Conceived by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster,who worked from notable non-fiction books and articles,the drama doesn’t just try to encapsulate a public health disaster. It accentuates some strands,whether with the farcical or the furious,and treats others bone dry. Throughout the show,the force behind OxyContin,Purdue Pharma CEO Dr Richard Sackler (Matthew Broderick),calmly converses with his late uncle and predecessor,Arthur Sackler (Clark Gregg). It sounds distracting,but as with OxyContin cutting a swathe through communities,the unthinkable swiftly becomes normalised.
The satire here is bilious:“You’re not killing enough pain,Daddy,” Purdue sale rep Britt Hufford (Dina Shihabi) tells a doctor cautiously prescribing OxyContin,and Britt’s commission-rich enthusiasm soon rubs off on her protege,Shannon Schaeffer (West Duchovny). The characters are vividly sketched,but the show takes you carefully through the exculpatory detail,such as the words Purdue got the US Food and Drug Administration to approve on the packaging that allowed for addiction-level dosages;the assessor responsible was subsequently hired by Purdue.
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Director Peter Berg,turning the clock back on his own career to standout movies such asFriday Night Lights andThe Kingdom,twists the dial on the tone and tempo of different strands. Garish editing stokes the mood at Purdue,where selling OxyContin is “a crusade”,while the story of a rural family where the mechanic father,Glen Kryger (Taylor Kitsch),becomes addicted to OxyContin after a serious workplace accident is told with an unwavering gaze that makes the collateral damage of an addict’s descent witheringly clear.
The dedicated guide through this narrative,in a bittersweet performance,is a West Virginia state attorney,Edie Flowers (Uzo Aduba),who speaks from a place of defeat after an early attempt to rein in Purdue was sabotaged.Painkiller is notably good at conveying information in unusual,telling ways,and offers deeply illustrative moments – “18 is the record,” a coroner says,showing Edie undigested OxyContin tablets in an overdose victim’s stomach. This is densely packed and damning viewing. A triumph that never obscures the tragedy.
Telemarketers★★★
Binge,Monday
This HBO documentary about telemarketing scams in America was 25 years in the making,but it never quite decides which of its promising elements to focus on. Is it an indictment of insidious corruption,a portrait of the marginalised,or a character study of an eccentric friend? Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern’s three-part series never commits,so it settles for being less than the sum of its parts.