Probably the most somber offering to premiere on the otherwise cheery, family-friendly Disney+ Day, Dopesick has already fascinated audiences around the world with its tragic true story.
The Big Pharma drama miniseries tackles the US opioid epidemic from a few different angles: looking at the corrupt development and distribution of OxyContin as well as the working-class lives torn apart by the apparently-safe drug. You can now take in all those angles at once, as Dopesick continues to release each of its eight episodes onto Disney+.
Dopesick: Season 1
Our entry to the world of Dopesick is through valorous doc Michael Keaton, who unwittingly prescribes the physically exhausted miners in his town a new miracle drug. Booksmart star Kaitlyn Dever is dever-statingly sympathetic as one of these victimised, vulnerable real people who succumbs to OxyContin’s highly addictive properties.
Moving a little further up the food chain, Rosario Dawson and Peter Sarsgaard are among the government agents trying to get to the bottom of the drug’s community-shattering impact. Cool eyebrow lad Will Poulter is a youthful salesman overselling OxyContin, and Michael Stuhlbarg is IRL villain Richard Sackler, who profited off a nation’s medical dependency.
In an overwhelmingly positive review for Flicks, Liam Maguren compared Dopesick to some other great medical dramas which speak truth to power, praising the Disney+ series for its frank presentation of sad, real events. “Like Todd Haynes’ chemical pollution thriller Dark Waters or Steven Soderbergh’s prophetic pandemic flick Contagion, Dopesick‘s matter-of-fact approach is all it needs to captivate. In a situation like this, nothing’s more shocking than the facts.”
If you’re ready to come to terms with some of those hard facts, now could be a great time: Australian subscribers to Disney+ are loving Dopesick so far, with the series’ finale airing on December 24. A dark gift for the holidays, sure, but one well worth opening up.
