The Hunting Wives is a new murder mystery-drama that just hit the 2025 TV schedule. Following in the footsteps of other deliciously scandalous female-led soap operas, the new Netflix series stars Brittany Snow as Sophie, who feels out of place after relocating to Texas, until she meets Malin Akerman’s Margo. Strap in for an unexpected saga of sex, drugs and debauchery — all leading to murder — that critics seem to think is a trip down South worth taking.
I have to admit, The Hunting Wives wasn’t really on my radar; as a Texas transplant myself, I don’t need to fire up my Netflix subscription to experience red state social politics. I may have underestimated just how juicy the series gets, though, because after reading what critics have to say about the book-to-screen adaptation, it sounds like the binge I didn’t know I needed. Angie Han of THR calls it “pure over-the-top fun,” writing:
The series is far less concerned about making us feel or think very deeply than it is with satisfying our voyeuristic craving for beautiful rich people behaving very, very badly — as these do in spades, oscillating with lizard-brain impulsivity between unbridled lust and white-hot fury. While The Hunting Wives has some decent jokes, I more often found myself giggling at its utter outrageousness, and its total disinterest in playing anything coy.
Saloni Gajjar of AV Club gives it a B, saying The Hunting Wives “screams guilty pleasure with its ludicrous characters and situations,” offering nothing but escapism. Gajjar continues:
A common factor in such sudsy thrillers is female protagonists (as opposed to only men) engaging in reckless, dangerous behavior. The eponymous wives here pass their time shooting guns, getting high, and partying into the late hours of the night, complete with body shots and flirting with dudes (or, perhaps, entangling in an affair or two). Consequences are the last thing on anyone’s mind—until a brutal killing that could bring their shenanigans into the limelight.
Lacy Baugher Milas of Paste rates it a 7.0, writing that there’s something propulsive about a show that so unabashedly delights in the worst excesses of its characters. It exists solely to entertain, which it does with “utterly outlandish shock twists.” The critic says:
Dramas about Rich People Problems are a dime a dozen these days, but unlike many of its ilk, The Hunting Wives never takes itself too seriously. It openly acknowledges that most (if not all) of its characters are fairly deplorable people in one way or another, and never asks any of them to be any better than they have to be. Instead, it revels in their worst excesses, cattiest behavior, and overt social power plays, seemingly expecting that viewers will do the same.
Nick Schager of the Daily Beast says everything’s bigger in Texas, including this series that’s “stuffed with sex, murder, betrayal, duplicity, and deep, dark secrets that threaten to destroy the lives of its well-off characters.” Schager enthusiastically recommends this story of secrets and scandals, writing:
Arriving shortly after the streamer’s Sirens (with which it shares more than a few similarities), it’s an eminently watchable beach read-y affair that makes up for its lack of originality with bold, brash red-state attitude. … A mix of luxury, lust, deception, and deviousness that’s scored to country ditties and paced so swiftly that its energy never dips, the series gets its hooks in early and rarely loosens its grip.
Alison Herman of Variety calls The Hunting Wives a “very zany, very gay” red-state murder mystery, whose political culture clash remains its most interesting element, despite the hovering murder mystery. Herman says:
Twist after twist keeps the story constantly in motion, at the expense of both texture and basic coherence, until the season ends on an oddly open note — less hanging over a cliff than trailing off into the ether. It’s too bad though. Plenty of shows feature a killer. Not so many blend Trump supporters with lesbian trysts.
From what critics are saying about the series playing into our voyeuristic cravings, its outlandish plot twists and women behaving badly, The Hunting Wives seems primed to become one of the best shows to binge on Netflix. All eight episodes are available to stream now.
