Although Emily Blunt did an excellent job in Oppenheimer, I did think it was kind of a thankless part. That does not appear to be the case with her next project. Yesterday Netflix released a trailer for Pain Hustlers, coming out in late October and starring Blunt and Chris Evans as pharmaceutical reps. I’m getting Erin Brockovich-meets-Breaking Bad vibes, with an opioid-crisis setting:
Emily Blunt is hustling her way to the top in her latest film.
On Wednesday, Netflix debuted the first trailer for Pain Hustlers, which stars Blunt and Chris Evans as pharmaceutical sales employees pushing opioids in a story based on real events.
Blunt plays Liza Drake, a single mom “at the end of her rope” after losing her job, per a synopsis. “A chance meeting with pharmaceutical sales rep Pete Brenner (Evans) puts her on an upwards trajectory economically but dubious path ethically as she becomes entangled in a dangerous racketeering scheme.”
The film’s trailer teases Liza and Pete’s high-earning, hard-partying lifestyle as title cards read that Pain Hustlers “may cause increased energy, elevated mood, ecstasy, paranoia, aggression [and] greed.”
As Liza deals with “her increasingly unhinged boss, the worsening medical condition of her daughter, and a growing awareness of the devastation the company is causing,” she begins to re-examine her career choices.
Netflix described the film as a “sharp and revealing look at what some people do out of desperation and others do out of greed.”
Tis the season for pharmaceutical cinema, I guess. I’m genuinely surprised that Netflix is releasing this so soon after Painkiller, their six-part series with Matthew Broderick as Richard Sackler that just came out last month. Don’t get me wrong, I’m positively gleeful with Big Pharma clocking in so much screen time as the super villains they are. They’ve well and truly earned it. I just find the timing questionable from a content perspective. My general impression of this first trailer was, this story has already been told, so what’s different? I think it’s gonna come down to the solid cast bringing people in, led by Blunt and Evans, and rounded out with Andy Garcia and… Catherine O’Hara! You can’t tell who she’s playing from the trailer, but does it really matter? (Answer: no. Thank you for gifting us with your talent, O Great Catherine.)
Photos credit: Brian Douglas/Netflix
I’ll be watching this. Never a bad time for this topic.
I am glad when people have a job that they want, but drug reps are not allowed in my office. I don’t need their little pens, I don’t need them to buy me a muffin, and I definitely don’t need someone with a pol-sci undergrad degree to let me know how to interpret some drug company funded medical paper that had an underpowered study do shady data manipulation.
Srsly, once I saw one present a pie chart and the one thing that was like 20% of the results somehow took up around 60% of the circle. And then the person had the gall to act surprised when I pointed it out.
Also, I’ve heard male doctors say they feel like they should look away because they’re married and the lady rep has way too much cleavage and flirtation going on.
I’m sure some of them are ok but they will never be welcome in my office and I do think patients should ask their doctors what their rep policy is.
I remember the days when I used to frequent the hospital and my various doctors’ clinics, there were a lot of medical reps waiting to get an audience with the doctors. Offering comp meals, tickets, branded items (pads, pens, stickers, etc) Sometimes a doctor would give me a prescription on a branded pad advertising the drug of choice even though my medicine was not that. Good times /s but also must be a challenging task to put themselves there day after day?
I’m reminded of Donna Rice, the pharmaceutical rep who sat on Gary Hart’s lap.
I am fascinated by strories of Big Pharma and the evils they commit into this world and get away with this. I think i have watched them all but always open to more. Notable documentary mentions are The Pharmacist, Pharma Boy, The Crime of a Century,How to create a Drug Scandal. ‘Fiction’ wise Dopesick was just top tier,i think it may have even impacted how i received Painkillers.
@nubia Dopesick isn’t really fiction, it is based on a great non fiction book by Beth Macy. Definitely one of the better books on the opioid crisis – highly recommend.
Several years ago I worked as the Compliance Assistant for a hospital system in Chicago…and I noticed something after about a month of meeting Reps from EVERY pharmaceutical company in the country…THEY WERE ALL FRIGGING GORJUS❣️ I don’t care what age they were…they ALL looked like they stepped out of high fashion magazines…I finally asked one of them…what was “up” with that…and he told me …”If you’re dazzled…we got ya!” i’ll be watching this!
Which says something about the pharmaceutical companies’ hiring practices.
That part!☹️
Took a college course on white collar crime. In the discussion of pharma reps, we learned that they heavily recruit from college cheerleaders.
The most skeezy (but also handsome) guy at my high school became a pharm rep. I feel like that’s the overall vibe from all of them.
You had me at Catherine O’Hara. I’ll watch her all day.
Honestly me too. I love Evans, but O’Hara? Always a yes
To be half as cool as Moira Rose remains my life goal
I thought Chris Evans was the best Chris until he started dating that much younger woman.
Then…. Eh. Maybe he’ll regain his appeal when he doesn’t need to have the 20 something on his arm a La de caprio.
I remember I had bunion foot surgery in 2007 and the Dr. prescribed me a giant bottle of oxycodone. It had to be at least 100 pills. I think that bottle lasted me for years.
Fast forward to 2022 and I had gallbladder surgery. I think I got like 12 pills.
