18 Best True Crime Shows On Hulu

Looking for some true crime shows on Hulu to binge? Check out the 18 best true crime shows on Hulu you need to watch now!

If like me, you’ve already watched all the true crime Netflix has to offer, why not check out Hulu?

The platform has plenty of exclusive Hulu true crime shows, documentaries, and movies.

With new content being released regularly.

1. The Act

• IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, VUDU
• Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2019
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 8

“The Act” is a riveting Hulu TV mini-series that captivates audiences with its gripping and chilling narrative.

Based on a true story, the show delves into the disturbing relationship between Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy Rose.

The series intricately explores the complex dynamics of their toxic bond, revealing a web of deception, manipulation, and unimaginable secrets.

As the story unfolds, viewers are pulled into a world of lies and tragedy, masterfully portrayed by an exceptional cast.

The stellar performances, led by Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee and Joey King as Gypsy Rose, bring an eerie authenticity to the characters.

“The Act” expertly weaves together themes of abuse, personality disorders, and the lengths to which people will go to escape their circumstances.

With its impeccable storytelling and well-paced plot, the series creates an intense and unsettling atmosphere that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats.

Throughout its run, “The Act” provokes thought and sparks conversations about the nature of truth, empathy, and the consequences of extreme actions.

This haunting series will leave a lasting impact on anyone who dares to embark on its chilling journey.

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2. Under the Banner of Heaven

• IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%
• Where To Watch: Hulu
• Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 7

Under the Banner of Heaven is a seven-part limited series created by Dustin Lance Black and is based on the book, Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith.

Andrew Garfield and Gil Birmingham star as two detectives investigating a brutal murder and its connections to Mormonism.

The series begins with the murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her baby daughter in 1984.

Detective Jeb Pyre is assigned to the case, and he quickly discovers that the murders are connected to a fundamentalist branch of Mormonism.

As Pyre investigates, he learns more about the church’s history of violence and abuse. He also comes to question his own faith.

Under the Banner of Heaven is a powerful and disturbing look at the dark side of religion.

It is a well-made Hulu exclusive that is sure to stay with you long after you finish watching it.

The series has been praised by critics for its acting, writing, and directing.

Garfield has been particularly singled out for his performance, as he brings depth and complexity to the role of Jeb Pyre.

This is why Under the Banner of Heaven is one of the best-portrayed murder documentaries on Hulu.

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3. Candy

• IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 72%
• Where To Watch: Hulu
• Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 5

Candy is a Hulu series based on the true story of Candy Montgomery who was a Texas housewife accused of murdering her friend, Betty Gore, in 1980.

The series is a dark, suspenseful drama that explores the discontent and isolation that is prevalent in American suburbs.

The series begins with Candy and Betty being best friends. They live in the same neighbourhood, have children the same age, and attend the same church.

However, their friendship begins to unravel when Candy starts an affair with Betty’s husband, Allan.

The affair eventually leads to a confrontation between Candy and Betty that results in murder.

If you are a fan of true crime, then you will definitely want to check out Candy.

The star power of Jessica Biel in this role is undeniable. Combine this with stellar performances from the supporting cast and a beautiful but stark backdrop, Candy is a must watch.

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4. Captive Audience

• IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 92%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Disney+
• Genres: Documentary, Biography, Crime
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 3

“Captive Audience” is a miniseries exclusively available on Hulu that will give you about three hours of engaging true crime entertainment.

Each episode of this documentary is close to an hour long, and there are three parts to it.

Throughout the show, you’ll learn about the Stayner family and how their sons were involved in two separate crimes.

One son was a victim, kidnapped at the young age of seven, and held captive for an astounding eight years.

His story was also turned into its own miniseries and audiobook called ‘I Know My First Name Is Steven‘.

The other son was a perpetrator of a crime, who was convicted of killing four women.

The way everything unfolds is shocking and you’ll be on the edge of your seat as you learn about the fate of this troubled family and their tragic story.

It’s truly fascinating how two siblings can have such different, and yet equally dramatic, stories.

That’s why this is a must Hulu true crime show to check out.

