7 Spicy Thrillers to Watch if You Loved ‘The Hunting Wives’ on Netflix
With only eight episodes, ‘The Hunting Wives’ will leave you wanting more.
The Hunting Wives is a very dramatic Netflix series with some aggressively steamy subplots. It is a decadent, salacious treat and it’s currently the most watched show on the streaming service. However, with only eight episodes, The Hunting Wives will leave you wanting more. Read on for some movies that hit some of the same notes as The Hunting Wives.
First, what is The Hunting Wives all about? The series stars Brittany Snow as Sophie, a woman who has recently moved from Massachusetts to East Texas with her husband. As her husband attempts to cozy up to aspiring Governor Jed (Dermot Mulroney), Jed’s wife Margo (Malin Akerman) secretly seduces Sophie. This is a straight-forward, low brow Desperate Housewives style show with Margo and her affluent friends, the title “hunting wives”, serving up drama. And it’s great!
So, what movies should you watch if you loved The Hunting Wives? You’ll probably enjoy erotic thrillers, steamy dramas and even a little horror with strong, gun-toting female leads who speaks with a folksy accent. These movies should be a fit:
Basic Instinct (1992)
If you like (very) strong, (very) sexy female leads, Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct is the blueprint. In this neo-noir thriller she plays a novelist named Catherine Tramell who seduces the detective investigating her for the murder of her rock star boyfriend. It’s unclear whether Catherine is in fact guilty, but either way the audience is rooting for her. If you asked Margo from The Hunting Wives what her favorite movie is, she would either say Basic Instinct or Wild Things because they’re all about sexy, smart, ruthless women who play the people around them like fiddles.
Wild Things (1998)
In a wealthy Miami suburb, two students (Denise Richards and Neve Campbell) accuse a guidance counselor (Matt Dillon) of rape. A series of twists and turns keeps the audience guessing who the real mastermind is until the very last frame. Roger Ebert said “It’s like a three-way collision between a softcore sex film, a soap opera, and a B-grade noir. I liked it.”
Cruel Intentions (1999)
A seriously sexy drama following wealthy and bored Manhattan step-siblings Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe). The siblings do psychological warfare against each other using other human beings as pawns and ammo, like making a bet as to whether Sebastian can seduce a famously chaste woman (Reese Witherspoon). You will finish the movie desperate for a face-off between Kathryn of Cruel Intentions and Margo from The Hunting Wives.
The Handmaiden (2016)
A South Korean psychological drama/erotic thriller about a pickpocket named Sook-hee who is told of an opportunity to make $100,000 if she helps Count Fujiwara (a conman) seduce a Japanese heiress. She takes a job as the heiress’ handmaiden but develops feelings for her employer. The Handmaiden may be a change of pace insofar as the female characters are far less aggressive and fast-talking than the Texan women of The Hunting Wives, but they are also more clever and the sex scenes are both steamy and remarkably tender. This is not only one of the best sexy movies ever made, it is one of the best movies ever made period.
The Hunt (2020)
A controversial horror movie about a group of wealthy liberals who round up a group of conservative voters and hunt them at a manor in Croatia. The huntees include Crystal May Creasey (Betty Gilpin), who was mistaken for another woman with a similar name. Crystal is able to outsmart the hunters and turn the tables on them, slowly making her way to the group’s leader Athena Stone (Hilary Swank). There aren’t any sexy moments in The Hunt, but The Hunting Wives fans will love Betty Gilpin’s lead character as a tough Southern woman who knows how to handle a gun and isn’t afraid of a fight.
Sanctuary (2022)
If what you love most about The Hunting Party is Margo’s sexual mind games, you’ll love this psychosexual thriller. This movie features only two characters and never leaves the hotel it opens in. The claustrophobic setting fuels the tension between sex worker Rebecca (Margaret Qualley) and her longtime client Hal (Christopher Abbott). Hal has just inherited his father’s hotel chain and wants to end his arrangement with Rebecca in order to dedicate himself to being a respectable businessman. Disagreeing over her severance, Rebecca goads Hal into continuing the relationship and threatens to blackmail him. Wealthy Hal responds with his own threats and the two descend into a battle of words, wills and horniness.
Saltburn (2023)
If you want to see men social-climbing and using their sexuality to manipulate others for a change, Saltburn is for you. A poor university student, Oliver (Barry Koeghan), is befriended by wealthy, popular student Felix (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to summer with him at his family’s palatial estate, Saltburn. Over the summer Oliver meets Felix’s upper class family and friends and becomes infatuated with Felix (while also having dalliances with his sister and cousin). At a masquerade party at the end of summer, the friendship comes to a dramatic climax.
The Hunting Wives is now streaming on Netflix.
Further reading:
