Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for its Chris Evans-starring movie Pain Hustlers – and it proves he's well and truly put the role of Captain America behind him.
The teaser, which you can watch below, gives us another look at Evans' superb acting range. The former Marvel actor famously played everyone's favorite shield-wielding superhero for years, but since departing the MCU he's largely tackled roles of the morally gray to downright evil variety. And, based on this trailer for Netflix's latest crime drama, it seems his character in Pain Hustlers is cut from a similar cloth.
Watch the trailer for one of 2023's new Netflix movies now:
There's not a lot to glean from the 60-second-long teaser, outside of it being another medical-based crime drama, which as well as Evans stars the supremely talented Emily Blunt and Andy Garcia. Oh, and the fact that it's giving us huge medical-based Wolf of Wall Street vibes – and if it's half as good as that film was, it won't be long before Pain Hustlers is part of our best Netflix movies guide.
So, what's Pain Hustlers about? We're glad you asked. According to an official Netflix press release, the film sees Blunt play Liza Drake, "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 upwards 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 (Chloe Coleman), and a growing awareness of the devastation the company is causing forces Liza to examine her choices."
Your pain is their payday. Pain Hustlers, starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans, drops October 27. pic.twitter.com/3FHX5ncQoLSeptember 5, 2023
Since bowing out of the MCU in 2019's Avengers: Endgame, Evans has more regularly played characters with vindictive motives or those who operate in the 'bad guy' camp. 2019's Knives Out, which saw him portray the mysterious Ransom Drysdale, and 2022's The Gray Man, in which Evans played the main villain Lloyd Hansen, are two such projects that allowed the A-list actor to flex his acting muscles. We'll get to see how Brenner compares to that duo when Pain Hustlers debuts later this year.
But this isn't the Evans show by any means. We expect Blunt, who plays the lead in this film, to be on typically top-tier form and bring her own slice of emotional and dramatic gravitas to proceedings. There's not a lot Blunt can't do, so we expect her to bring as much energy, moral complexity, and depth to Drake as Evans does to Brenner.
Joining Evans, Blunt, Garcia, and Coleman on the cast list are Catherine O'Hara, Jay Duplass, Brian d'Arcy James, Amit Shah, Aubray Dollar, and Willie Raysor. Curiously, David Yates – yes, the director behind some of the Harry Potter movies – helmed production on the movie.
Wells Tower makes his feature-film screenplay debut with Pain Hustlers, but he has a storied history of writing numerous non-fiction works. Tower's script is based on the book of the same name – or, to give its full title, Pain Hustlers: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup – by Evans Hughes.
Pain Hustlers will launch globally on Netflix on Friday, October 27.
