Taylor Kitsch plays a man struggling with opioid addiction in the Netflix limited series "Painkiller."
Mandatory Credit: Keri Anderson/Netflix
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‘Painkiller’ veers off course with its fictionalized look at the opioid crisis
Covering the same terrain as “Dopesick” in too-precious fashion, “Painkiller” is a semi-fictionalized look at the opioid crisis and how Purdue Pharma cashed in on OxyContin at the expense of those who became hooked on the drug. Yet the tonal excesses and wild dramatic devices undermine this Netflix limited series in a way even its sobering opening sequences can’t salvage.
