Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
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based on child development research. How do we rate?
Iffy sex and violence in enjoyably unhinged drama.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Hunting Wives
What's the Story?
When Sophie (Brittany Snow) allows herself to be dragged out of Boston and to East Texas for her husband Graham's (Evan Jonigkeit) career, she meets THE HUNTING WIVES, a gaggle of hair-and-boobs dollies who love guns and love to party, in that order. Sophie is instantly enthralled with wife-in-chief Margo (Malin Akerman), who has more than a few secrets in both her past and present, leading Sophie down an unexpectedly dark path.
Is It Any Good?
With plenty of down-low sex and twists that lean either soap opera or murder mystery, this series is enjoyable trashy fun, elevated by familiar faces. Brittany Snow (you probably know her best as the bass-voiced redhead from the Pitch Perfect series) makes Sophie a wonderful POV character: her giant blue eyes telegraph unease and shame as she takes her first tentative steps into the circles Graham's new job thrusts them into, then escalating excitement as Margo starts cruising up against her boundaries before steamrolling over them. The Hunting Wives would be more of a horror story if Sophie wasn't so energized by Margo's antics, but the duo's first friend date ends in them doing doughnuts in a parking lot in Margo's truck just after a highway near-shootout, and Sophie is into it.
But there's more going on than just the liberation of Sophie, and of course, the very bad things begin piling up almost immediately. There's a sex scandal brewing over Margo and husband Jed's (Dermont Mulroney) extremely open marriage as he flirts with the idea of running for governor, and hanky-panky occurring between some of the town's teen residents (they're 18! The Hunting Wives takes special care in telling us) and their friend's moms. Meanwhile, Margo's scorned ex-best friend is out for revenge on Sophie (who has her own secrets), who's starting to wonder why Margo puts her hand on her knee so very often. When a teen girl turns up dead, Sophie's drawn into the proceedings, too. It's all overheated, outlandish, and lots of fun; you'll be wishing you had an invite to one of Margo's great big unhinged parties.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
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Families can talk about why dramas often center around sexuality and violence. What's the dramatic potential of these subjects? Why are they of such perennial interest?
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The Hunting Wives was adapted from a book of the same name. Have you read the book? Do you need to have read the literary source material to appreciate an adaptation?
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Talk about this show's setting of East Texas. Why is that setting so prominent? How does it affect this show's plotline? How would this show change if it were set in another state or city?
TV Details
- Premiere date : July 21, 2025
- Cast : Brittany Snow , Malin Akerman , Dermot Mulroney
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : July 22, 2025
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