Synopsis
Three stories about the world of opioids collide: a drug trafficker arranges a multi-cartel Fentanyl smuggling operation between Canada and the U.S., an architect recovering from an OxyContin addiction tracks down the truth behind her son's involvement with narcotics, and a university professor battles unexpected revelations about his research employer, a drug company with deep government influence bringing a new "non-addictive" painkiller to market.
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Cast
- Gary OldmanDr. Tyrone Brower
- Armie HammerJake Kelly
- Evangeline LillyClaire Reimann
- Greg KinnearDean Talbot
- Michelle RodriguezSupervisor Garrett
- Luke EvansDr. Bill Simons
- Lily-Rose DeppEmmie Kelly
- Guy NadonMother
- Veronica FerresDr. Meg Holmes
- Kid CudiBen Walker
Recommendations
- 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Ultimately, none of the storylines offers a surprise or tells us anything we don't already know, this many years into America's opioid ordeal. And arriving at a moment when Crisis could refer to so many other calamities, its failure to illuminate anything makes it feel like a distraction. - 50
IndieWire
These stories are all tragic and sad and complex, and more than worthy of innumerable explorations. Many of them are even present in this film, even if nothing about them satisfies. Consider this one a crisis of its own: a well-meaning look at a world that never goes deeper than the surface. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
It’s a more modest Traffic in several ways, adequate at what it tries to say about this dirty business but light on the wider scope of the suffering that it causes. Because there actually is a crisis, maybe it should be addressed with more of an emphasis on authentic details than on genre conventions. - 50
The New York Times
The film is well-paced but often strains credulity. - 50
Movie Nation
The three stories could each have been their own movie, and probably a more compelling one than this mash-up turns out to be. Everybody gets in everybody else’s way for the first two and a half acts. - 50
The Film Stage
There is an honest bleakness to Jarecki’s tale that certainly matches the tragedy of the real-life opioid crisis, though all of it feels surface level. Without a central rooting interest that’s engaging, all of the drama suffers. There’s plenty to admire in Crisis, just not enough to recommend. - 40
Los Angeles Times
Whatever its goals, the filmmaking is uninspired. It’s heavily reliant on clichés, especially in its use of score, the lone-wolf cop and familiar devices to build tension. - 40
CNN
The tragedy associated with such stories could provide fertile territory, theoretically, for a good drama about what went wrong and who's ultimately responsible. That movie might get made someday, but Crisis isn't it.
