Pain Hustlers Review: A Pill-Popping Pharma Drama with Nothing Profound to Say

Note: This early review of Pain Hustlers is from the Toronto International Film Festival and may contain potential spoilers.

Pain Hustlers is a fleeting funhouse of club jams and over-the-top blazers. It is a horrendously good time for a film meant to tackle big pharma’s deadly neglect during the opioid epidemic.

Directed by David Yates and written by Wells Tower and Evan Hughes, Netflix’s Pain Hustlers premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to the crowd chanting, “Pay your writers and actors.” So, to follow that with a satirical display of corporate greed is a rather fitting show from the drama.

However, the film cares too profoundly about landing a punchline. As such, this look at the “bad guys” of the opioid crisis is toothless, glossing over the severity of their actions in favor of anti-hero archetypes and flighty, fast-paced storytelling.

The film intends to focus on Emily Blunt’s Liza Drake and her drive to succeed in a world that refuses to help her overcome poverty.

That said, it is not the satirical opioid-slinging antics that flatline this movie’s potential. That honor goes to a formula that needs to be sent out to greener pastures — a.k.a The Wolf of Wall Street biopics that wrap up get-rich-quick schemes in bright Party City packages.

It is not enough for Pain Hustlers to be enjoyable when it is peddling such an ugly truth. It has to sink its teeth into the absurdity of these people who thought their actions had no consequences. Instead, it uses disjointed storytelling tools to try and convey humility against an onslaught of outrageously tone-deaf antics.

Additionally, the documentary acts as a bracing counter-voice to these delusional criminals. However, the diary room sessions don’t elevate this film. If anything, they convey how little the drama wants to embrace its villainy.

But when you also refuse to acknowledge the victims of this crisis beyond a few fleeting artistic shots, you run the risk of disillusion.

A Rose in the Rough

Nevertheless, if moviegoers need a real reason to watch this film, let it be Emily Blunt — and Catherine O’Hara!

Schitt’s Creek fans will be delighted to see an alternate version of Moira Rose and her signature accent flourish. As Liza’s flighty but well-intentioned mother, she is a positive force in our lead’s rise through the cooperate ranks and a proper gut punch when things take a turn.

Even so, when O’Hara is on your bank role, you have to utilize her presence.

What you shouldn’t do is remove her from the story when the drama starts to get good. That pitfall is ultimately the other shoe that drops with Pain Hustlers.

The satirical biopic has a star-studded cast to back its nonsensical approach to pharmaceutical negligence. However, there are few opportunities where this film capitalizes on the talented goldmine splayed at its feet.

That’s America’s Asshole!

Chris Evans is another notable name on this film’s roster, and the first act uses his infatuation with straight-taking Liza to sell us on this duo’s dynamic chemistry.

His explosive paranoia and gross misogyny are an effective element of this film’s comedic, over-the-top approach. However, ranked by likable villainy, I would put this particular douchebag closer to Evans’ The Gray Man villain than cable-knit-wearing Ransom — it is his fault for setting the bar so high with Knives Out.

Unfortunately, Pete Brenner is not a well-defined douchebag, and it is not long before the sleazy salesman becomes background noise. Evans is the yes-man, meant to repeat whatever the CEO says. However, he disappears frequently, and there’s nothing to latch onto when he pops up in the ongoing documentary segments.

So many top-billing characters at this scheme’s center are faceless. When you keep the story focused on the culprits and not the victims, you have to extend your focus beyond the lead to the entire criminal slate to be effective.

Our Leading Lady

All grips aside, Blunt is the powerhouse that steers this film to its victories. If anything, watch this movie for her.

From the moment Liza bursts onto the scene, she is a force, moving this plot forward when everything else threatens to stall it. She is a character vessel who can retain her humanity despite crossing several ethical and moral lines. 

Her drives are simple but effective, and that has a lot to do with the timing of this 2011-centered biopic. We are in a living crisis, so a woman clawing her way out of poverty for her family is a compelling tool to gloss over the severity of her actions.

Blunt crafts such a likable lead, and following her into the corporate trenches is an easy decision. As a result, there is never a moment where her perspective grows tired.

Even when this project struggles to understand what it wants to be, it is clear Liza was a fully formed character success from the beginning. Blunt’s sharp acting chops and compelling accent work only elevate the power of this fast-talking seductress.

Workplace Equality Is Key

Over the years, the film industry has subjected us to many surface-level, bro-fest biopics.

If there’s a reason for this film to exist, it is to give women equal opportunity to look fabulous doing horrible things as they outsmart men with tragic facial hair.

And yet, Pain Hustlers capitalizes on something those other movies cannot by allowing Liza to acknowledge her human desire to do the right thing even when it is too late. Ultimately, she is still punished for her role in the deadly opioid crisis, but she sets herself apart from her male counterparts with vulnerability and gusto.

All in all, this movie is unlikely to inspire you with its downfall of a deadly pharmaceutical empire, nor will it explore the opioid crisis from a profound new angle.

Nonetheless, a good time watching people do bad things is digestible entertainment. It’s not the knock-out pitch Pain Hustlers wanted, but passible enjoyment is more than these crooked criminals deserve.

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How excited are you for Pain Hustlers? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and check out more of our TIFF coverage here!

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Pain Hustlers premieres October 27th on Netflix.

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