, though many of the details shocked me.”

Painkiller - Netflix
Taylor Kitsch as Glen Kryger in Painkiller.
Keri Anderson/Netflix

He continued: “For example, when I found videotapes of Purdue sales reps at conferences singing about selling OxyContin to the tune of Shout. The level of pride taken in selling all of these opioids to so many people, so rapaciously, was a shocker. And some of those details have been given explosive rendering in Painkiller.”

“But for me, the biggest shocker overall is that so many people in positions of power and influence aided and abetted this crime,” he said.

Purdue Pharma, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019, previously pleaded guilty to charges relating to its opioid marketing. The Sackler family, who founded and owned the company, has any denied wrongdoing and earlier this year was granted full immunity from further civil suits in exchange for a $6bn settlement to help address opioid addiction.

The behind-the-scenes team includes a raft of talent like executive producers Eric Newman (NARCOS), Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) and Gibney.

Documentarian Gibney directed and wrote the critically acclaimed two-part documentary film The Crime of the Century, which explores the origins and fallout of America’s devastating opioid epidemic and the role of Big Pharma.

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Although the drama is based on real events, Painkiller is a fictionalised retelling and is based on Barry Meier’s book, Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic, as well as Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker Magazine article, The Family That Built an Empire of Pain.

Speaking to Netflix about Painkiller and what he hopes viewers take away from this story, journalist and author Keefe said: “I think that this is a story about a massive, epic tragedy that has hit every corner of the country.

“I have travelled around the country over the last two years talking about this story, and almost everywhere I go, somebody comes up to me afterwards to have me sign a book, and while I’m signing it, they’ll tell me that they lost a loved one to opioids. To be able to tell the origin story of this crisis, and to highlight some of the people who helped bring it about, has an important historical function.”

The new Netflix drama follows a multi-layered narrative, exploring the opioid crisis from the sides of Purdue Pharma sales reps, Purdue Pharma founding family the Sacklers, the users of OxyContin and the legal team who endeavoured to bring this case to light.

The cast is led by Uzo Aduba who plays lawyer Edie Flowers, Matthew Broderick as billionaire and Purdue Pharma chairman Richard Sackler, as well as West Duchovny as Shannon Schaeffer and Taylor Kitsch as Glen Kryger.