The opioid crisis has been covered in documentaries, interviews, lawsuits and in books. It seems that through these media channels, we know a lot already about the large-scale devastation Oxy-Contin had in the US, particularly in rural America. While we may understand its origins, we haven’t really been able to see it from start to finish through a cinematic lens. There have been movies of opioid abusers and addiction, of course, but following the pandemic from its infancy stages to present day, hasn’t really been covered. Until now.
TRAILER:
Hulu’s latest Limited Series “Dopesick” puts faces to names and calls the crime what it is. Based on the New York Time’s Best-Selling Memoir of the same name, “Dopesick” helps paint a real-life picture of how the pandemic started, why it spread so quickly and covers the stories of real people whose lives were ruined due to a company’s greed.
Tackled from a variety of angles, “Dopesick’s” coverage stretches many years, starting in 1986 with Purdue-Pharma inventing the drug, spanning to 1996 when distribution started running rampant and finally concluding around 2002 with the DEA investigating the crimes that have destroyed towns due to the drug’s accessibility. And while the first three-episodes don’t stretch into current day, the issue about the repercussions of Purdue-Pharma’s actions are far from over.
The first episode sets the stage: Purdue-Pharma is in trouble. They have just found out that after investing nearly $40M in the new opioid, Oxycontin, there could be serious and drastic consequences if the drug does not perform. With many roadblocks in its way, FDA approval and insurance backing concerns, the company is worried that Oxy may just bankrupt the entire company. Determined to prove the shareholders wrong, Richard Sackler (Michael Stuhlbarg), forces the drug through regulations, needing a miracle to save the company, the approvals to sell Oxycontin to consumer is anything but ethical.
While Purdue-Pharma is the large, looming corporation in the background, we spend most of our time during the first three-episodes with local doctor in small-town Virginia Samuel Finnix (Michael Keaton). Finnix has dedicated his life to serving the people in his small-town who work labor intensive, back-breaking jobs. When Finnix was approached by an ambitious Purdue-Pharma salesman (Will Poulter) to encourage Oxy prescriptions to patients with any sort of pain, you might wonder why Finnix, a well-respected tenured doctor, would even entertain the idea to prescribe narcotics for simple pain problems.
However, it’s not until Poulter pulls out the main selling point to convince him: “Less than 1% of people get addicted to Oxy-Contin.” Then only problem? It’s a lie.
The series answers many questions that you might have about the illegal marketing pushed by Purdue-Pharma and makes it more digestible when they show actors telling the story v. through testimonials that we have seen through various documentaries covering the subject. How did they mass-market one of the most addictive drugs? How did no one stop them? What are the lasting ramifications of distribution that still linger?
Told through a variety of perspectives, “Dopesick” helps illustrate from every angle why this happened. It follows the doctors who unknowingly prescribed the drug, the executives behind Purdue-Pharma that marketed the drug through coercion and false promises, the lawyers who investigated the company’s malpractice for years and finally, the patients who fall victim to addiction after a small prescription.
Like I said, you may have heard, seen or read about the Opioid Crisis before and maybe you aren’t learning anything new from the Limited Series on Hulu – the difference is, it might change your perspective on how the drug and the company came to be so influential in our lives without us even putting up a fight.
The first three out of the eight episodes are streaming now on Hulu. New episode every Wednesday.
3-Episode Review: 7.5/10
And that’s the sitch.
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