WATCH AND WEEP –
Nov. 10, 2021 – We have the government: Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy Ramseyer (John Hoogenakker) and Rick Mountcastle (Peter Sarsgaard) and their new boss John Brownlee (Jake McDorman), all based on real people who saw the crisis brewing in Virginia and took steps to stop it; and DEA Agent Bridget Meyer (Rosario Dawson), an amalgamation of several real-life personalities. Working in the Diversion department, Bridget is the tenacious public servant pushing against a corrupt and complacent agency refusing to address a growing crisis.
And finally, we have the citizens of one of those vulnerable areas, a small mining community in Virginia: beloved small-town doctor and widower Dr. Samuel Finnix (Michael Keaton) and then one of his patients, Besty Mallum (Kaitlyn Dever), a miner prescribed Oxy following a work injury.
Betsy and Dr. Finnix are fictional characters and neither appears in Macy’s book, although they are likely inspired by her work chronicling the opioid-impacted citizens of Lee County, Virginia.
