Netflix has brought online the new trailer and poster for Pain Hustlers, opening in select theaters on October 20 and launching on the streaming service October 27.
Pain Hustlers is rated R for language throughout, some sexual content, nudity and drug use.
In the film, Liza Drake (Emily 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 (Chris Evans) puts her on an upwards trajectory economically but dubious path ethically as she becomes entangled in a dangerous racketeering scheme.
Dealing with her increasingly unhinged boss (Andy Garcia), the worsening medical condition of her daughter (Chloe 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 film is directed by BAFTA award winner David Yates from a script by Wells Tower.
The producers include Lawrence Grey and David Yates, with Emily Blunt, Mark Moran, Yvonne Walcott-Yates, Lewis Taylor, and Ben Everard executive producing.
Based on the book by Evan Hughes (buy now at Amazon), the cast also includes Catherine O’Hara, Jay Duplass, Brian d’Arcy James, Amit Shah, Aubrey Dollar, and Willie Raysor.
“From the very first minute of talking to Emily I knew we’d found our Liza Drake,” David Yates told Netflix’s Tudum previously.
He continued: “Emily was inspired by the character and the world, and along with Chris shared our vision of realizing a film that was both entertaining yet had some serious and thought-provoking things to say about the opioid crisis.”
“I was intrigued by the pharma world, particularly the low-rent end of it, the workaday reps and sales teams striving to make a living in a hugely competitive business of dealing with people’s pain.”
Yates added. “I loved the characters [screenwriter Wells Tower] was creating on the page, and his writing.”
“Emily was probably the most prepared actor I’ve ever worked with,” Yates said. “She comes to set with a game plan every single day and knows exactly what she wants to explore in the architecture of the human being that she’s playing.”
“Casting Chris Evans for that was a delight because his clean-cut, alpha male, heroic demeanor is completely turned on its head when you cast him as a sleazebag pharma sales rep,” Yates added.
“I’d seen him do a couple of things that really surprised me previously. I love seeing an actor do something surprising.”
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.