diff --git a/src/ui/public/field_editor/field_editor.html b/src/ui/public/field_editor/field_editor.html
index 7de9ded73ada..11fb9144aa3c 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/field_editor/field_editor.html
+++ b/src/ui/public/field_editor/field_editor.html
@@ -147,16 +147,7 @@ <h4>
         </p>
 
         <p>
-          Kibana currently imposes one special limitation on the scripts you write. Your scripts must consist of a single expression. Multi-statement scripts with an explicit return statement will not work.
-          In other words, the above example is a valid script, but something like the following is not.
-        </p>
-
-        <p>
-          <strong>Invalid</strong><br/>
-          <code>
-            def myField = doc['some_field'].value;<br/>
-            return myField;
-          </code>
+          Kibana currently imposes one special limitation on the painless scripts you write. They cannot contain named functions.
         </p>
 
         <p>
diff --git a/src/ui/public/filter_manager/__tests__/filter_manager.js b/src/ui/public/filter_manager/__tests__/filter_manager.js
index a27b56ff6926..9b13b1575350 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/filter_manager/__tests__/filter_manager.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/filter_manager/__tests__/filter_manager.js
@@ -120,7 +120,8 @@ describe('Filter Manager', function () {
       meta: {index: 'myIndex', negate: false, field: 'scriptedField'},
       script: {
         script: {
-          inline: '(' + scriptedField.script + ') == params.value',
+          inline: `boolean compare(Supplier s, def v) {return s.get() == v;}
+                        compare(() -> { ${scriptedField.script} }, params.value);`,
           lang: scriptedField.lang,
           params: {value: 1}
         }
diff --git a/src/ui/public/filter_manager/filter_manager.js b/src/ui/public/filter_manager/filter_manager.js
index 6d8486f39dbc..51b0ed0231e5 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/filter_manager/filter_manager.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/filter_manager/filter_manager.js
@@ -54,13 +54,17 @@ export default function (Private) {
           break;
         default:
           if (field.scripted) {
-            // painless expects params.value while groovy and expression languages expect value.
-            const valueClause = field.lang === 'painless' ? 'params.value' : 'value';
+            // We must wrap painless scripts in a lambda in case they're more than a simple expression
+            let script = `(${field.script}) == value`;
+            if (field.lang === 'painless') {
+              script = `boolean compare(Supplier s, def v) {return s.get() == v;}
+                        compare(() -> { ${field.script} }, params.value);`;
+            }
             filter = {
               meta: { negate: negate, index: index, field: fieldName },
               script: {
                 script: {
-                  inline: '(' + field.script + ') == ' + valueClause,
+                  inline: script,
                   lang: field.lang,
                   params: {
                     value: value
diff --git a/src/ui/public/filter_manager/lib/phrase.js b/src/ui/public/filter_manager/lib/phrase.js
index b9e9cc92fa57..2a98a9bec0fb 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/filter_manager/lib/phrase.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/filter_manager/lib/phrase.js
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ export default function buildPhraseFilter(field, value, indexPattern) {
   let filter = { meta: { index: indexPattern.id} };
 
   if (field.scripted) {
-    // painless expects params.value while groovy and expression languages expect value.
-    const valueClause = field.lang === 'painless' ? 'params.value' : 'value';
-
     // See https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/20941 and https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/8677
     // for the reason behind this change. ES doesn't handle boolean types very well, so they come
     // back as strings.
@@ -17,8 +14,15 @@ export default function buildPhraseFilter(field, value, indexPattern) {
       convertedValue = value === 'true' ? true : false;
     }
 
+    // We must wrap painless scripts in a lambda in case they're more than a simple expression
+    let script = `(${field.script}) == value`;
+    if (field.lang === 'painless') {
+      script = `boolean compare(Supplier s, def v) {return s.get() == v;}
+                compare(() -> { ${field.script} }, params.value);`;
+    }
+
     _.set(filter, 'script.script', {
-      inline: '(' + field.script + ') == ' + valueClause,
+      inline: script,
       lang: field.lang,
       params: {
         value: convertedValue
diff --git a/src/ui/public/filter_manager/lib/range.js b/src/ui/public/filter_manager/lib/range.js
index deec58b70319..c3c69145f7ac 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/filter_manager/lib/range.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/filter_manager/lib/range.js
@@ -34,12 +34,24 @@ export default function buildRangeFilter(field, params, indexPattern, formattedV
     };
 
     const knownParams = _.pick(params, (val, key) => { return key in operators; });
-    const script = _.map(knownParams, function (val, key) {
-      // painless expects params.[key] while groovy and expression languages expect [key] only.
-      const valuePrefix = field.lang === 'painless' ? 'params.' : '';
-      return '(' + field.script + ')' + operators[key] + valuePrefix + key;
+    let script = _.map(knownParams, function (val, key) {
+      return '(' + field.script + ')' + operators[key] + key;
     }).join(' && ');
 
+    // We must wrap painless scripts in a lambda in case they're more than a simple expression
+    if (field.lang === 'painless') {
+      const comparators = `boolean gt(Supplier s, def v) {return s.get() > v;}
+                           boolean gte(Supplier s, def v) {return s.get() >= v;}
+                           boolean lte(Supplier s, def v) {return s.get() <= v;}
+                           boolean lt(Supplier s, def v) {return s.get() < v;}`;
+
+      const comparisons = _.map(knownParams, function (val, key) {
+        return `${key}(() -> { ${field.script} }, params.${key})`;
+      }).join(' && ');
+
+      script = `${comparators}${comparisons}`;
+    }
+
     const value = _.map(knownParams, function (val, key) {
       return operators[key] + field.format.convert(val);
     }).join(' ');