There’s something intoxicating and empowering about glamorous Southern women carrying around handguns in their designer purses when they go out to brunch. The Hunting Wives, Netflix’s new big hit based off May Cobb’s 2021 novel of the same name, is a murder mystery set against the backdrop of east Texas that delivers this housewife aesthetic exactly — but with a satirical and queer twist.
new series: the hunting wives
This femme-fatale series demonstrates a serious left-versus-right culture war between the Republican southern natives and Sophie O’Neil (Brittany Snow), who just moved from Boston with her family for her husband’s new job. While Sophie loves her family and her domestic life, her heart (and body) craves more excitement and exploration. Enter Margo Banks, played by Malin Akerman.
Margo draws in all sorts of people because she is manipulative and kind, and it’s hard to tell when which is at play. But as the season progresses, Sophie steps into her own will of trouble, and it’s revealed that this isn’t the first time she’s lost control. Margo only serves as a reminder of what Sophie is truly capable of when she isn’t tied down to the restrictions of the picture-perfect life she’s built for herself. Margo and Sophie grow closer through their shared dark side, but it becomes questionable if both energies can exist in the same social circle without catastrophic consequences.
The Hunting Wives is anything but traditional, not only in its plot and style but also in its journey to the screen. Originally produced by Lionsgate for Starz, this show took a more explicit route than Netflix is known for. And because it’s been awhile since Netflix came out with a racy, female-led thriller with spicy scenes, a good plot, and a promising future, this last-minute deal amongst the Lionsgate and Starz split is possibly a win for both the major streaming platform and showrunner Rebecca Cutter (also known for Hightown).
Given this precontext, it’s not surprising that the discourse online about this book-to-screen adaptation involves a lot of shock and surprise in response to its explicit and raunchy nature.
Sure, anyone who read the descriptions of the episodes or watched any trailers closely before diving into The Hunting Wives could’ve been let in on the fact that the only hunting game involved is the one that Margo plays with anyone curious enough to fall for it. It’s not that The Hunting Wives is more smutty or gory than other shows of its kind: See Killing Eve, Dead to Me, or the L Word. But this series released with the optics of a modern, female-led thriller about gun-loving Texans, when really these heterosexual presenting born-and-raised southern gals are cheating on their husbands with someone else’s wife, and take up murder as a side hustle to solidify the safety of their secrets. And to be released on a mainstream platform rather than one with a reputation for cautionary parental ratings, the conversations around its sex scenes are warranted.
Thanks to intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot, who became an industry legend for her expert touches in Netflix’s Bridgerton, the sex in this show is not just a way to fill time. Every glance is an invitation for trouble. Every touch has viewers wondering if it means something manipulative or genuine. Snow discussed the thoughtfulness and craft that went into these scenes, with these scenes and some episodes being directed solely by female and queer directors.
But this show possesses appeal way beyond the sex.
Cutter’s writing is gorgeous. Easter eggs are sprinkled throughout calculated dialogue and enticing body language. From a quick incriminating shot of someone’s black boots to a sly comment about a tampon, details seemingly irrelevant during the first watchthrough foreshadow the eventual unfolding of this whodunit.
Somehow, the camera direction and soundtrack are rhythmic yet unpredictable. Camera pans hint at things like the otherwise forgettable presence of wedding rings or important crime scene details. At one point while Sophie is being followed by an ominous guy with an eyepatch, she closes her car door at the perfect moment in sync with the beat of the soundtrack. Small production touches like these anchor in The Hunting Wives as the gripping sensation it is.
Besides the watertight, plot-twist-filled storyline, the chemistry in this show is what makes it so addicting, and honestly relatable at times. Somehow, despite all the soapiness, Snow and Akerman play off each other’s performances with such realness and grit. One of the biggest questions throughout the series is if Margo’s motives are completely calculated and self serving, or if she truly has feelings for the people she claims to love and care about. Akerman perfectly executes this tightrope of questionable intentions and compliments Snow’s demonstration of Sophie’s collapsing boundaries and value system. Snow’s chilling portrayal of anxiety, abuse of alcohol and panic attacks adds a layer of vulnerability and empathy towards her character in the face of her poor judgement. Despite audiences only first meeting both characters with this first season, their magnetism gives off the impression that Sophie is the first person to ever challenge Margo’s manipulation — and the literal cliffhanger of a season finale is a testament to that.
This show is definitely risky. In the current predominantly Republican political climate, the characters satirically mock performative conservative culture. Every woman that makes up Margo’s inner circle serves as a dig towards the hypocrisy of the Republican Party. These women can go to church as much as they’d like and judge those who don’t follow in their prayer-centered lives, but no amount of God can pardon their sneaking around and day drinking, non-remorseful killing, and web of infidelity.
But I think audiences are starting to crave more unapologetically explicit and at times indefensible and therefore all the more likeable female characters with stories from Big Little Lies to Babygirl (Thank you, Nicole Kidman). Classics that play it safe are crowd-pleasers for a reason (Yes, The Summer I Turned Pretty, you’re a big summer hit too,) but once in a while a series or movie comes in and challenges audiences with complex women that make it hard not to root for them — especially when they’re crack shots and rock cowboy boots at every occasion.
“People are so into reality television these days…the wives of Beverly Hills, or the housewives of all the different states,” Malin Akerman said in an interview with the New York Post. “People like to watch train wrecks. They like to watch conflict. They like to watch something that’s salacious. It’s the things that we don’t have in our everyday lives, and you get to either live vicariously or go, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe people do that.’ Maybe it makes you feel better about yourself.”
Everyone is fair prey to The Hunting Wives, because no matter your age, gender, sexuality or race, there is one thing this show has that no human is immune to: the intoxicating nature of rebellion. Every character in this show succumbs to their inner desire to rebel against everything society thinks they stand for. This series is a guilty pleasure audiences can feel good about because lots of people are watching it, and lots of people are owning up to the utter joy that comes from witnessing women make bad decisions and lose themselves in the pleasure of testing their limits.
In just 8 hours, The Hunting Wives draws intrigue into just how deceptive these women can be, and where they will draw the line when it comes to betrayal and defiance — whether that be against their family and friends or the racist, homophobic society they’ve settled into.