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5. Children of the Underground

• IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 88%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, VUDU
• Genres: Documentary
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 5

In “Children of the Underground” you will follow the story of Faye Yager over the course of five episodes.

It stars Gloria Steinem, best known for her top-selling book ‘My Life on the Road‘ and tabloid talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael.

Faye is seen by some as a criminal but renowned by others as an activist that saved hundreds of lives.

Growing up, Faye had an extremely complex story that the documentary fully dives into.

This miniseries teaches viewers about the beginning of Faye’s story when her husband sexually abused her daughter but was forced to stay in the home because of legalities.

It then continues with Faye turning that horrible situation into inspiration by creating an underground safe place that allowed women and their sexually abused children to escape.

You’ll also get to see how everything unfolds for Faye afterward, through court trials, death threats, and more.

The whole series is packed with thrilling information, leaving you satisfied and knowing everything there is to know about this story.

That’s why Children of the Underground is one of the best crime documentaries on Hulu.

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6. The Most Dangerous Animal of All

• IMDB Rating: 6.3/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 79%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, VUDU
• Genres: Documentary, Crime
• Rating: TV-14
• Released: 2020
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 4

“The Most Dangerous Animal of All” is a shocking documentary that has four parts.

There are almost four hours of runtime for this story, and it’s based on a book that shares the name.

The topic? A man thinks his father was one of the most notorious serial killers of all time.

Gary L. Stewart was adopted as a baby and never knew either one of his biological parents until later in life.

When his biological mother contacted him as an adult, it would set something into motion that nobody in his life could’ve seen coming.

He began searching for his father, and Gary believes he found him.

Gary L. Stewart thinks his biological father was The Zodiac Killer.

The documentary covers the story from Gary’s point of view but also includes fact-checking so that the viewer gets all the information.

It’s a wild ride that ties into one of the most well-known true crime stories of all time.

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7. A Wilderness of Error

• IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 64%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, VUDU
• Genres: Documentary, Crime
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2020
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 5

Five episodes with a run time of five hours each, and this show still won’t give you the answers that you’re looking for.

Yet this documentary will tell you everything that is known about the case it covers.

“A Wilderness of Error” tells the story of a case that still hasn’t been solved to this day, and may never be.

Jeffrey Macdonald, an army surgeon, and a seemingly great guy was convicted of brutally murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters.

He was found beside their bodies but pleaded his innocence and insisted that four “hippies” had attacked his family.

But was he actually to blame or are the true murderers still out there?

This docuseries dives into all the possibilities, facts, and narratives that make this case so intriguing and unsettling.

As sad as this story is, the possibility that an innocent man was blamed for his family’s murder makes it even more tragic.

If you’d like to explore this story further, author Errol Morris, who also helped produce this miniseries wrote a book back in 2014 titled ‘A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald‘.

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8. Keep This Between Us

• IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+
• Genres: Documentary
• Rating: TV-14
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 4

“Keep This Between Us” is a four-part documentary series that covers a very important, but not commonly discussed, topic.

It’s all about how high school systems are regularly used as breeding grounds for grooming, and how little is being done to change this trend or help the victims of it.

In the first two episodes, you follow alongside a woman named Cheryl that was a victim of grooming in high school.

She takes the viewer through her romantic relationship with one of her high school teachers and has interviews with family and friends to talk about new details.

In the latter two episodes, Cheryl works to find more victims like her.

There is no shortage of them, but she particularly bonds with a woman named Heaven.

Heaven’s experience mirrored Cheryl’s but had a totally different outcome, which the documentary goes into.

This series is helping to start an important conversation that should’ve been started years ago.

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9. Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence

• IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 59%
• Where To Watch: Hulu
• Genres: Documentary, Crime
• Rating: TV-14
• Released: 2023
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 3

Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence is a Hulu TV mini series that explores the story of sex cult leader, Larry Ray.

The series begins in 2010, when Ray, a convicted felon, moves in with his daughter Talia and her friends at Sarah Lawrence College.

Ray quickly begins to exert control over the group, demanding that they follow his rules and obey his commands.

He isolates them from their friends and family, and he subjects them to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.

