Hulu’s eight-episode miniseries, Murdaugh: Death in the Family, handles its troubling true crime source material with an investigative yet suspenseful lens, bringing more to the table than another needless or insensitive dramatization of “based on real events” murder and mystery.
The series may extrapolate to weave a compelling narrative between the jaw-dropping headlines, but it successfully does so to paint a tragic portrait of how one family legacy can become more meaningful than the individuals within the family itself. Compared to Hulu’s other true crime adaptations, like Candy or American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez, Death in the Family holds purpose and value beyond entertainment alone.
What’s more, Murdaugh is also a highly immersive family crime drama thanks to some excellent performances by Jason Clarke, Patricia Arquette, and a very talented ensemble. Their mindful efforts demonstrate complex themes rooted in toxic patriarchal systems, corruption based on entitlement, and the inevitable downfall of small-town royalty. Even apart from the bizarre real-life conclusion surrounding Alex Murdaugh and his family, this Hulu series ends up rising to its full potential.
Murdaugh: Death In The Family Is Elevated By Outstanding Performances & Relevant Themes
Murdaugh is a much better series because of its superb ensemble. Clarke, who is still fresh off the premiere of his Apple TV+ series The Last Frontier, is unrecognizable as Alex Murdaugh — in the best possible way. It is resoundingly clear how much Clarke did his homework for the part, even mastering the little facial nuances that played like cracks breaking through the mask of his duplicitous protagonist/antagonist.
Arquette, as well, is magnetic as Alex’s wife, Maggie, a victim of her husband’s abuse and deception for years, well before the final straw. Her Maggie is a proud woman as much as Alex allows her to be. Even her relationship with her sons is founded on trickled-down misogyny. Arquette handles Maggie with a degree of respect that other Murdaughs aren’t graced with in the series, which makes the series’ message about the hidden pitfalls and dysfunctional expectations of a marriage built on the stilts of a huge public image quite poignant.
Johnny Berchtold, who some may recognize from the most recent season of Prime Video’s Reacher, captures an erratic sense of defiance in Paul “Paw-Paw” Murdaugh, connecting his impulsive tendencies to act out and overly indulge himself with a sense of inadequacy when comparing himself to his storied ancestry. Supporting cast members like Brittany Snow, who portrays the award-winning journalist who created the Murdaugh Murders Podcast, Gerald McRaney (House of Cards), and J. Smith-Cameron (Succession) also elevate the cast.
Clarke has a remarkable yet underutilized knack for these types of deep character studies. He made a hilarious and convincing Jerry West in HBO Max’s canceled NBA drama series Winning Time, and still, his most recognizable roles may be in movies that came out more than a decade ago, like Zero Dark Thirty and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Whether Murdaugh is the hit that Hulu hoped it would be or not, the series serves as overwhelming evidence that Clarke should take on more transformative character studies like these because he excels in them.
Murdaugh May Best Be Enjoyed By Viewers Who Are Unfamiliar With The True-Crime Story
As someone who had not listened to the Murdaugh podcast or tuned into the 2023 public trial or Netflix docuseries, the Hulu series really works as an introduction to their story. However, stretching this series out to eight episodes is arguably the most exploitative aspect of the miniseries, which could have been told in six episodes. However, knowing virtually nothing about the Murdaughs helped to maintain my interest for a significant majority of its lengthy runtime.
Murdaugh is more full-bodied and thoughtfully crafted than most true-crime stories, including the others on Hulu. If I had known the whole story before watching, this project would have seemed unnecessary and sensationalist. Some viewers who consider this story old news may have a harder time grasping why this series was made.
That said, we can’t disregard it for not introducing any new evidence or adding to the conversation around the tragedy itself. That’s not the core point of this type of dramatization. Murdaugh actually sends a very timely message about powerful people who are stuck in a self-imposed prison of inescapable lies. What’s really on display here is an illustration of the self-deception and inner turmoil of a compulsive liar, driven more intensely by his own reputation and personal benefit than the best interests of his loved ones.