Murdaugh: Death in the Family review - a dynasty unraveling on Hulu
We all know the headline version: wealth, power, then a boat crash, a double murder, and a community's patience wearing thin. Hulu's Murdaugh: Death in the Family (movies and tv series) isn't here to solve the case so much as show how a picture-perfect Lowcountry legacy cracked in plain sight - and what that felt like up close.
It starts with a 911 call. Jason Clarke (movies and tv series)'s Alex Murdaugh says he's found his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, shot dead. From there, the series rewinds to the lead-up - the drug abuse, the missing money, and the aftermath of Paul's deadly boating accident - and asks a simple, ugly question: how far can influence stretch when the stakes are life and death?
What the series covers
Spanning 2019 to 2023, the show toggles between timelines and crimes tied to one South Carolina legal dynasty. There's Paul's role in the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach. There's Alex's opioid addiction and embezzlement. And there's Buster, the eldest, trying to keep a grip on a family name that's slipping through his fingers.
It's based on Mandy Matney's reporting and podcast, with Brittany Snow (movies and tv series) playing Matney as the story breaks in real time. That lens - the podcast as both character and catalyst - keeps the pressure on as secrets go public faster than anyone can control.
How it plays
This is very much part of the pipeline we keep seeing: podcast to doc to drama. And while that can feel familiar, the show still pulls you in by staging key beats with steady, unshowy tension. Some stretches hum like a network movie-of-the-week; others lean gritty, with shades of Ozark or Breaking Bad's slow-burn rot.
Does it color inside the lines of true-crime TV? Yeah. But the pieces fit well enough that you keep watching, even when you already know the broad strokes.
Performances hold the center
Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette (movies and tv series) do the heavy lifting. Clarke sinks into Alex's contradictions - the practiced charm, the frayed nerves - while Arquette gives Maggie real texture instead of reducing her to a headline. Together, they make you second-guess motives in scenes that might've felt flat in other hands.
The bench is strong, too: Will Harrison (movies and tv series), Brittany Snow, Jim O'Heir (movies and tv series), Mark Pellegrino (movies and tv series), Noah Emmerich (movies and tv series), J. Smith-Cameron (movies and tv series), and Gerald McRaney (movies and tv series). The ensemble nails the specific Southern polish - polite, confident, and, at times, chillingly sure the rules will bend.
Who's behind it
- Producer: Nick Antosca (movies and tv series) (The Act, Candy, A Friend of the Family)
- Created by: Michael D. Fuller (Locke & Key) and Erin Lee Carr (movies and tv series) (Stormy)
- Directors: Steven Piet, Ingrid Jungermann (movies and tv series), Kat Candler, Erin Lee Carr, Jennifer Lynch (movies and tv series)
- Writers include: Anna Fishko, David Gabriel (movies and tv series), Tika Peterson, Alana B. Lytle (movies and tv series), Bashir Gavriel (movies and tv series), Gabrielle Costa
The catch
There's so much true-crime TV right now that even a case this wild can feel… expected. Setting parts of it against the early COVID years adds a strange time-capsule quality - recent but already distant. The show doesn't bring a bold new angle, but it does keep the stakes clear and the questions sharp.
Maybe that's the point. Because the real story here is how a family's influence can cushion bad decisions - until it can't.
Should you watch?
If you cover or program crime TV, this is an easy slot: high interest, strong leads, clean structure. Eight episodes total, with six out now. It plays best weekly, where each hour leaves you stewing on who knew what, and when.
Murdaugh: Death in the Family is now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes on Wednesdays. Verdict: Good - 7/10.
Context, if you need it
New to the case? A quick primer on Alex Murdaugh and the Murdaugh family helps frame the show's timeline and why this story gripped the country.
