Netflix’s Pain Hustlers, starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans, has made its way to the streaming service, and it is the latest dramatization about the greed of American capitalism and the lasting effects of the opioid crisis. Directed by David Yates, Pain Hustlers sees Yates return to the more personal and dramatic type of film that kickstarted his career ahead of the Harry Potter franchise. With Pain Hustlers‘ ending being a cautionary tale of corporate greed and fraud, the loss of ethics through unfiltered ambition, and Big Pharma’s corruption, the movie bears similarities to numerous other dramas with comparable themes, tones, and subject matter.
Although Pain Hustlers premiered to mostly negative reviews from critics, but the film has fared much better with Netflix subscribers. Following a mother who becomes a sales rep for Zanna Therapeutics out of desperation, the characters build toward a moral and commercial downfall as they push Pain Hustlers‘ opiate drug Lonafen. The movie is a fictionalized retelling of the true rise and fall of Insys Therapeutics, and how they used the American medical system to profit off the opioid crisis. It is hardly the first film to tackle this subject, with many great films having similarly focused on American greed, addiction, Big Pharma, and how the capitalist system feeds off the many to reward the few.
10 The Wolf Of Wall Street
Inspired By True Story About Greed, Corporate Fraud & Scandalous Downfall
Many modern films like Pain Hustlers are in one way or another indebted to the films of Martin Scorsese. The filmmaker pioneered the way crime films are structured, and how a brutal take-down of American greed can still be an entertaining time at the movies. Scorsese’s 2013 crime drama and true story-inspired movie The Wolf of Wall Street is his most brutal takedown of wealth and “get-rich-quick schemes.” Jordan Belfort is one of the most unlikable protagonists in the history of cinema, yet this three-hour epic is still a blast from start to finish. Pain Hustlers shares many similarities to this film, but it’s hard to top a master like Scorsese.
9 All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Explores The Consequences Of The Opioid Crisis And The People Affected By It
One of the best documentaries of the past few years, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed shows the opioid crisis from a much more human and personal perspective. The film shows the life of artist and activist Nan Goldin as she fights against the Sackler family, a pharmaceutical dynasty. The film paints a harrowing yet beautiful portrait of how art, love, addiction, trauma, and success interweave throughout our lives and how one person’s story affects those around them. It’s hard to get through this film with a dry eye, but it is a vastly rewarding experience.
8 Bad Education
Darkly Comedic True Story Of Corruption And Scandal
Telling the true story of the Roslyn school district embezzlement scandal, Cory Finley’s Bad Education is a thoughtful examination of how personal greed and vanity can have ripple effects. Due to its release on HBO as a TV movie, this crime dramedy sadly went under the radar, but it includes a career-best performance from Hugh Jackman, as well as stand-out character actors like Allison Janney and Ray Romano. This is a movie that got lost in the streaming landscape of the pandemic, but it is worth discovering after Pain Hustlers.
7 Pain & Gain
Satirical Look At American Capitalism
Between Transformers movies, director Michael Bay decided to go smaller and make a Coen Brothers-inspired farce of the American dream. Based on the true story of three bodybuilders who conned their way to wealth, Pain & Gain is absurd in the best possible way, and is one of Michael Bay’s best movies. While much more abrasive than Pain Hustlers, both films find the absurdism of how everyday Americans find success and the dark reality of how they do so. Not for the faint of heart, Pain & Gain is classic Bay maximalism turned against the audience, holding up a mirror to the American dream.
6 Little Woods
A Personal Tale Of The Effects Of Opioid Addiction
The Marvels director Nia DaCosta got her start with this low-budget drama about two sisters struggling after the tragic death of their mother from addiction. Little Woods is a somber and quiet movie about the opioid crisis and the people it leaves behind. DaCosta shows incredible talent for a first-time filmmaker, and Tessa Thompson and Lily James are both giving the space to show their incredible acting range. This movie is a great sober follow-up to Pain Hustlers as it shows the real-world aftermath of that film’s events.
5 Spring Breakers
A Deconstruction Of The Rags To Riches Story Told From A Feminine Perspective
Much like Pain & Gain, Spring Breakers is a glossy, in-your-face parody of success and the American dream, but instead of being told through three bodybuilders, the movie follows four young women who just want the party to never end. A controversial film upon release, Harmony Korine’s crime comedy gained an almost instant cult following, as it is endlessly quotable and watchable. With its Florida setting and dreamy voice-over, Spring Breakers shares thematic elements and settings reminiscent of Pain Hustlers.
4 Boogie Nights
The Rise And Fall Of An Industry Told Through Colorful Characters
When it comes to riffs on the Scorsese rise and fall formula, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights is the most successful update and spin. Through the eyes of Mark Wahlberg’s Dirk Diggler, the film shows the rise and fall of the ’70s porn industry and the rise of VHS. With a supporting cast too long to list, a groovy soundtrack, and incredible filmmaking, Boogie Nights is one of the best movies from the 90s, which seems to have had some inspiration on Pain Hustlers‘ cast and characters.
3 Killing Them Softly
A Fictionalized Story That Represents The Darkest Elements Of America
One of the rare movies to receive an “F” Cinemascore, Killing Them Softly was marketed as a Brad Pitt action caper, when in reality it is a slow-burn examination of the American wealth system and its failings. Using a completely fictional story, the film manages to tap into the exact anxieties of the country as it entered the second term of President Obama. As the opioid crisis heightened and wealth inequality became unavoidable, this Andrew Dominik film is a perfect time capsule of this era that is still relevant today.
2 The Big Short
A True Story Of People Profiting Of The Suffrage Of Everyday Americans
Adam McKay’s true story-inspired satire The Big Short changed the way true story films were presented and told. Films like Pain Hustlers and Dumb Money are chasing after the style and pace of this 2015 award-winning film. Depicting the true story of the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the film uses dark humor and wacky characters to explore how something like this could happen in the American system, and the human factors behind it.
1 Lord Of War
Tackling One Of America’s Most Dangerous Industries Through An Entertaining Character
One of the best performances by Nicolas Cage is in this 2005 drama about an arms dealer. Andrew Niccol’s Lord of War takes a similar tone to Pain Hustlers but aims its sights at the war on terror. The opening montage following a bullet from construction to being fired cements its watchability alone, but what follows is a smart and tense thriller with incredible performances and a moral exploration of massive American industries.
