It’s been less than two years since Hulu’s Dopesick explored the rise of the Sackler family, their company Purdue Pharma, and the impact its drug OxyContin has had on opioid addiction in the U.S. — and now Netflix is revisiting the story with its own series.
Painkiller, “a fictionalized telling of real events”, tells the story of OxyContin’s rise, following detectives, victims, and the Sackler family (headed by Mathew Broderick as Dr. Richard Sackler) as the drug wreaks havoc throughout America.
“They’re doing the exact same thing as every crack dealer in America,” says investigator Edie (Uzo Aduba) at one point in the trailer. “Except they are getting rewarded for it.”
Painkiller, a six-part series, comes to Netflix on August 10.
