This predictable drama focuses on a story that has been told countless times before: America’s opioid crisis and the cynical workings of big pharmaceutical companies. The story is loosely based on the real life Insys Therapeutics scandal and the 2022 book of the same name by Evan Hughes.
Emily Blunt stars as Liza Drake, a rags-to-riches heroine who becomes morally compromised in her new job as a pharmaceutical sales rep. When we first meet Liza, she is working in a strip club and living in her sisters basement with her daughter Phoebe (Chloe Coleman) and her mother Jackie (Catherine O’Hara).
At the strip club, Liza meets Pete (Chris Evans), a sleazy sales manager for a pharmaceuticals start up. Pete offers Liza a job and she quickly rises up the ranks. However, Liza’s situation becomes more complicated as her boss, Jack (Andy Garcia) becomes increasingly unhinged and starts marketing the drug that Liza is selling illegally, urging doctors to prescribe to patients who don’t need it.
David Yates’ film explores what some people do out of desperation and greed but it’s a mediocre retreading of a familiar subject. The film seems constrained by its own conscience, failing to commit to being either great or terrible.
With a star-studded cast you would expect a star-studded performances, but Blunt carries the whole film on her own. Her character is an engaging and dedicated single mother, hungry to improve life for her and her daughter, and Blunt makes the film watchable. Evans has done well at trying to shed his Captain America persona in past projects, but his performance as Pete feels a little lacklustre and he is unable to find any nuance in the role. The whole cast seems to be lacking the chemistry it desperately needs.
Throughout it seems as though Yates is stuck between going all out in terms of being entertaining with such an important subject whilst also being worried about being too dark and serious. The use of faux documentary style black and white interviews with key characters throughout also feels outdated and fails to bring anything to the film.
As the company descends so does the film. The script feels stagnant and fails to provide the horrifying jaw dropping moment one would expect. Pain Hustlers has the bones of a compelling story, but the one note characters and slow pacing leave this film with a lot more to be desired.
Pain Hustlers is available to stream on Netflix, with a run time of 122 minutes.