Dopesick (2021)

The most interesting thing when you study the history of any subject, once enough time has passed, you can very clearly see who the good guys are and who the evil, vile, terrible monsters are on the other side of the situation.  In the Hulu series Dopesick, we get to take a good, hard look at the origins and current state of the "Opioid Epidemic" in the United States and where it stems from and how it has spiraled out of control.  This dramatic series takes us from the Sackler Family, who ran a campaign to push Oxycontin as a safer version of painkillers from their cushy offices at Purdue Pharma and their multi-million dollar homes around the globe, all the way down to the poor people who became horribly addicted to their powerful drugs and died.  Along the way, we get to see how it spread like wildfire from the viewpoint of DEA agents, small town doctors who prescribed the drug, to the pharmaceutical sales reps who pushed the pills to doctors while lying to them about the side effects.  While people were dying in the streets from a drug they were told they weren't going to get addicted to, the wealthy people at the top kept the campaign of misinformation flowing to keep their pockets lined!  The story of young coal miner, Betsy (Kaitlyn Dever) and her lover Grace (Cleopatra Coleman), looking to get away from their small town, act as a case in point, showing how a simple accident, doctor's visit, prescription, and "treatment" can spiral a life into being Dopesick for life.