A few years ago – under the watchful eye of award-winning director Laura Poitras – artist Nan Goldin took on a clan of pharma billionaires in a campaign that was hard-hitting, nifty and visually dazzling. But, be warned, the best documentary of the year will leave you feeling emotionally wrecked.
Poitras is best known for Citizenfour, about the whistleblower Edward Snowden who went head to head with the US government. Goldin is up against the Sackler family, whose company, Purdue Pharma, engineered and profited from America’s opioid crisis. The vast wealth they accrued allowed the branches of the family involved in the company to spend millions on the arts, including in London, and thus elevate their status as great supporters of culture.
