“Dopesick,” Hulu’s gritty and captivating drama focusing on the opioid crisis in America through the prism of Purdue Pharma’s oxycontin saga, is filmed mostly in stages painstakingly transformed to represent places both sprawling and quaint. While it does incorporate visuals from real locales that bear a weight with their authenticity, a significant piece of the narrative landscape – Finch Creek – exists solely within the world created by creator Danny Strong and his team.
Finch Creek, where addiction tragically claws its way through everyday life for generations of struggling residents, is less a location pinned on a map and more a symbolic embodiment. Its small-town grit serves as an illustration of the far-reaching impact of opioids – shattering unsuspecting communities no matter where they’re found. By grounding “Dopesick” in fabricated locales like Finch Creek, the story transcends its roots in specific locations and becomes a universal portrait of societal collapse wrought by addiction, economic despair, and pharmaceutical negligence.
However, while Finch Creek is made-up, “Dokesick” doesn’t shy away from leveraging actual sites for weight and immediacy. Pittsburgh provides the backdrop for central scenes depicting Sackler family wealth mingled with their insidious opioid pushers in corporate hallways. Richmond serves up its own slice of truth when presenting glimpses into communities ravaged by addiction and those battling against injustice within the healthcare system.
These elements, both fictional place and real-life grounding, allow “Dopesick” to operate on multiple levels, simultaneously captivating as a thrilling crime saga and offering a haunting reflection on one of America’s most pressing societal issues. It’s in this unique blend of fabricated tragedy and meticulously researched reality that “Dopesick” truly finds its power. In essence, it’s not about pointing to a definitive place on the map, but rather highlighting the pervasive nature of the opioid crisis – a story that stretches across all locations yet tragically concentrates in every unseen corner like Finch Creek.