The primary three episodes of “Murdaugh: Loss of life within the Household” dropped on Hulu on October 15, 2025, and audiences are going wild over the miniseries in accordance with FlixPatrol. So what’s the present about, and what is the origin story of this new entry to the true crime style?
Based mostly on the “Murdaugh Murders Podcast” hosted by Liz Farrell and Mandy Matney, which ran from 2021 to 2023, Hulu’s “Murdaugh: Loss of life within the Household” is helmed by Michael D. Fuller and Erin Lee Carr, the latter of whom is answerable for a ton of true crime documentaries (together with “Mommy Useless and Dearest” and Netflix’s “Britney vs Spears,” simply to call a pair). The story itself focuses on the true Murdaugh household who, in 2021, grew to become notorious when South Carolina authorities and its judicial system introduced patriarch Alex Murdaugh to trial for allegedly murdering his spouse, Maggie, in addition to their son Paul. (On the time, Paul had been concerned in a boating accident that killed a 19-year-old lady.)
Maggie acquired an odd name from her husband and, upon arriving dwelling, discovered Paul’s physique; she was shot shortly thereafter, and each our bodies have been finally found. Alex was convicted of the murders however was additionally held accountable for a string of non-violent crimes that led as much as the murders, together with fraud, embezzlement, and theft. The strangest factor about this complete ordeal is that Alex was a high-powered legal professional and outstanding member of the group, and no person who knew him noticed any of this coming.
Hulu’s collection boasts a fairly unbelievable solid, together with Jason Clarke as Alex, Patricia Arquette as Maggie, Brittany Snow as podcaster Mandy Matney, and veterans like J. Smith-Cameron, Noah Emmerich, and Jim O’Inheritor play supporting roles. So what do we have to know concerning the supply materials?
Murdaugh: Loss of life within the Household relies on a podcast, which relies on a really actual crime
There’s a lot extra at play right here than Alex Murdaugh killing his spouse and son, so I am not stunned the story grew to become the topic of a real crime podcast. Not solely did NPR finally report that the Murdaugh patriarch had stolen $12 million from purchasers over time, however in a bit in The Guardian concerning the “Murdaugh Murders Podcast,” the outlet additionally offered the necessary context that, after his spouse and son have been discovered lifeless on his property, Alex faked his personal demise by staging an incident the place he himself was shot to demise.
Nonetheless, as The Guardian notes, the podcast ended up bringing new info to mild and giving the case a nationwide highlight: “And there isn’t any query that the scrutiny on him can be nowhere close to this intense if it weren’t for Mandy Matney, the meddling reporter who stored a harsh highlight skilled on the Murdaugh household till they grew to become inconceivable for anybody to disregard.”
Matney instructed the outlet that when Paul was concerned within the boat crash, she was working at a small South Carolina publication known as Island Packet and got interested within the household. “I am going to always remember being in a gathering in March 2019 my boss saying, ‘I am sick of the boat crash tales,'” Matney mentioned, recalling that her editors did not care about this scoop. Inspired by what number of web page views these tales have been receiving, although, she adopted the path … and stumbled into a large homicide investigation.
The proof Matney finally uncovered helped authorities maintain Murdaugh accountable, which is frankly unbelievable. Nonetheless, there are some questions raised by the Hulu collection “Murdaugh: Loss of life within the Household” — particularly, how moral is all of this?
True crime collection are in all places on streamers proper now — and viewers are questioning their ethics
“Murdaugh: Loss of life within the Household” comes on the heels of Netflix’s true crime miniseries “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” which is an element of a bigger anthology about well-known American serial killers helmed by super-producer Ryan Murphy. To be clear, these two issues are fairly totally different; whereas the Ed Gein collection (which solid Charlie Hunnam as Gein) has been accused of sanitizing the killer by making him sympathetic and even enticing (in addition to altering a ton of key particulars), “Murdaugh: Loss of life within the Household” takes a special method due to its podcast supply materials, making Mandy Matney a personality and making the narrative about cracking a case slightly than glamorizing a killer.
Nonetheless, folks have been asking loads of fairly cheap questions currently about whether or not or not the large recognition of true crime is … moral. Some initiatives, just like the guide and docuseries “I am going to Be Gone within the Darkish,” admirably places the give attention to victims and survivors as an alternative of giving all the main target to a assassin (and in case you’re searching for a novel that does the identical factor, the latest hit thriller “Shiny Younger Girls” by Jessica Knoll stands out from the pack). Regardless that the “Murdaugh” collection arguably locations equal significance on the titular household and Mandy, it is nonetheless legitimate to ask: Ought to we be producing so many true crime reveals, at what level does it cross ethical strains?
“Murdaugh: Loss of life within the Household” is at the moment airing new episodes on Hulu each Wednesday.
