Netflix has a new number-one show that's shaking viewers and leaving quite an impact.
Painkiller, based on the book by Barry Meier and the New Yorker Magazine article ‘The Family That Built an Empire of Pain’ by Patrick Radden Keefe, is a scripted limited series that takes on the opioid crisis in America. Per Netflix, the series is a "fictionalized retelling of events that explores some of the origins and aftermath, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin".
Directed by Peter Berg, the cast includes Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, Dina Shihabi, West Duchovny, and John Rothman.
"Highly recommend the Netflix drama Painkiller, about the monstrous, now disgraced Sackler family & their greedy mob that led to over half a million deaths," wrote one viewer. "If arts institutions take money from the Sacklers I won’t go."
"That Painkiller series is crazy! I’m gonna be side-eying all my doctor prescriptions now cause WTF?" one user tweeted.
"Painkiller on Netflix is riveting, couldn’t turn it off ... an incredibly heartbreaking reality of the world we live in," someone commented.
"Scary, tragic, stirring, one of the best series I've seen lately," said one viewer.
"Painkiller is an outstanding and important take on the opioid crisis. Anyone saying that this didn't need to be made after Dopesick... doesn't get it. This story deserves to be told, retold, reexamined, told from other angles, rinse, and repeat. For as long as it takes," another viewer wrote.
"I turned Painkiller on. Damn, that opening scene dropped me to my knees," someone wrote.
"Bravo to Netflix for their new series Painkiller. Creative storytelling, integrity for victims, and powerful calls for accountability," one viewer said.
Painkiller is streaming on Netflix now. For more, check out our list of the best Netflix shows to stream right now.
