TV Review: Hulu's New Murdaugh Dramatization Does Little to Stand Out Against Countless Other Docs and Retellings of Same Story
When the trailer for Hulu’s new series, Murdaugh: Death In The Family, arrived, I had to wonder what makes this different from the countless other similar offerings adapting the same true-crime tale. Nearly every other platform has covered it. HBO Max has two documentaries Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty and The Murdaugh Family Murders; Discovery/ID has Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty; Netflix brought Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal; even Tubi has an original - The Murdaugh Murders - a retelling where a journalist interviews patriarch Alex Murdaugh about the murders of his wife and son, uncovering a web of lies. Lifetime had a dramatic two part film, Murdaugh Murders: The Movie, starring Bill Pullman, covering the key events that lead up to the murders of the family.
Every now and then, I think of moments like Pixar’s A Bug’s Life and Dreamworks’ ANTZ, or Touchstone’s Armageddon and Paramount/Dreamworks’ Deep Impact. Where their bones are essentially the same but also entirely different. The same, however, cannot be said of the Lifetime adaptation and Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death In The Family. Right down to how both projects open, with a panicked actor portraying Alex Murdaugh calling in the murders of his family, having questionably done it himself.
This true-crime story has obviously enticed folks in the last few years, but to catch you up if you’re unaware - the Murdaughs (pronounced Mur-Dock) were a once-powerful family in Hampton County, South Carolina. At the center of all of it is Alex Murdaugh, the family patriarch who was one of three generations of powerful legal influence, and known for wielding enormous legal and political influence. However, as the Hulu series and others have shown, there was more going on behind the scenes, including accidental and suspicious deaths, financial crimes, and eventually the murder of two of the Murdaughs themselves. This double murder not only shocked the community, but launched a sprawling investigation that unraveled the family’s legacy and secrets.
Hulu’s new series takes 8 hour long episodes to tell the story, launching with that aforementioned opening that is nearly identical to what we’ve already seen before. Ahead of each episode, we are reminded that the series is based on true events, though dramatic liberties were taken in retelling the story. Enlisting Patricia Arquette as Maggie Murdaugh, Jason Clarke (under arguably distracting hair treatments and makeup) as Alex Murdaugh, Johnny Berchtold as Paul Murdaugh, Will Harrison as Buster Murdaugh, J. Smith-Cameron as Marian Proctor, Gerald McRaney as Randolph Murdaugh and Noah Emmerich as Randy Murdaugh, we take a bit of time to get into what makes this particular true-crime tale so interesting. To a point where when a milestone drunken boat crash that left a teenager dead arrived and began the unraveling of the family, I audibly said “finally." This could also be the problem with true-crime dramatizations that have been often retold - we already know key events and the longer it takes to get to them, the more it feels like it’s dragging along.
Largely because this series is based on a podcast series, Murdaugh Murders Podcast, we get a refreshing angle in our story. Brittany Snow plays Mandy Matney, a journalist enthralled by the case, and possibly the most intriguing and appealing persona in this dramatization. Tragically, she doesn’t appear until the second episode and one must first get through that initial chapter to even want to continue to the second. Another success for this series? Those covers of 90s hits. “Strawberry Wine," anyone?
I’d also like to call attention to the biggest offense that this series commits. There are a number of lives that were ended by or affected by the Murdaughs, and the series treats those not so much as the tragedies that they were, but as footnotes or cameos in the larger tale of the collapse of this influential family. Viewers will walk away remembering the names of each of the Murdaugh clan, but couldn’t tell you the names of any of the victims.
The Murdaugh story is a high-profile one, captivating folks with the years of mysterious deaths, a wealthy and influential family, cover-ups, power, addiction, money - all on top of the current fascination with true-crime, and in a romantic southern setting no less. Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death In The Family gets the setting and key moments, but does little to do anything else to make the well told story more captivating, even while taking those dramatic liberties warned at the forefront of each episode. Next time, call Ryan Murphy. I give this 2 out of 5.
The first three episodes of Murdaugh: Death In The Family are now streaming on Hulu. New episodes (8 total) premiere weekly.