# The Crime of the Century (2021)

> A two-part documentary investigation indicting Big Pharma and the political operatives who enabled the synthetic opioid crisis.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/99045

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 2
- Episode runtime: 118 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary
- Created by: Alex Gibney
- Network: HBO
- Cast: Edward Byrne, Patrick Radden Keefe, Lenny Bernstein, Roy Bosley, Alec Burlakoff, Scott Higham
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14055432/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: dense
- Violence: none
- Tone: sober, indignant, forensic, relentless, damning

## Synopsis

The Crime of the Century (2021) is an American documentary limited series created by Alex Gibney for HBO. Across two long-form episodes, the series traces the rise of synthetic opiates and the corporate and political machinery that let overproduction and reckless distribution spread through American communities. Investigative voices anchor the case, including HSI Special Agent Edward Byrne and writer and producer Patrick Radden Keefe, whose reporting on the Sackler family and the pharmaceutical industry forms the spine of the inquiry. Rather than a single protagonist, the engine is a chain of documents, interviews, and regulatory decisions that show how profit collided with weak oversight and how officials looked away. Each episode is built from testimony, archival material, and careful reconstruction of who knew what and when. The film is a two-episode limited run, shaped as one continuous argument rather than separate cases. Its tone is sober, angry, and relentlessly factual, with a forensic patience that makes its indictment feel unhurried and inescapable. Viewers drawn to investigative journalism and institutional exposés will find resonance with Dopesick, Icarus, and The Wire, all of which pair damning evidence with a sharp eye for power.

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