Addiction and the Opioid Crisis: Painkiller on Netflix

Addiction is a plague that destroys those currently afflicted with it and everyone who cares about those individuals. This ongoing reliance eats away at one’s spirit, making it increasingly difficult to break free of it in later stages, and the shame and despair that accompany it make living an incredibly terrible experience overall. When you learn that this captivity was not even your fault, to begin with, it makes the situation even more unbearable. This happened to thousands of people and their families in the late 1990s due to the greed of corporations.

The forthcoming drama series Painkiller on Netflix will record real-life tales of everyone affected by the tremendous opioid crisis that began in 1996 and continued after that year. Painkiller will bring to light the origins of America’s most widespread opioid epidemic by drawing inspiration from the New Yorker article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe and the novel Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier. The new drama provides a more in-depth examination of criminal behavior, responsibility, and the systems that have repeatedly let down hundreds of thousands of people in the United States over the course of several years. It examines how various families have been and continue to be traumatized due to actions committed under the influence of self-centered desires, cover-ups, and lies that have protected the perpetrators for almost ten years.

The new engrossing drama will soon be available on Netflix. It was created by Eric Newman (Narcos) and Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights), who served as executive producers. So, before you start your marathon viewing of the upcoming limited series, let’s look at the premiere date, the storyline, the cast, the trailer, and everything else we know about Painkiller.

Painkiller Cast

• Uzo Aduba as Edie

• Matthew Broderick as Richard Sackler

• West Duchovny as Shannon Schaeffer

• Dina Shihabi as Britt Hufford

• Taylor Kitsch as Glen Kryger

• Sam Anderson as Raymond Sackler

• Carolina Bartczak as Lily Kryger

• Jack Mulhern as Tyler Kryger

• Ana Cruz Kayne as Brianna Ortiz

• Brian Markinson as Howard Udell

• John Rothman as Mortimer Sackler

• John Ales as Dr. Gregory Fitzgibbons

• Johnny Sneed as Dr. Cooper

• Noah Harpster

• Darrin Baker as Dr. Hartman

• Matt Baram as Dr. Robert Kaiko

• John Murphy as Michael Friedman

• Cody Porter as Dr. Paul Goldenheim

What is the Release Date of Painkiller?

The premiere of all six episodes of the show, each of which is an hour long and airs on Thursdays, will take place on August 10, 2023. New episodes of Netflix series are often made available at 3 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) or 12 a.m. Pacific Time (PT). Netflix is now producing a new series, and only paying subscribers will be able to watch it.

Who are the Creators of Painkiller?

Noah Harpster is an American actor, writer, producer, and director. He was born and raised in the state of California. His most well-known roles are as Remy on Tig Notaro’s One Mississippi. As the writer, producer, and actor on the show Transparent, for which he earned a Peabody Award, was nominated for an Emmy Award, a Writers Guild Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a GLAAD Award, and ultimately won a Peabody Award. He is best recognized for these roles.

Micah Fitzerman-Blue is a screenwriter, director, and producer in the American film industry. His work on the movies Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and Painkiller brought him the most attention and made him famous.

Painkiller | Official Trailer | Netflix

What is the Plot of Painkiller?

In the new Netflix series Painkiller, which investigates the roots of the opioid epidemic in the United States, a special focus is placed on the questionable business practices of Purdue Pharma. This firm was responsible for producing OxyContin and even more so for Richard Sackler (played by Matthew Broderick), the company’s founder. The series will tell the stories of many characters who were involved in the early stages of the creation and spread of the drug, including the Sacklers, as well as those who were attempting to bring them down, such as Uzo Aduba’s Edie and those who were adversely affected by the drug, such as Taylor Kitsch’s Glen, a mechanic who suffers a debilitating back injury at work.

Painkiller also follows the lives of a few medical sales representatives or the people Purdue paid well to get physicians to prescribe more of their (very addictive) medicine. Additionally, the film follows the lives of people who became addicted to opioids after their doctor told them it was okay because the doctors were also convinced it was safe.

The following is how the series is described in its synopsis:

“A fictitious version of Events, Painkiller is a written limited series that investigates some of the roots and consequences of the opioid problem in the United States. The series focuses on the narratives of the offenders, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are irrevocably changed as a result of the development of OxyContin. Painkiller investigates crime, accountability, and the systems that have consistently failed hundreds of thousands of Americans. It is based on the book Painkiller by Barry Meier and the essay “The Family That Built the Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe, which appeared in The New Yorker magazine. Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster served as showrunners and executive producers for the show, produced by Eric Newman, Pete Berg, and Alex Gibney. Featuring the acting talents of Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, Dina Shihabi, and West Duchovny.”