BITTER PILLS (DOPESICK)

In 2018, the American photojournalist James Nachtwey documented for Time magazine the opioid crisis in communities across the US.

His 'Opioid Diaries' contained grim scenes of people being injected in vans in San Francisco, a man being revived by paramedics in a car in Miamisburg Ohio, addicts huddling from the winter cold in Boston and a man in the same city, stumbling about the place like a zombie in the car park of a convenience store.

These images brought to vivid life to the disturbing reality of the legal painkillers crisis.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, it was estimated this year that by August 187 people die every day in the US overdosing on opioids.

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People genuinely treated for pain conditions have fallen victim to addiction.

Those addicted to other drugs have also sought out drugs like Oxycontin after hearing they are legally available and can give them the same highs.

With opioid addiction destroying families, fuelling crime, killing people and making pharmaceutical firms huge profits, it was inevitable dramatists would focus on the crisis.

The first major TV series on the topic to come out of the blocks is 2022's 'Dopesick' on Hulu and Disney+.

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Built around an investigation by Peter Sarsgard and John Hoogenakker's federal prosecutors Rick Mountcastle and Randy Ramseyer of the pharmaceutical giant Purdue and its aggressive marketing of Oxycontin, the ambitious miniseries created by Danny Strong hops between timelines to chart the rise of opioids and the devastation they have caused.

Taking the stand in 2005 in a prosecution of Purdue, Michael Keaton's Dr Samuel Finnix cuts a haunted figure at the start of the miniseries.

A general practitioner in a Virginia mining community in the Appalachian mountains, he has been sweet talked into prescribing Oxycontin to his patients by Will Poulter's Purdue sales rep Billy Cutler who woos him inotially with fried chicken and then all expenses paid trips to conferences on pain relief.

The sales pitch is Oxycontin is a miracle drug.

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Billy and his colleagues insist it can eliminate pain if taken regularly but is not really addictive.

In fact, Purdue's reps insist studies show less than one per cent of those taking it become addicted.

The rhetoric, of course, doesn't match the reality.

Over the course of the miniseries, we see Kaitlyn Dever's miner Betsy Mallum become addicted after sustaining a back injury in work, after landing heavily during a fall onto some machinery.

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Dr Finnix trials Oxycontin on Betsy and other patients and he is initially impressed with the results.

However when it appears the effects of lower dosages of the opioid are starting to wear off, he and other doctors are persuaded by Purdue's sales reps to prescribe tablets with higher dosages.

Raised in a devout Christian family headed by Ray MacKinnon and Mare Winningham's Jerry and Diane Mallum, Betsy doesn't just struggle with back pain or opioid addiction but also her sexuality.

Involved in a lesbian relationship with Cleopatra Coleman's Grace Pell, there's an awkward coming out to her mother who largely ignores what she says and as addiction takes hold, the love affair with Grace fragments.

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Spurred on by Purdue's marketing and  sales competitions that reward the best performers, Billy becomes an enthusiastic evangelist for Oxycontin.

Meanwhile Rick Mountcastle and Randy Ramseyer are becoming increasingly concerned about the lengths Purdue and it's chief executive, Michael Stuhlbarg's Richard Sackler have gone to bend the truth about the addictive qualities of their drug.

As they try to prove corporate crime, even they are shocked by the levels of deception about the addictive qualities of Oxycontin and the ability of Purdue to successfully counter negative publicity through the aggressive courting of medical practitioners, regulators, lobby groups and critics of the company.

Rick and Randy find an ally in Rosario Dawson's no nonsense DEA agent Bridget Meyer whose previous efforts to link spiralling crime rates and addiction to the availability of Oxycontin have been frustrated and cost her her marriage.

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Billy, meanwhile, is rattled when the reality of what he is peddling hits home.

He becomes increasingly disillusioned with his job and concerned about the techniques used to peddle it.

Based on Beth Macy's non fiction book 'Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America,' Danny Strong's eight part series is a powerful examination of the catastrophic effects of opioids and specifically what happens when the relentless pursuit of profit goes unchecked.

Along with his fellow writers Beth Macy, Jessica Mecklenburg, Benjamin Rubin and Eoghan O'Donnell, he brilliantly flits between the chilling corporate culture of Purdue, the efforts justice agencies to expose it and the personal toll on the company's customers - mixing real life figures with composite characters to shine a light on the havoc wreaked by the easy availability of opioids across the US.

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The story arcs of Dr Finnix and Betsy show the devastating impact Oxycontin has had on many communities.

The gritty determination and diligence of the federal prosecutors and their DEA ally to expose mendacity unearths uncomfortable facts about the pharmaceutical industry for many viewers.

Billy's experience as a salesperson explains how Purdue was able to muscle its way into the leading position in the painkiller business without appearing to have any conscience about the effects of its drug.

Strong and his fellow writers also do a superb job giving audiences an insight into the boardroom struggles at Purdue that enabled a culture of  rampant corporate greed.

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Richard Sackler plays off various members of the family at meetings in art galleries that the family donates to and bulldozes through production of his drug.

Jaime Ray Newman and Lawrence Arancio shine as Richard's cousin Kathe and father Raymond.

Though it has to be acknowledged the performances are uniformly excellent in Strong's drama.

Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG and Critics Choice Best Actor winner Michael Keaton is at his twitchy best as a small town doctor who is acting honourably but who then crashes into the horrible reality of what Oxycontin is doing to his patients.

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Poulter is superb as a brainwashed sales executive who suddenly realises the dream product he is promoting is actually a nightmare.

Stuhlbarg is terrific as Richard Sackler, playing him as if he is on the spectrum - only seeing profit maximisation, lacking in empathy.

Sarsgaard and Hoogenakker make for an engaging investigative duo, encountering setbacks in their probe and in their personal lives but overcoming them.

Dawson burns with righteous indignation as the DEA agent who understands the connection to spiralling crime rates and the levels of Oxy on the streets.

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Dever is hugely sympathetic as a conflicted young women caught in the grip of addiction.

Winningham and McKinnon impress as her by the Bible parents.

Jake McDorman is effective as the IS attorney John Brownlee, as id Brendan Patrick Connor as the Pursue executive Howard Udell, Philippa Soo as Billy's ruthless sales colleague Amber Collins and Cleopatra Coleman as Grace.

Trevor Long also makes an appearance as former New York Mayor and Trump supporter, Rudy Giuliani who Purdue engage to make the case for their products.

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Superbly edited by Matt Barber, Chi Yoon Chung and Douglas Crise, 'Dopesick' is intelligently shot by Checco Varese working under the guidance of Oscar winning director Barry Levinson, Michael Cuesta, Patricia Riggen and Strong.

Together they build a compelling and disturbing story about the consequences of corporations being allowed to rampantly pursue profit and market dominance regardless of the harm their product is inflicting on society.

A high bar is set for any other filmmakers and writers seeking to tell this cautionary story which is made all the more sobering by the realisation that considerable damage has been done to society with little hope of repair.

('Dopesick' was made available for streaming on Hulu in the United States on October 13, 2021 and on Disney+ internationally from November 12-December 22, 2021)