Painkiller
Netflix | Release Date: August 10, 2023
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
17
Negative:
4

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Barbara EllenSep 10, 2024
Season 1 Review: There are times that Painkiller feels like a cover version of the more atmospheric Dopesick. Nevertheless, it’s thought-provoking, with strong performances (especially from Aduba) and a firm narrative grip on a catastrophe that never stops sounding a grim, shrill alarm. Read full review
60
The TimesCarol MidgleyAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: Netflix’s Painkiller does seem like the Johnny-come-lately of the two, and you may get bouts of déjà vu. Yet there is a buzzy, frenetic, angry momentum to it that, along with judicious use of music, carries you along. Even if certain characters are a little superficially drawn. Read full review
60
Radio TimesMorgan CormackAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately, with fewer standout performances and more underdeveloped characters in Painkiller, this new Netflix series doesn't draw you in as much as its Disney Plus rival - making for an important but slightly lacklustre drama. Read full review
58
IndieWireBen TraversAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: It’s far from a great series, but “Dopesick” wasn’t either, and both eventually settle for telling an important story in an accessible fashion. That “Painkiller” covers the same ground in two fewer hours at least makes it the less taxing option, if you need it. Read full review
50
The PlaylistAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: Much like that other miniseries, “Painkiller” similarly suffers from massive pacing issues and the episodic flitting between a half dozen storylines with only Aduba’s narration to carry us through. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: It feels like the pitch for “Painkiller” was “The Big Short” for the opioid crisis, but that near-satirical tone is almost impossible to maintain for six hours across multiple character arcs, some of which never intersect. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: Expect to like “Painkiller” while watching it, only to later cringe when thinking about it. Read full review
50
TimeJudy BermanAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: Like a sharper, more technically polished second draft of Hulu’s overstuffed 2021 opioid-crisis ensemble piece Dopesick, it suffers from many of the problems inherent to a genre that’s becoming increasingly popular in Hollywood: the explainer drama. Read full review
50
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: It’s manipulative as hell, but does have an impact in the moment, because your heart can’t help but break for this person’s pain. And it sells the emotional truth of the heartbreak Oxy gave a nation. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineAmelia StoutAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: As Painkiller progresses toward its climax, though, its frequent tonal shifts distract from the substance of the story. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubSaloni GajjarAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: Painkiller might be worth watching for anyone who wants to learn about the epidemic. However, far better projects about the crises exist—and this one just comes off as wasted potential. Read full review
40
ABC NewsPeter TraversAug 14, 2023
Season 1 Review: Fictionalized takes on true stories are a plague. And this overkill of a series starring Matthew Broderick as a Big Pharma drug dealer exaggerates like hell for dramatic purposes. What feels real is the rage over the ongoing opioid crisis. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: While “Painkiller’s” creative shortcomings don’t make that fallout any less significant or sickening, unlike those sales reps, the slick packaging here isn’t enough to close the deal. Read full review
40
VarietyAramide TinubuAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: Despite their talents, a cumbersome script with all of its subjects and plot points is too much for the performers to overcome. Read full review
40
The TelegraphEd PowerAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: It’s hard to reconcile that tone with the flippancy with which Painkiller chronicles the rise and fall of the Sacklers and their company Purdue. Matthew Broderick spoofs patriarch Richard as a cartoonish weirdo. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterAngie HanAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: The show’s emphasis on dazzle comes at the expense of believable characters or nuanced analysis or emotional resonance; one wonders how much more the show might have been had it not spent so much of its time and energy simply trying to convince everyone to look over here in the first place. Read full review
40
The IndependentNick HiltonAug 10, 2023
Season 1 Review: After Dopesick, which trod remarkably similar ground, it’s hard to argue that we needed another depiction of the tripartite collusion of pharma, clinicians and victims. This is a story told more comprehensively, convincingly, and, crucially, movingly, elsewhere. Read full review
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