The first look at the new Netflix drama, Painkiller has been released, featuring Matthew Broderick and Orange Is the New Black star Uzo Aduba. Joining Broderick and Aduba are Sam Anderson, Taylor Kitsch, Tyler Ritter and Dina Shihabi, with Peter Berg of Friday Night Lights directing.
The six-part series tells the story of the United States’ ongoing opioid crisis and focuses on the Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma. Reportedly, Aduba will play the investigator helming the case against Purdue, with Broderick taking on the role of notorious Purdue CEO Richard Sackler. Famously, Purdue developed OxyContin.
The official synopsis reads: “A fictionalized retelling of events, Painkiller is a scripted limited series that explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin.”
It continues: “An examination of crime, accountability, and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans, Painkiller is based on the book Pain Killer by Barry Meier and the New Yorker Magazine article The Family That Built the Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe.”
The series will premiere on Netflix on August 10th.