Hollywood has never shied away from provocative subject matter like the opioid epidemic, and that goes double for a major streamer like Netflix, which has already released "Painkiller" and "The Fall of the House of the Usher" in short order. If there's a way to tell a new story about fascinating but morally compromised characters selling everything but their souls in order to make a quick buck off of the misery of others, well, you can bet that a filmmaker will find it. Honestly, even if there wasn't a new way to do it, somebody would try anyway. "Pain Hustlers" lands somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, judging by the rather mixed reception to the movie. /Film's Rafael Motamayor reviewed the film and ended up on the more negative side of the equation, saying that, "At its best, the film is just a nice time spent watching Emily Blunt...
- 11/5/2023
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
A new Netflix movie is taking a look at the dark side of the pharmaceutical industry. Pain Hustlers stars Emily Blunt and Chris Evans as Liza and Pete, a pair of sales reps pushing a powerful new opioid medication called Lonafen to doctors. Though the drug was designed for cancer patients, the greedy company has decided to market the product more widely, with deadly results. Blunt’s character, a single mom desperate to pay for her daughter’s medical treatment, initially is an eager participant in the scheme until she realizes the harm she’s causing.
Liza, Pete, and Zanna Therapeutics boss Jack Neel (Andy Garcia) are all fictional characters. But Pain Hustlers is inspired by a real story of corporate greed and malfeasance.
‘Pain Hustlers’ is inspired by the story of Insys Therapeutics
Like Netflix’s recent limited series Painkiller, which chronicled how Purdue Pharma’s marketing of OxyContin spawned the opioid crisis,...
Liza, Pete, and Zanna Therapeutics boss Jack Neel (Andy Garcia) are all fictional characters. But Pain Hustlers is inspired by a real story of corporate greed and malfeasance.
‘Pain Hustlers’ is inspired by the story of Insys Therapeutics
Like Netflix’s recent limited series Painkiller, which chronicled how Purdue Pharma’s marketing of OxyContin spawned the opioid crisis,...
- 10/31/2023
- by Megan Elliott
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Pain and medication are things that fall under our daily routine. A human survives with pain, both physical and mental. People avoid psychological pain with temporary distraction, while physical pain becomes difficult to ignore from moment to moment. Cancer’s “breakthrough” pain, which equates to an unusual death agony, forces people to find quick solutions. In 2012, a pharma company called Insys Therapeutic came up with a cure that seemed almost magical. Their pharmaceutical company produced Subsys, a medicinal spray containing a significant dose of fentanyl, which not only cures pain but turns people into addicts.
Helmed by David Yates, Pain Hustlers is a film that follows a fictional retelling of the Insys Therapeutic fraud. Based on an investigative article in The New York Times by Evan Hughes and its later book adaptation called The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup, Yates’ Pain Hustler follows the journey of Liza Drake,...
Helmed by David Yates, Pain Hustlers is a film that follows a fictional retelling of the Insys Therapeutic fraud. Based on an investigative article in The New York Times by Evan Hughes and its later book adaptation called The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup, Yates’ Pain Hustler follows the journey of Liza Drake,...
- 10/27/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
HBO is reuniting with Emmy and Oscar winning filmmaker Alex Gibney for the two-part documentary The Crime of the Century, which will explore Big Pharma and government regulations over the reckless distribution and abuse of synthetic opiates. The Crime of the Century will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max in May.
The doc will explore the origins and fallout of the opioid epidemic which has resulted in half a million deaths from overdoses in this century alone.
With the help of whistleblowers, insiders, newly-leaked documents, exclusive interviews and access to behind-the-scenes investigations, and featuring expert input from medical professionals, journalists, former and current government agents, attorneys and pharmaceutical sales representatives, as well as sobering testimony from victims of opioid addiction, Gibney’s exposé will posit that drug companies are in fact largely responsible for manufacturing the very crisis they profit from, to the tune of...
The doc will explore the origins and fallout of the opioid epidemic which has resulted in half a million deaths from overdoses in this century alone.
With the help of whistleblowers, insiders, newly-leaked documents, exclusive interviews and access to behind-the-scenes investigations, and featuring expert input from medical professionals, journalists, former and current government agents, attorneys and pharmaceutical sales representatives, as well as sobering testimony from victims of opioid addiction, Gibney’s exposé will posit that drug companies are in fact largely responsible for manufacturing the very crisis they profit from, to the tune of...
- 2/10/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
A two-part documentary about America’s opioid epidemic directed by Alex Gibney is coming to HBO, the premium cable channel revealed Wednesday during its day at the virtual Television Critics Association press tour.
Gibney, the filmmaker behind HBO’s “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley” and “Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief,” has directed his new doc, “The Crime of the Century,” to examine the role of Big Pharma and the political operatives and government regulations that enable overproduction, reckless distribution and abuse of synthetic opiates.
The two-part series will explore the origins, extent and fallout of one of a public health tragedy that has claimed half a million overdose deaths since 2000. The film will include testimony from whistleblowers, insiders, newly leaked documents, exclusive interviews and access to behind-the-scenes investigations, and featuring expert input from medical professionals, journalists, former and current government agents, attorneys and pharmaceutical sales representatives,...
Gibney, the filmmaker behind HBO’s “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley” and “Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief,” has directed his new doc, “The Crime of the Century,” to examine the role of Big Pharma and the political operatives and government regulations that enable overproduction, reckless distribution and abuse of synthetic opiates.
The two-part series will explore the origins, extent and fallout of one of a public health tragedy that has claimed half a million overdose deaths since 2000. The film will include testimony from whistleblowers, insiders, newly leaked documents, exclusive interviews and access to behind-the-scenes investigations, and featuring expert input from medical professionals, journalists, former and current government agents, attorneys and pharmaceutical sales representatives,...
- 2/10/2021
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.