Painkiller

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Aug 10, 2023
Metascore
56

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 29
  3. Negative: 4 out of 29

Critic Reviews

  1. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Kelly Lawler
    Aug 10, 2023
    37
    It lacks gravitas and a point of view. At many points, it’s painful to watch. It’s constantly exhausting to watch.
  2. Collider
    Reviewed by: Chase Hutchinson
    Aug 10, 2023
    33
    More than anything, Painkiller feels unnecessarily slight in a fundamental sense. Characters are nearly all made superficial and there is a persistent lack of patience that sets the actors up for failure. By the time we get to the end, everything ties itself up a bit too neatly when the truth of this story is far more complicated.
  3. Decider
    Reviewed by: Joel Keller
    Aug 10, 2023
    30
    It feels like Painkiller wants to say something profound bout how the opioid crisis was started, but does so in a way that feels completely tone-deaf.
  5. Slate
    Reviewed by: Laura Miller
    Aug 17, 2023
    10
    Glib, garish, and ham-fisted. .... Each episode of Painkiller opens with a real person explaining that, while the events in the show have been fictionalized, opioids’ effects on their own lives have been genuinely tragic. They hold up photos of their dead children. Some of them cry. This only manages to make the rest of the show seem even more grotesque.

Awards & Rankings

43
#43 Most Discussed TV Season of 2023

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 13
  3. Negative: 5 out of 13
  1. Signal1
    Aug 15, 2023
    1
    Painkiller is a weak, tonally deaf series that does not come close to the much better and carefully crafted Dopesick which deals with the samePainkiller is a weak, tonally deaf series that does not come close to the much better and carefully crafted Dopesick which deals with the same material. Watching Painkiller is a painful experience.… Full Review »
  2. JLuis_001
    Aug 13, 2023
    5
    The miniseries doesn't exactly miss the mark when it comes to the quality of its production, but it's its lack of narrative depth thatThe miniseries doesn't exactly miss the mark when it comes to the quality of its production, but it's its lack of narrative depth that ultimately relegates it to the realm of forgettable content.

    Considering the magnitude of the problem at hand – a genuinely serious crisis – Painkiller merely skims the surface without any sincere intent to delve into the heart of the matter. This approach not only diminishes the significance of the issue but also comes across as exploitative rather than enlightening.

    It's hard not to feel that Painkiller was fundamentally a convenient theme chosen to shape a show, offering something fresh for the Netflix catalog. Beyond this purpose, it struggles to carry any substantial weight or true sense of significance.    … Full Review »
  3. ZpiKe69
    Aug 11, 2023
    10
    Awesome insight to the dark world, very good directed and deeply tragic stories. 10 of 10
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