By Sarmind Safi
Pain Hustlers is an upcoming film slated to release theatrically initially and on Netflix soon after. It stars Chris Evans and Emily Blunt in lead roles. The film is directed by BAFTA-winning director David Yates, with the screenplay written by Wells Tower. The film is based on the book Hard Sell, written by Evan Hughes. It was published in 2022.
Pain Hustlers Production Details
Yates and Lawrence Grey are co-producing the film with their respective companies, Wychwood Media and Grey Matter Productions. Emily Blunt is the executive producer alongside Mark Moran, Yvonne Walcott-Yates, Lewis Taylor, and Ben Everard. The cast of Pain Hustlers includes Catherine O’Hara, Chloe Coleman, Jay Duplass, Brian d’Arcy James, Amit Shah, Aubrey Dollar, Willie Raysor, and Andy Garcia.
The highly anticipated Pain Hustlers movie is set to be released next month on c. Fans of Chris Evans and Emily Blunt have been eagerly waiting for this moment, and it’s safe to say that the hype is real.
What We Can Expect
Netflix describes the film in the following words: “Liza Drake (Blunt) is a blue-collar single mom who has just lost her job and is at the end of her rope. A chance meeting with pharmaceutical sales rep Pete Brenner (Evans) puts her on an upward trajectory economically but dubious path ethically as she becomes entangled in a dangerous racketeering scheme. Dealing with her increasingly unhinged boss (Garcia), the worsening medical condition of her daughter (Coleman), and a growing awareness of the devastation the company is causing forces Liza to examine her choices. Pain Hustlers is a sharp and revealing look at what some people do out of desperation and others do out of greed.”
The OTT platform shared the trailer on Twitter (now X), captioning it, “To get high, you have to go low. Emily Blunt and Chris Evans star in a desperate story of American excess. Pain Hustlers premieres October 27.”
What We Know So Far
Pain Hustlers takes a peek into how two pharmaceutical drug sales reps unwittingly set into motion the severe opioid crises in America while they were desperate for cash. The story talks about how capitalism runs amuck and ultimately leads to one of the worst drug epidemics in America. It is set to premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 11, 2023. On Netflix, it will arrive later, on October 27, 2023.
The Pain Hustlers movie focuses on the character Liza Drake, played by Emily Blunt– a blue-collar single mother who is unemployed and is having a hard time making ends meet. When she meets the salesman Pete Brenner, a relationship ensues that takes her down a shady path of pharmaceutical racketeering.
Liza works as a dancer at a bar, and she meets Pete, the opportunistic drug salesman from a dying pharmaceutical firm. He hires Liza to promote a new painkiller intended to provide pain relief to patients, citing he has an intuition telling him she has the talent required for the job.
Liza has a hard time trying to make her first doctor recommend the drug produced by the firm. She breaks the code and creates a new sleazy playbook to convince doctors to write prescriptions, recommending the drug. Soon, she becomes a pool of talent that attracts doctors and takes her to new heights of success all over America.
She soon realizes the damage she is causing, and it complicates her relationship with Brenner, who now sees her as more than just a coworker. The Pain Hustlers trailer already gives a peek into the exemplary work put in by both the lead actors. Liza, being the gray character who has to bend the rules to suit her interests, makes the character stand out.
Director’s Cut
Director Yates explained, “Emily loved the character, and she loved the idea of this story. I think what appealed to her more than anything was the fact that we were not taking a very straightforward approach to the story. It’s a bit subversive, it’s a bit naughty, it’s got some humor at play. She said, ‘You know what, David? I’m so sick of seeing leading female characters who have to be so honorable and straightforward.'”
Yates added further, “What she loved about Liza is she’s sometimes a little bit shady to get the deal done and fulfill her ambition, and she gets taken up by the whole rollercoaster of it. And I think what we both love about that character is the fact that Liza is fallible, ultimately, and she sort of loses her way a little bit in the moral maze of it all. And I think Emily was excited by creating that character for the audience to see a woman who’s fallible and culpable and accountable for her actions.”
Chris Evans, too, is playing an unusual role that is much more complex than the ones he has been playing lately. It definitely looks exciting, and we can safely expect a good Netflix watch. He has had a blast of a career since playing Captain America in the MCU. But he has also played some interesting roles in Snowpiercer, Knives Out, and Sunshine, shutting his critics down who say he relies on a franchise to keep his portfolio alive. Chris Evans films have been quite successful and well-received by film critics in his latest outings.
Emily Blunt may not have been a part of any significant MCU franchise, but her acting chops are a known phenomenon. She has a diverse range of sci-fi hits to her name, like Edge of Tomorrow, Looper, and A Quiet Place, to dramas like Sicario, The Girl On The Train, and Oppenheimer.
The two actors are a great casting for such an off-beat role. They have both demonstrated their talent for handling any genre. Pain Hustlers can potentially lay bare the dirty truth of the pharma industry while also offering some timely humor to keep things balanced.
Wrapping Up
Overall, Pain Hustlers sounds like a must-watch movie– it is timely, it has a talented cast, and the story sounds pretty compelling. Watching Emily way outside of her element, desperate as a single mother, will be realistically refreshing. It will also be a departure from Chris Evans’s usual superhero roles– he will flex his acting way more than his muscles.
What are your thoughts? If you have ideas to share or questions to ask, please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you!
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