Império da Dor

Investigator Edie Flowers starts spotting worrying signs when a new wonder drug called oxycontin is released, she soon discovers that Big Pharma is a tough but to crack, especially when the law appears to be on their side.

I have to say, I didn't quite associate some of the negative reviews with the show that I have just finished binge watching. I'd suggest it's a little slow to start, but it does definitely get moving from about episode four or five onwards.

It's been a while since I binge watched a six part series, this is definitely a series that makes you want to watch, the story is absolutely captivating, yes the series is flawed, and it's far from perfect, but it does manage to show you the dangers of addiction.

I won't even get into my opinions of The US Healthcare system, and the fact that pharmaceuticals can be advertised.....in the same way that manufacturers try and convince you to buy fabric softener, it's shocking.....

The introductions are so sad and incredibly moving, those are some very powerful words.

I think Glen's story stood out for me most of all, you see a guy who has everything lose the lot, and just how quickly a regular person can fall of the rails, another victim of addiction.

Some of the acting was very good here, Matthew Broderick did a great job as Sackler, especially when he starts coming off the rails somewhat. I thought Uzo Aduba did a really good job too, there are some very passionate scenes.

Worth seeing.

7/10.

I had high hopes for this show. I had read that it was going to focus on the family behind Purdue who have basically been unpunished for there part in the opioid epidemic. I think that is a story worth telling. At least I would like to see it. I have been personally effected by this crisis in so many ways. I myself became addicted to OxyContin. It kind of happens before you even realize it's a problem. I know that sounds ignorant now, but at the time there was not information about this drug for the masses. I had 3 surgeries within a 6 month period in 2010 and I was prescribed Oxy after each one. I can still remember not having a clue what was wrong with me the first time I experienced withdrawal. At the worst point of my 7 years of opiate addiction I was taking a minimum of five 80mg extend release OxyContin, plus I was on 10mg oxycodone at least 4 times a day for breakthrough pain. It was HELL!! And these were all prescribed by a Dr on a weekly basis. Thankfully I have been clean for 7 years last month. However my partner of 15 years, and my sister where not so lucky. They both died of overdoses 6 months apart from one another in 2021. So, this is my story and it is one of many...so so many. Dopesick on Hulu was an amazing retelling of the history. This one not so much. It starts out okay, and then the last couple of episodes it's like okay we need to finish so we will just put 10+ years worth of content in the after message of the show. I know I ranted and got off topic of the show a bit but it was all just to say as someone personally affected so much by this crisis I am always excited to see shows that are supposed to have an accurate retelling of how we got here. Painkiller did not hit the mark they way I had hoped it would.

This is a well done, dark journey into an American hell created by an evil family and their soulless minions. While it is disgraceful that the endless suffering of the victims and their families has been turned into entertainment, this is important. The world needs to see what happens when an evil family is allowed to destroy America for profit. This covers the same material as Dopesick but a different take. Same info and honestly I enjoyed both. The portrayal of the Sacklers in both is not flattering. Truly evil people. The actors were amazing. A list talent and great writing. Highly recommend this and every American should see it.

This story has already been dramatised by hulu in dopesick so redoing the exact same thing, when the first time it was done so immaculately, is bound to not go that well...this is a much more superficial version in the sense that it is created with a more entertaining aspect than adherence to the actual truth and it is also squeezed in only 6 episodes when there is so much more to cover. It is an ok show, with few good performances, like Richard Sackler's role, but only because the story behind it is so fascinating, otherwise there is nothing great to hold the viewer. It is like when Jennifer Lawrence was booked to play Elizabeth Holmes in the film Bad Blood but after seeing The Dropout and Amanda Seyfried's performance, she said "what's the point in redoing something that has been done so well?" and quit...So if you want the best version of this story, check out Dopesick.

I'm surprised by the low ratings and glad I didn't read before watching because I enjoyed the show.

It showed various perspectives from the Sackler family and employees, the pharma reps, the doctors, the whistleblowers, the patients and then the addicts.

I thought it was filmed well, there were comedic moments not to poke fun at the subject matter which is very sad but more at the impotence of the law makers and greed of the Sackler family and it's employees and those who jumped ship.

I thought the ending was a bit rushed I'd have liked more epilogue but overall we binged over 2 days as it was very watchable.