The upcoming limited series Painkiller puts a sharp focus on the origins and aftermath of America’s opioid epidemic.
Executive produced by Eric Newman (NARCOS), Pete Berg (Friday Night Lights) and Alex Gibney and starring Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick and Taylor Kitsch, the fictionalized retelling of events arrives on Netflix Aug. 10.
Learn more about the scripted series below.
Based on the book Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier and the New Yorker article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe, Painkiller is a fictionalized retelling of events. The series explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in the US and offers an examination of crime, accountability and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Right here. Watch the trailer for Painkiller below.
Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster serve as showrunners of the series, with Newman, Berg and Gibney executive producing.
“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,” Berg, who directs all six hour-long episodes of the series, tells Tudum. “For Purdue, the business was pain and business was booming…”
Gibney cites Meier’s work as the source material of Painkiller, and Fitzerman-Blue and Harpster had optioned Meier’s book. At the same time, Gibney had optioned the New Yorker article by Keefe, who was focusing much more intensely on the Sackler family, who founded and owned the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma that manufactured OxyContin.
Before Painkiller, Gibney made the documentary The Crime of the Century (2021), which chronicles the opioid crisis in the United States. Gibney’s experience working on the film informed the upcoming series.
Painkiller stars Aduba, Broderick, Kitsch, West Duchovny, Dina Shihabi, John Rothman and Tyler Ritter. Aduba (Orange Is the New Black, The Residence) plays Edie Flowers, a lawyer working for the US attorney’s office who’s investigating the new drug OxyContin.
Meanwhile, Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Election) portrays Richard Sackler, scion of the billionaire family and senior executive at Purdue Pharma, and Kitsch (Friday Night Lights, True Detective) plays Glen Kryger, a hardworking family man and business owner whose life is upended after an injury.
Duchovny takes on the role of Shannon Schaeffer, an ex-college athlete and new recruit to the Purdue sales team, while Shihabi plays Britt Hufford, a veteran sales rep who mentors Shannon. Rothman plays Mortimer Sackler, co-owner of Purdue Pharma and Richard Sackler’s uncle, with Ritter playing US Attorney John Brownlee, Edie Flowers’ new boss.
Painkiller premieres on Netflix on Aug. 10.
