Murdaugh: Death in the Family – Series Review | Hulu

MURDAUGH: DEATH IN THE FAMILY on Hulu is a new crime thriller series based on the infamous true crime case. The casting of Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette in the lead is pure genius. Overall, this works much better than I ever expected. Read our Murdaugh: Death in the Family series review here!

MURDAUGH: DEATH IN THE FAMILY is a new Hulu series with eight episodes. It premieres with the first three, and then weekly releases will follow. The first episode is good, but the next is even better, and you should definitely be hooked by the third.

This is extremely well-produced and even better written. Always with a focus on the facts of the case, while trying to give us more background about all the key people in the case.

Impressively, this crime, thriller, drama hybrid doesn’t feel over-the-top at all. Despite the true crime case being similar to something out of a soap opera.

Continue reading our Murdaugh: Death in the Family series review below. Start watching on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ now.

All about keeping up appearances

Murdaugh: Death in the Family is based on a true crime case so wild in its Southern ways that it was bound to be turned into a fictionalized series. We meet Maggie (Patricia Arquette) and Alex Murdaugh (Jason Clarke) enjoying life, but that will soon change.

It’s a very lavish life of privilege with all the Southern flair that comes with being members of one of South Carolina’s most powerful legal dynasties. However, life is about to change drastically for the Murdaughs. Not for the first time, mind you, but this time it’s different.

Their son, Paul (Johnny Berchtold), is involved in a deadly boat crash. He was drinking and at the wheel when the accident happened, which means the family is faced with a challenge of murderous proportions.

Before this, other challenges had come their way, but whether financial or legal, the Murdaughs always knew someone who could help make it all “go away”. Now, a reporter is noticing a strange pattern, and their decade-long immunity appears to be over.

Much better than expected

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Murdaugh: Murder in the Family, as I’ve already watched several documentaries about the Murdaugh case. In that sense, the case (or cases, I should say) is already familiar to me. As are the key people.

Something I am certain is the case for many other viewers. Whenever something is already so well-known to many, it’s impossible not to disappoint some viewers as well.

I mean, just look at the most recent season of Monster on Netflix, which is all about Ed Gein. Some people love that it focuses on the pop culture (and horror movies) influence of this one person, while others focus on which facts are accurate.

WANT MORE ON THE MURDAUGHS?

Read our review of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal here >

What’s important to remember is that these productions are not documentaries, but fictionalized and dramatized takes on real events. And yet, Murdaugh: Murder in the Family does stay fairly close to the facts.

Maybe because there is so much to guide this story.

Also, you could not make something up that was wilder than what this family lived and did. When real life is wilder than fiction, and facts are already known, there is no need to add much “color” to the story.

The casting becomes one of the most important elements, and while every single actor delivers amazing performances in Murdaugh: Murder in the Family, Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette, in the lead roles, are absolutely amazing. Simply perfect casting.

Watch Murdaugh: Murder in the Family on Hulu and Disney+ now

This new Hulu series was inspired by the popular “Murdaugh Murders Podcast”. This fictionalized series comes from co-creator and showrunner Michael D. Fuller (Locke & Key) and co-creator Erin Lee Carr (I’m Not a Monster, Mommy Dead and Dearest).

Executive producers include Nick Antosca (The Act, Antlers, Candy) and Alex Hedlund (Brand New Cherry Flavor). Also serving as executive producers are the stars of the series: Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke.

Alongside these two amazing stars, we also see Brittany Snow as journalist Mandy Matney. She was also the one who made the podcast this series is inspired by. Overall, the entire cast of this Hulu series is just amazing, which is a huge reason why it works so well.

After all, the job of these actors is to help us understand the people in this dreadful crime better. Not to forgive them, but to possibly avoid anything similar happening again. As long as power (often via money) trumps law, this will never happen, but one can hope.

Murdaugh: Murder in the Family debuts on Hulu/Disney+ on October 15, 2025.

Details

Showrunner: Michael D. Fuller
Creators: Michael D. Fuller & Erin Lee Carr
Directors: Steven Piet, Kat Candler, Erin Lee Carr, Ingrid Jungermann, Jennifer Lynch
Cast: Patricia Arquette, Jason Clarke, Johnny Berchtold, Will Harrison, Brittany Snow, J. Smith-Cameron, Gerald McRaney, Noah Emmerich