The victims of Ray’s abuse were all bright, promising young people.

They were drawn to Ray by his charisma and his promises of help and support.

However, Ray quickly turned on them, using their vulnerabilities to control and exploit them.

The series features interviews with the victims, as well as recordings of Ray’s interactions with them.

It’s been praised for its sensitive and nuanced portrayal of the victims of cult abuse.

Further, the TV show has been credited with raising awareness of the dangers of cult life.

Stolen Youth is a harrowing look at the power of manipulation and the devastating effects of cult life.

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10. The Girl from Plainville

• IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, VUDU
• Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 8

The Girl from Plainville is a TV miniseries based on the true story of Michelle Carter’s “texting-suicide” case.

The series stars Elle Fanning as Michelle Carter, Chloë Sevigny as Lynn Roy, and Colton Ryan as Conrad.

It premiered on Hulu on March 29, 2022.

The series explores Carter’s relationship with Conrad Roy and the events leading to his death in 2014.

It’s a thought-provoking and disturbing showcase that raises important questions about mental health, suicide, and the role of technology in our lives.

Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 for encouraging Roy to kill himself through a series of text messages.

The Girl from Plainville has received mostly positive reviews, with praise towards the performances of Fanning, Ryan, and Sevigny.

The series has also been praised for its nuanced portrayal of Carter and Roy’s relationship.

The series is eight bite sized episodes long and is available to stream on Hulu right now.

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11. Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders

• IMDB Rating: 5.1/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 17%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Disney+
• Genres: Documentary
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 4

This documentary series features four episodes and a big-name Hollywood star as the narrator, Kristen Chenoweth.

She’s heard in every episode, sharing how she was almost a part of this tragic story as well as interviewing one of the victim’s mothers.

But that is far from being the most compelling part of this story.

“Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders” tells the story of three young girls that were murdered on their first night of sleepaway camp.

This tragic tale is even more unsettling because the killer was never found, and the main suspect was found not guilty.

The series includes information on the details of the murders, the investigation, and the trial.

But it also focuses on interviews with family members of the victims and law enforcement officials that were on the case.

It’s an informative way to learn more about this unsolved true crime on Hulu.

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12. Have You Seen This Man

• IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: -%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Disney+
• Genres: Crime
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 3

This three-part documentary series differs a lot from the other true crime documentaries on this list because instead of being focused on murder, it tells a very different story!

“Have You Seen This Man” is the story of John Ruffo.

He was a computer salesman that committed an astounding $353 million dollar bank fraud.

But that isn’t even the most dramatic thing this documentary discusses.

Because Ruffo ended up escaping and the manhunt that ensued afterward was one of the longest ever recorded.

Along the way, investigators found various diaries written by Ruffo.

These diaries spoke of things that were potentially way bigger than Ruffo’s crimes, could he know about a secret Cold War plot?

Find out in this new docuseries!

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13. Wild Crime

• IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: -%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Disney+
• Genres: Crime
• Rating: TV-14
• Released: 2021
• Seasons: 2
• Episodes: 6

The title of this documentary series is appropriately called, “Wild Crime”.

It’s all about the special agents that investigate crimes that occur in National Parks across the US.

Unlike most of the other entries on this list, this series is ongoing and is currently releasing episodes for its second season.

So there’s plenty of content to take in with this one.

The first season is about a murder investigation that took place after a man reported that his wife had fallen off a cliff along a hiking trail.

But as the agents learn more about the husband, they grow suspicious.

The man’s first wife had also died seventeen years earlier, but they weren’t sure it was simply a string of bad luck.

The second season looks to be equally as fascinating as the first one.

This is an intriguing side to true crime that you don’t see often.

It’s a must-watch series for true crime fans.

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14. The Murder of Laci Peterson

• IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 21%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, VUDU, Binge
• Genres: Crime
• Rating: TV-14
• Released: 2017
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 6

“The Murder of Laci Peterson” is a series that documents one of the most well-known murders of recent times.

Laci went missing on Christmas Eve when she was eight months pregnant.

There was no evidence of her murder inside the home but when she was found months later dead, her husband was convicted of both murders.

