Dopesick (2021)
SERIES REVIEW
Dopesick is an 8 hour drama, set against the first decade or so of America’s opioid crisis.
It is widely agreed that the start of that crisis can be traced to the launch of the drug OxyContin by Purdue Pharma in the 1990s, and the aggressive and dishonest way that the drug was promoted. However, despite strong evidence, as well as the efforts of dedicated law enforcement officials, no executives of the firm or any members of the Sackler family- who owned and ran the firm- have ever been held personally responsible- so far, at least. Dopesick attempts to tell the story of most of what happened.
On the plus side, it does a good job at presenting a well-rounded view of the crisis: what went on behind-the-scenes at Purdue Pharma, how that affected communities, and why the law enforcement teams struggled to take action against the company and its people. It presents, with chilling effect, how doctors were manipulated into prescribing the drug. On the down side, the rapidly shifting timeline can be hard to follow. Secondly, the narrative thread featuring the DEA- which occupies a large chunk of the running time and contributes most to the story going back-and-forth in time- is much less interesting and impactful than the rest of the material. If you can look past that, this is a tense, solid, and compelling drama.
PS: Those who have seen John Oliver’s terrific takedown of the Sackler family may remember his candidates for the role of Richard Sackler, believed to be the brains behind OxyContin and its marketing strategy. One of them, Michael Keaton, features in Dopesick but in a very different role. Instead, we have Michael Stuhlbarg who gives an intense, scary and eerily spot-on performance as Richard Sackler. Of course, Stuhlbarg had the advantage of seeing Sackler’s deposition (which Oliver’s candidates didn’t have). Sadly, though, Stuhlbarg hardly got any awards recognition.