I am glad they have clamped down on overprescribing. At least from my experience.
I have Sampter’s Triad, which means I have asthma, sinus issues and an allergy the aspirin. In my case, I am also allergic to ALL non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and related medications. There are no over-the-counter pain meds that don’t give me a bad reaction, including, you know, not being able to breath. But try getting a small bottle of Tramadol (which isn’t even that strong) out of a doctor these days!
It’s like pulling teeth. As in, you will only get if if they pulled out your teeth or something similar.
@Flamingo: I had a similar experience in 2003. I got a big vat of Vicodin after an emergency room visit for breaking off the tip of my elbow, then the following week got a second vat of Vicodin for after the surgery to fix that break. Had those two bottles for lo’ these many years. Came in handy when the bulging disc in my lower back decided to remind me of its presence.
This looks quite good. I’ll need to watch the documentary first, but this is in my line-up.
I live in Houston which has a huge medical center. The Pharm Reps are known to generally be a very attractive bunch. At least they were. I’d be in the waiting room and see a stunner in three inch heels walk out, and I’d be 99% sure she was a rep. I think most of them are women.
I watched Dopesick and it was the first I really heard the whole story. I haven’t watched Painkillers yet, because Dopesick was so good and it’s a heavy topic. But It’s still on my watch list. I will probably watch Pain Hustlers too! You had me at Catherine O’Hara!!
These stories and so sad and infuriating, I’m glad these movies are shining light on the topic.
I worked for Pfizer Australia’s head office back in the day, in Regulatory Affairs in the heyday of Viagra, Lipitor etc…
Quite a different department from Sales and Marketing…the reps were all gorgeous but burnt out in 2-3 years Max.
I saw the light and quit to work for a non-profit charity.
Is English rose Emily Blunt nailing a southern accent here? Amazing! (Uma Thurman got taken to the cleaners for her Texas accent in “Red, White & Royal Blue”, but I didn’t think it was so bad. At least not from the few clips I saw.)
Emily is one of my favorites and is a brilliant actor. And I was loving Uma’s accent in Red, White & Royal Blue. It was a really lovely, fun film too.
I didn’t hear enough to determine what kind of accent she was doing, other than vaguely ‘southern’. I’ve noticed English actors tend to go ‘southern’ when doing ‘American’ accents, & their ‘southern’ is usually ‘redneck’. ‘Cause, you know, us Americans.🙄
My first time going through IVF, my doctor prescribed me oxycodone after my egg retrieval. The prescription was for 10, but the pharmacy gave us a pill bottle filled up. I think I counted 32 pills. When my husband called them, the pharmacist was like, “Oh, we must’ve been in go mode. I can’t call the police or make you bring them back, but if you could, that’d be great.” We were like, why would you call the police…we didn’t overfill the prescription…The scary thing was, I only took 2 pills over 1 day, and the next day back at work, I felt like a shell of myself.
You can’t tell me that the opioid epidemic and subsequent 13 billion fines to pharmacies etc aren’t directly correlated to how incredibly difficult it is to get ADHD meds right now.
God. The poor kids just trying to make it through the school day without getting yelled at.
As someone with ADHD it is an absolute NIGHTMARE to get my prescription filled. I put in for one early July and JUST got it filled like a week ago. It’s extremely difficult out here as I have to ration and was off it for the summer to try and save pills for work (teacher here).
I ran into a woman at CVS one time who said she was able to get 90 Oxy pills sent to her house and here I am, struggling to get 30 pills in 2 months time because of the shortage.
**I’ve also read that the shortage has to do somewhat with how many people went to see dr’s for mental health during COVID and were diagnosed as ADHD (even though they might not actually be). I had to go in and see a neuropsychologist and do like 50 million tests in a five hour span (Lord help me! lol) to get my diagnosis and then there’s people who called their GP and boom! You’re ADHD, here’s some meds (I’ve learned my GP doesn’t really have the strongest understanding of what ADHD is – so I’m actually glad Chicago doesn’t let GP’s diagnose).
Painkiller was not good, it was like they tried to do ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ it or something. Dopesick on Hulu was so much better.
I agree, Painkiller was a cheap knock-off of Dopesick.
Broderick got the creepy Sackler part right (not sure if that’s really a compliment but maybe to an actor it is) but still that was more off-putting than intriguing.
I haven’t watched Painkiller but Dopesick was really good. I know Michael Keaton won lots of awards for his role, and deservedly so, but the guy who played Sackler was really good as well, so creepy! I was like, ok these people really are accurately portraying this super rich, highly eccentric family, because they are killin’ it. I remember watching a clip of the actual Sacklers, and those actors were spot on.
I’ll give this watch cause Emily is a fave and always good. And Catherine O’ Hara too!
Nice piece! Cant wait to see it! Im a big Emily Blunt fan!
Catherine O’Hara is playing her mom. There’s a brief line at the end of the trailer referencing it.
I love when Evans plays a villain/morally dubious character. Especially in his post Steve Rogers roles. He’s a much better actor than he’s credited for imo. Just looking at his IMDb he’s played so many different characters. And done them well.
I always love Emily blunt.
My mother never purchased an antibiotic ever. The Dr would give her a handful of samples. He had baskets of them in his office.