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12.09.2023 / 04:05
‘Pain Hustlers’ Review: Emily Blunt And Chris Evans In Chilling Movie That Explores The Dark Side Of Pharma Grifters – Toronto Film Festival
Netflix’s Pain Hustlers is a largely fictionalized tale of a very real world, and rather eye-opening, business: selling an easy fix for what ails us, even if it leads to addiction and death. Although the names have been changed, the characters invented although inspired for some by actual cases and people, the original source material is all too real. Based on a New York Times article of the same name by Evan Hughes and then developed as Hughes was turning his research into the book, “The Hard Sell: Crime And Punishment At An Opioid Start-Up”, screenwriter Wells Tower has fashioned a riveting, if disturbing scenario brought to life by director David Yates who was looking for a less fantastical tale to tell other than the Harry Potter movies he was directing. He found it, and also his way into what might be quite a shocking expose of just how far of a grift some in big pharma business and the medical community may go in order to make a buck at the expense of our own well being and health. It has its World Premiere tonight at the Toronto Film Festival.