Netflix’s Painkiller: New Images Feature Fight Against Opioid Crisis

Matthew Broderick is returning to TV after his last role in 2019, in Daybreak and Better Things, thanks to Netflix’s Painkiller. The limited drama series will dive into the birth of the opioid crisis, emphasizing Purdue Pharma, who manufactured Oxycontin. 

Netflix’s Painkiller: New Images Feature Fight Against Opioid Crisis
Matthew Broderick as Richard Sackler

The scripted series will hit the streaming service on August 10, and Netflix has released new official images this week. Split between their own news portal, Tudum, and Entertainment Weekly, the numerous pictures give us a look at the show’s characters.

Netflix’s Painkiller: New Images Feature Fight Against Opioid Crisis
Still from Painkiller

Broderick will play the role of Richard Sackler, the CEO of Purdue Pharma, who is like the antagonist of the series since Oxycontin’s release in the market marks the epidemic’s origins. The actor will be working alongside Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black), Sam Anderson (Lost), Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights), Ana Cruz Kayne (Barbie), and Carolina Bartczak (An Audience of Chairs).

Still from Painkiller

The six-episode limited series, created by Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue, is based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” and Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier.

Netflix’s Painkiller: New Images Feature Fight Against Opioid Crisis
Still from Painkiller

The two showrunners are joined by Eric Newman, Alex Gibney, and Peter Berg as executive producers, while the latter of the five will also be directing all the show’s episodes. Berg explains his story will “capture the DNA” of the crisis in a statement to Tudum which you can read below:

Still from Painkiller

[Quote] My goal was to capture the DNA that lives deep in the soul of the opioid crisis — a very dense and complex tragedy fueled by greed, corruption, human fragility, and more greed. For Purdue, the business was pain, and business was booming.

Netflix’s Painkiller: New Images Feature Fight Against Opioid Crisis
Still from Painkiller

Here’s hoping the cast and crew do a good job of highlighting the problematic company and the depths of its transgressions while tactfully handlining the storytelling. 

Still from Painkiller

For now, we don’t have a trailer for the upcoming scripted drama, but we do know it’ll be available for streaming from August 10, 2023, onward. What do you make of Netflix’s bold move to tackle the reiterated story of an epidemic that almost took down a nation? Drop your comments below!

About Silo

Silo is an American dystopian television series created by Graham Yost based on Hugh Howey’s novel series Wool. It premiered on Apple TV+ on May 5, 2023.

In a toxic dystopian future where a community exists in a giant silo hundreds of stories deep underground, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them.

The ten-episode series stars Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche, Avi Nash, David Oyelowo, Rashida Jones, and Tim Robbins.

Source: Netflix Tudum & EW

Epic Dope Staff

Epic Dope Staff

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