So what does a hustler do? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition A a hustler is “one who obtains money by fraud or deceit.” While there are other definitions, this one in particular pertains to this story.

Netflix’s Pain Hustlers is a movie about a failing pharmaceutical company that hatches a plan to get rich and not go out of business. This film is actually inspired by the true events of the pharmaceutical company Insys and their product Subsys.

I was definitely excited to see this film as the director is David Yates directed multiple “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” films.

Though unlike the true story, the one David Yates tells in “Pain Hustlers” is completely driven with gaudy comedy. Something about this film is it made how the pharmaceutical world works, or at least one aspect, easy for the viewer to understand. The use of comedy helped with that.

The film stars Emily Blunt as Liza Drake, a struggling single mother and high school drop out. She is trying to make a good life for her daughter but has been unsuccessful. She meets Chris Evans character Pete Brenner when working at a strip club and he offers her a job at Zanna Therapeutics. The two hatch a plan to begin doing speaker programs and paying doctors to prescribe Zanna’s pain medication Lonafen to those who may not really need it.

In my opinion, the actors really carried this story with their portrayals. Evan’s character is very blunt, to the point, cocky, kinda full of himself, and just overall entertaining to watch. I never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. There were moments though Brenner had more of a kind and sweet side which Evans really helped show the differences in dynamic. Though I would have liked more if we saw more of him with his more humane side, if you will. Overall his character was great and I enjoyed his performance.

Blunt’s character was definitely a flawed protagonist but that made her so much more relatable to the audience. What I liked most about her character was, she wasn’t someone who who wants everyone to pity her life and the whole “oh woe is me” act; which in the beginning I thought maybe she would be. Her character is actually quite determined to do better for herself and her daughter despite the hardships. Drake says this phrase during the film which really stuck out to me,

“I will not give up on myself, I will not give up on my dreams, I will make my life count,” Emily Blunt as Eliza Drake in Pain Hustlers.

It stuck out because it shows that she wants to do better and doesn’t want to wait for others to do it for her. I like that quality in people in general so seeing it in a film was a nice change of pace. Nowadays, I noticed in multiple films that usually it’s the character has to really hit rock bottom before they change, but in Pain Hustlers Drake has that quality throughout the film.

I believe attaching this story to a main character really helped with making the audience understand the complex world of pharmaceuticals, as it makes it more human and not just some outside entity. It also helped with making it more simpler as the main character has NO medical experience or knowledge in that field.

There was an aspect in the film that I didn’t think was very needed for the story in the way it was told. They had the actors portray recorded interviews that was played in different parts of the film. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to portray the FBI interviews of the people involved or the interviews for the 2018 investigative article that started it all. It was unclear what the purpose was for so overall I don’t think it was needed, especially cause it was the actors doing it. If Yates took this film in a different way, it could have been more helpful to the story but with how this was done it was not needed.

It also took me a while to understand the premise of the film, it took me a while to start getting a grasp of what was going on. They do well with simplifying it for the audience once it got there but it took long. Which honestly makes sense as it’s we are learning it like Drake is. Whether that was intentional or not, it could be a plus in storytelling but also a minus in audience engagement.

I personally was more engaged with the first half of the film than the second, but the ending really brought me back with a dynamic switch in the mood. I think there was points that could have been a bit more stream lined to help keep the audience engaged in the second half.

Overall I enjoyed watching this, the actors really made this film. I would watch this again!

Grade: B+ 

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Here’s the trailer of the film.