Not only was the whole thing highly publicized, but people formed strong opinions. Especially about Scott Peterson, her husband, who was one of the most hated men in America for a very long time.

It’s possible though, that the whole thing wasn’t as cut and dry as people thought as Scott Peterson still maintains his innocence.

This six-part documentary tries to take in different perspectives of this murder and talks about the possibility that Scott Peterson could be innocent after all.

It’s a different view on the true crime classic that most of us have heard of.

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15. Cold Case Files

• IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: -%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Netflix, VUDU
• Genres: Documentary, Crime
• Rating: TV-14
• Released: 2017
• Seasons: 3
• Episodes: 43

“Cold Case Files” is a true crime television series that first aired in 1999 and was beloved by many true crime fans.

It had a little over 30 episodes and notoriously explored what the name suggests, cases that have never been solved and have gone cold.

Recently, Hulu released a ten-episode reboot that’s just as good as the original and brings more attention to old cases.

The series includes cinematic reenactments of crimes; interviews with friends, family, and law enforcement; and a look at the evidence but with new forensic technology that wasn’t around at the time.

The whole thing is narrated by Bill Kurtis, and it’s a must-watch for true crime fans who love a good mystery.

Plus it can be intensely satisfying to see cases be solved, or even worked on, after all these years.

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16. The Murders Before the Marathon

• IMDB Rating: 6.1/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: -%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Disney+
• Genres: Documentary, Crime
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2022
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 3

“The Murders Before The Marathon” follows Susan Zalkind as she investigates three murders that haunt her personally, one of the victims was her close friend.

Erik Weissman, Brendan Mess, and Raphael Teken were all killed in Massachusetts and Susan wants to know why.

But as she digs deeper, she finds out things that she wasn’t expecting.

Over the course of this three-episode documentary, you’ll gradually find out that these three murders might be linked to something nobody expected, the Boston Marathon Bombing.

The Boston Marathon Bombing wasn’t the only major attack related to this crime, there were also ties to 9/11.

In fact, the victims were murdered on the tenth anniversary of that horrific event.

The documentary includes a lot of facts and information but feels very personal.

Susan is a compelling host, often leaning on her background as a reporter.

You won’t regret checking out this series.

If you’d like to learn more about the Boston Marathon Bombing, Jake Gyllenhaal stars in an inspiring real-life story titled ‘Stronger‘ that tells the story of Jeff Bauman who was injured during the attack.

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17. The Devil You Know

• IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 50%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, VUDU
• Genres: Documentary, Crime
• Rating: TV-MA
• Released: 2019
• Seasons: 2
• Episodes: 11

This is a documentary series that’s in its second season, so there are more episodes to watch than most of the other shows on this list.

That’s great news if you watch the first few and enjoy it.

I can promise you that a lot of true crime fans will be gripped by the stories that this series contains.

“The Devil You Know” is all about murder and crime happening in an area that’s known to be a hot spot for Satanists.

This obviously makes for a lot of gruesome tales that the show and the host (a journalist by the name of Chad Nance) look into.

The crimes discussed in this documentary can be especially disturbing at times, but it’s definitely a series that a long-time true crime fan could still enjoy.

And the fact that all the crimes are committed around the same area, really adds a different feel to the stories.

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18. City of Angels, City of Death

• IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: -%
• Where To Watch: Hulu, Disney+
• Genres: Documentary, Crime
• Rating: Not Rated
• Released: 2021
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes: 6

“City of Angels, City of Death” is the last entry on this list, but certainly not the least.

You’ll probably run into one or two cases during this six-part series that you’ve heard of.

The basis of this documentary revolves around serial killers that gained massive media attention during the 70s and 80s in Los Angeles.

This was a notoriously dangerous time in the City of Angels, with over twenty serial killers running rampant.

This series sheds some light and detailed information on all of them, as well as shows viewers what the detectives and law enforcement officials had to go through in order to bring justice to the city.

It’s a great watch, especially if you want to freshen up on some older true crime cases.

Even if you’ve heard of these cases before, you’ll probably find some information that you didn’t know about them.

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