Michael Stuhlbarg’s Unhinged Performance Is Why You Should Watch ‘Dopesick’

Dopesick is a hard show to embrace. After showing the callousness of Purdue Pharma, the drama about the rise of the opioid epidemic leaves an uncomfortable, semi-cloying aftertaste. Is this a respectful depiction of Appalachia? Or is this a too simple, too Hollywood version of this region of America? But there’s one person who is single-handedly making this complicated series appointment viewing: Michael Stuhlbarg, whatever the hell you’re doing, it’s absolutely working.

Stuhlbarg plays one of the few real people in this half-fictionalized saga, Richard Sackler. A billionaire who was the president and chairman of Purdue Pharma, Sackler was the man who heralded the development and deployment of OxyContin. At first glance, it’s a great impression. In most of his media appearances, including his eight-hour deposition, Sackler’s neutral expression is one of a seemingly practiced frown. He speaks in low tones, pausing at odd intervals between his answers. It’s an ever-unpredictable cadence that Stuhlbarg has mastered. Yet it’s the intensity the actor brings to the role that elevates his portrayal of a man Vanity Fair has called a “pharma villain” to another level entirely.

Whenever Stuhlbarg’s Richard Sackler appears in a scene, it’s never clear if he fully understands what’s happening. Often Stuhlbarg’s version of Sackler looks slightly to the side or right above a fellow actor’s eye line. He routinely mumbles things that are incomprehensible to the worker bees around him. When people tell him that the FDA is refusing to approve the drug, Sackler quietly reassures them that they’ll figure this out because OxyContin is “an excellent drug”, a response that seems to miss the point of their concern. Another time, he demands that OxyContin needs to become an approved drug in Germany. His closest advisors and his own brothers practically beg him to reconsider, repeating time and time again that his demand is impossible due to Germany’s tough regulation rules. Emotionlessly, Sackler repeats that it has to be Germany before drifting out of the room.

This floating through life even happens during some of Sackler’s most dramatic scenes. In what should be an emotional moment, Sackler monotonously confides in his advisor that, “If OxyContin does what I think it can… it’s going to be bigger than anything Uncle Arthur ever dreamed.”

There’s a pause before that advisor nervously reminds Sackler that Arthur Sackler is dead. As Sackler stares unblinkingly forward, it’s unclear if he heard his advisor, if he cares, or — most hauntingly of all — if he even knows if his own uncle isn’t alive. The result is a type of horror villain rarely depicted on screen.

Stuhlbarg’s version of Richard Sackler is either one of the most brilliant, cutthroat corporate masterminds of all time, or an unhinged lunatic. Those are the two options, and it’s nearly impossible to determine which interpretation is correct. The effect is much like watching a non-murderous Patrick Bateman freaking out about business cards in American Psycho. Much like Christian Bale’s iconic role, you know that this man is playing by a different and bizarre set of rules in a world where capitalism is king. But it’s always impossible to know if these deranged yet controlled responses are over-the-top, or some version of normal in this realm. The result is a character you can never predict and always dread. But whereas Patrick Bateman eventually released his anger and hostility through murder, for Dopesick’s Richard Sackler it just builds, making every passing episode feel more and more tense as he feels less and less human.

So much of Dopesick is characterized by tropes we’ve seen too many times before. There’s Michael Keaton’s good guy small town doctor, Kaitlyn Dever’s sad closeted lesbian in love, Rosario Dawson’s tough cop looking for the truth, and Will Poulter’s morally conflicted businessman. You can’t say that about Stuhlbarg’s performance. In some moments, Stuhlbarg’s pharma president feels like a crazed super-villain. Other times he’s a small, spoiled child in the midst of a budding temper tantrum. Still others he feels like the only adult in the roomful of toddlers. Then the next moment he feels akin to a mentally ill man who’s losing his grip on reality. Still one more time, he feels like an alien trying to fit into human life. These changes happen in seconds.

No matter which direction Stuhlbarg takes in his arsenal of hundreds, Richard Sackler always leaves you feeling unsettled, scared, and a bit gross. It’s a portrayal that’s more than brilliant; it’s inspired. It may also be the saving grace of this otherwise often predictable show.

Watch Dopesick on Hulu