# Painkiller (2023)

> A six-episode dramatization of America's opioid epidemic that follows its perpetrators, victims and an investigator chasing the truth.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/120098

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 47 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, crime
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, Dina Shihabi, West Duchovny, John Rothman, Clark Gregg, Jack Mulhern
- TMDB rating: 7.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11816814/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: grave, indignant, sober, harrowing, tense

## What critics say

Audiences rate the miniseries positively, though at least one viewer judged it weaker than the earlier opioid drama Dopesick.

## Synopsis

Painkiller (2023) is an American limited series created for Netflix, a six-episode dramatization of the opioid epidemic. Matthew Broderick plays Richard Sackler, Uzo Aduba plays investigator Edie Flowers, and Taylor Kitsch plays Glen Kryger, whose life is upended by addiction, while Clark Gregg plays Arthur Sackler. The engine of the story moves between the boardrooms where a pharmaceutical dynasty pushes its drugs, the households torn apart by dependence, and the slow legal pursuit of those responsible. Each episode shifts between perpetrators, victims and investigators, so the crisis builds as a web of connected lives rather than a single hero's journey. The story is set in late twentieth and early twenty-first century America, across courtrooms, suburban homes and corporate offices. Its tone is sober, angry and grounded, with a restrained melancholy that lingers on the human cost of profit-driven denial. Fans of Dopesick and Succession will find resonance in its blend of true events, corporate power and moral reckoning, and viewers drawn to The Wire's institutional scrutiny will recognize its patient, document-driven approach to exposing a powerful family.

## Shows like Painkiller

- [Monsters (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/144229)
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- [The Pharmacist (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/83042)
- [The Crime of the Century (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/99045)
- [Your Honor (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/73419)
- [Parish (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/121159)
- [Long Bright River (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/160480)
- [Seven Seconds (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/65511)
- [American Crime (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/54239)
- [Dr. Death (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/79308)

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