Published Feb 6, 2026, 7:00 AM EST
Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant's Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones.
You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, "Movie Monsters of the Deep."
Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant.
Hulu's Dopesick tackles some of the most disturbing subject matter in any TV drama, but it makes for a worthwhile binge-watch. While it is not as gory and violent as some of Hulu's other great true crime drama shows, it displays the coldness and lack of empathy of some of the most powerful people in an American drug company.
While the show is a dramatization, many of the characters in Dopesick are based on real people, and the acting in the series has been widely praised, especially when it comes to Michael Keaton, who plays the composite character Samuel Finnix. The show has excellent critical reviews and a 94% positive audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Dopesick can be binged in just eight hours.
What Is Dopesick About?
Dopesick follows multiple interconnected stories, including a well-meaning doctor, an injured coal miner, a naive pharmaceutical representative, and a DEA agent. America's opioid crisis is often presented from a faraway viewpoint or shown in the news. The way Dopesick humanizes the people involved, showing how different events are linked, is masterful storytelling, making it one of Hulu's must-watch TV shows.
Dopesick is a relatively rare TV show that appropriately addresses mental health, centering on addiction and the way it impacts different communities. However, many other shows tackling this subject focus on one individual and their immediate connections, while Dopesick looks deeper. The show is based on true events and looks into the aggressive marketing campaign and subsequent lawsuits that surrounded a highly addictive painkiller.
Dopesick's Real-Life Inspiration Explained
The show is partly based on Beth Macy's non-fiction book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America. It is a harrowing look into America's opioid crisis, showing the many ways in which people became addicted to drugs like OxyContin and how this crisis had a wide-reaching effect on society. OxyContin was marketed as a safe painkiller, but it was dangerously addictive.
While many characters were composites, the Sackler family is real and has been described as "the most evil family in America." Dopesick follows the lawsuits and accusations against the Sackler family, which include covering up the dangers of OxyContin and encouraging pharmacists to over-prescribe it. The show makes the complex legal battles easier to understand, but it is likely to make you angry.
Dopesick Is Not An Easy Watch
Dopesick deals with a very heavy topic, and many of the characters' stories are heartbreaking, like that of Samuel, who prescribes OxyContin in good faith but becomes addicted himself, and Betsy, who suffers an injury and turns to heroin as a cheaper alternative to OxyContin. Kaitlyn Dever was nominated for an Emmy Award for her portrayal of the tragic character.
While there are some excellent drama shows with happy endings, Dopesick is not one of them. Many viewers will feel that the characters responsible have not received justice, and some legal battles are still ongoing. This could provide material for a Dopesick season 2, and while this has not yet been made, Dopesick is still a perfect and important show for a weekend binge.
English (US) ·