--- title: "The Hunting Wives" year: 2025 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-hunting-wives" fi1m_id: "the-hunting-wives" imdb_id: "tt31038430" tmdb_id: 244447 wikidata_id: "Q125020382" fi1m_score: 74 critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 6 published: "2026-10-30" updated: "2026-10-30T09:11:47.395649+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Hunting Wives (2025) Created by Rebecca Perry Cutter · MPA TV-MA · Drama, Mystery ## Identity The Hunting Wives - **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/the-hunting-wives - **Type:** Series - **Fi1m ID:** the-hunting-wives - **IMDb ID:** tt31038430 - **TMDB ID:** 244447 - **Wikidata ID:** Q125020382 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31038430/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/244447, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125020382 **Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 77 from 6 reviews *In a sentence:* The murder investigation keeps interrupting a perfectly enjoyable affair > Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman make *The Hunting Wives* an entertainingly excessive soap, with an attraction worth believing in. The murder mystery is less persuasive, and the political material deserves more attention than it gets. ## Synopsis Sophie O’Neill (Brittany Snow) and Margo Banks (Malin Akerman) are drawn to one another in a circle where lesbian affairs coexist with support for Trump. Jed Banks (Dermot Mulroney), Jill Thompson (Katie Lowes) and Callie Baskin (Jaime Ray Newman) are among the people around them. Their relationships provide the starting point for a murder mystery, with private desires and political loyalties running alongside the investigation. The story follows the sexual entanglements of this group as suspicion adds another complication to their dealings with one another. ## Review *The Hunting Wives* is worth an evening if sexual melodrama is what we have settled in for. Created by Rebecca Perry Cutter, it brings lesbian affairs and Trump-supporting characters together without treating that combination as a reason to be solemn. There is humour here, and enough interest in desire to prevent the affairs from becoming merely a succession of revelations. The trouble starts when the murder mystery needs to justify the attention being paid to it, and the writing becomes markedly less convincing. Brittany Snow, as Sophie O’Neill, and Malin Akerman, as Margo Banks, give the programme its strongest reason to keep watching. Their chemistry makes the attraction believable even when the plotting around them becomes harder to accept. We were more involved in their relationship than we expected, because both performers make the desire feel plausible amid all the excess. That matters in a series where another complication is rarely far away: there needs to be something worth caring about before it can be put at risk. Malin Akerman is particularly persuasive, keeping Margo interesting even when the series is being obvious about its provocations. There is pleasure in watching a performer commit to melodrama without asking to be excused for it. Brittany Snow brings enough emotional credibility to their shared scenes that the relationship need not depend entirely on the next surprise. Dermot Mulroney, playing Jed Banks, is enjoyable in a broader way, bringing relish to material that would become dreary if everybody approached it with equal solemnity. Rebecca Perry Cutter’s adaptation of May Cobb’s novel understands the practical requirements of this sort of television: establish an attraction, complicate it, leave something unresolved. Across the first season’s eight episodes, the pace helps the programme get away with some thin characterisation. The humour helps too, allowing the excess to be funny without making every feeling into a joke. The writing is most promising when sex and politics sit awkwardly together, giving the characters something more particular to contend with than the usual business of keeping an affair quiet. The difficulty comes when the murder mystery demands more attention. The accumulation of twists makes the characters less distinct, because we spend more effort following the latest complication than understanding the people involved. The political material becomes thinner as well: the series introduces a provocative combination of allegiances and desires, then does too little with it. We do not need a lecture, but we would like the writing to stay interested in those tensions rather than repeatedly asking us to absorb another surprise. There is a limit to how far speed can cover for shallow characters, and this first season reaches it. Familiar turns are not necessarily a problem in a soap; performances can make an old complication matter again, and these leads often manage that. A mystery needs firmer control over its plotting, especially when it begins taking attention away from the relationships. Give this a chance if affairs, humour and people behaving badly sound like sufficient entertainment, but look elsewhere if the chief attraction is solving the case. *Fi1m score 74, published 30 October 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics find The Hunting Wives entertaining, with five of the six reviews positive and none negative. Praise centres on the chemistry between Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman, which gives the extravagant sexual melodrama something believable to work with. The pace and willingness to indulge in excess also win support. The Guardian is the most enthusiastic, finding wit and intelligence beneath the nonsense, while several others enjoy the series without claiming much depth for it. The reservations concern shallow characters, familiar twists and cultural commentary that becomes less interesting as the plotting grows busier. Variety offers the clearest dissent, arguing that the murder story crowds out the distinctive mix of Trump-supporting characters and lesbian affairs. The spread runs from qualified enjoyment to wholehearted enthusiasm: critics largely agree that the series is compelling, but differ over how much substance survives its appetite for melodrama. ## Straight answers **Is The Hunting Wives worth watching?** *The Hunting Wives* is worth watching for fans of sexual melodrama, and we score it 74 out of 100. Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman make the central attraction believable, while humour keeps the excess entertaining; we find the murder mystery less convincing and the political tensions underexplored. **How long is The Hunting Wives, and what is it rated?** *The Hunting Wives* is rated TV-MA by the MPA in the US. It is a drama and mystery series. **Where can I watch The Hunting Wives in the US?** *The Hunting Wives* is streaming on Netflix in the US, and it is also available to buy from Amazon Prime Video. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is The Hunting Wives, and is it suitable for children?** *The Hunting Wives* carries a US TV-MA certificate, indicating mature audiences, and is not suitable for children; no UK certificate is supplied. Sexual affairs and a murder investigation are central to the story, but we cannot give a reliable measure of graphic violence or frightening scenes from those elements alone. **How does The Hunting Wives compare to Bound?** *The Hunting Wives* is a looser, more sprawling soap than [*Bound*](https://film.one/film/bound), which we recommend as the better-controlled crime thriller. Both give us an attraction worth caring about, but *Bound* keeps desire and criminal plotting closely connected; *The Hunting Wives* is more rewarding when its affairs take precedence over the investigation. **Is The Hunting Wives based on a true story or a book?** *The Hunting Wives* is adapted by Rebecca Perry Cutter from May Cobb’s novel, rather than presented as a true story. We find the adaptation effective as sexual melodrama but less persuasive as a mystery; we make no claim about its fidelity to the book, and our recommendation requires no familiarity with the source. **What should I watch after The Hunting Wives?** After *The Hunting Wives*, try [*Bound*](https://film.one/film/bound) (1996, Fi1m 80): Desire and criminal plotting stay closely connected, with far firmer control. Then [*The Handmaiden*](https://film.one/film/the-handmaiden) (2016, Fi1m 85): A more intricate thriller where sexual attraction gives the deception real force; and [*Big Little Lies*](https://film.one/tv/big-little-lies) (2017, Fi1m 78): A richer account of marriage, money and the secrets surrounding a murder. ### Reviews we read (6) - **The Guardian**, Lucy Mangan (95/100, inferred): Mangan calls the series perfect trash and an exceptionally entertaining dose of nonsense television. She praises the leads’ chemistry and the show’s wit and intelligence, which keep its melodrama lively. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/27/the-hunting-wives-review-most-perfect-trash-tv-ever) - **The AV Club**, Saloni Gajjar (B): Gajjar calls the series an entertaining, excessive guilty pleasure that is easy to forget once it ends. She praises the delicate chemistry between Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-hunting-wives-review-netflix-tv) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Angie Han (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the series wildly entertaining despite its shallow plotting and characters. She especially praises its unapologetic, over-the-top sexual melodrama and lack of pretense. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/the-hunting-wives-review-brittany-snow-netflix-1236319841/) - **Variety**, Alison Herman (60/100, inferred): Herman finds the series an addictive binge, but says it loses its distinctive social commentary as the murder plot takes over. She praises its unusual blend of Trump-supporting characters and lesbian affairs, while criticizing the piled-up twists for weakening its texture and coherence. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/tv/reviews/hunting-wives-review-netflix-maga-1236464927/) - **Collider**, Amanda M. Castro (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the series an addictive, easy-to-recommend binge rather than a genre-reinventing thriller. She especially praises Malin Akerman’s captivating performance and the chemistry between her character and Brittany Snow’s. [Read](https://collider.com/netflix-the-hunting-wives-series-thriller-perfect-weekend-binge/) - **Paste**, Lacy Baugher Milas (7.0): The critic finds the series entertaining, fast-paced summer escapism, though its twists and cultural commentary are familiar and shallow. She praises the believable chemistry between Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman, and Dermot Mulroney’s gleeful performance. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/netflix/the-hunting-wives-review) ## Details - **Created by:** Rebecca Perry Cutter - **Creator:** Rebecca Perry Cutter - **Director:** Julie Anne Robinson, Jennifer Getzinger, Cheryl Dunye, Melanie Mayron - **Writer:** Rebecca Perry Cutter, Emily Bensinger, Michael Weiss, Kayla Westergard-Dobson, Will Hettinger, Benjamin Flores, Brandon Zuck, Breannah Gibson - **Novel:** May Cobb - **Cast:** Brittany Snow as Sophie O’Neill; Malin Akerman as Margo Banks; Dermot Mulroney as Jed Banks; Katie Lowes as Jill Thompson; Jaime Ray Newman as Callie Baskin; George Ferrier as Brad Thompson; Chrissy Metz as Starr Jackson; Evan Jonigkeit as Graham O’Neill - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 21 July 2025 - **Genres:** Drama, Mystery - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZvZfqiAhdQ ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming - Amazon Prime Video: buy, hd *Checked 2026-10-30.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NO, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Bound* (1996), Fi1m 80: Desire and criminal plotting stay closely connected, with far firmer control. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/bound.md) - *Diabolique* (1955): Suspicion and female complicity, with considerably more care over the suspense. - *The Handmaiden* (2016), Fi1m 85: A more intricate thriller where sexual attraction gives the deception real force. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-handmaiden.md) - *Big Little Lies* (2017), Fi1m 78: A richer account of marriage, money and the secrets surrounding a murder. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/big-little-lies.md) - *Bad Sisters* (2022), Fi1m 78: Family loyalties, dark humour and a mystery with more carefully drawn characters. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/bad-sisters.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-hunting-wives