Hulu's 'Furious' Is an Unflinchingly Raw Crime Thriller | Review

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Published Jul 22, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Carly Lane is an Atlanta-based writer and critic who has been with Collider in some form or fashion since 2021. She considers herself a television nerd, diehard romance/sci-fi/fantasy reader, and nascent horror lover. Her fondness of books is only eclipsed by the towering TBR that her shelves can't possibly contain.

She is the author of A REGENCY GUIDE TO MODERN LIFE: 1800s ADVICE ON 21ST CENTURY LOVE, FRIENDS, FUN AND MORE, published through DK Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House) and currently available wherever books are sold.

The cat-and-mouse game is a time-honored trope in the crime genre, mostly because of what it can achieve if done right, building viewer anticipation for the moment when the individuals on either side of the law will finally cross paths. Some of the most well-known and most successful examples in recent memory have gone beyond the mere chase to delve into the lives of both investigator and culprit, exploring the characters to such a degree that you can't help but understand their motivations, even if you don't completely empathize with their actions.

HBO's Task established this framing around two men for a thorough examination of fatherhood, toxic masculinity, and what happens when someone decides to take the matter of revenge into their own hands. BBC America's Killing Eve began as a seemingly frank spy thriller before revealing its true intentions as an intensely more intimate story about mutually destructive obsession between two women. Based on plot summary alone, you'd think that Hulu's Furious, created by Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl, Dying for Sex) and inspired by the 1987 neo-noir film Black Widow, would be a natural inclusion to the running list of cat-and-mouse thrillers, but its seemingly straightforward premise masks a much darker story, one effectively buoyed by the strong performances at its center.

What Is 'Furious' About?

FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) has seemingly hit a dead end in her career, relegated to the agency's call center where she has to field calls from the general public — including conspiracy theorists or paranoid elderly people convinced they're being spied on. While she has plenty of investigative experience, especially when taking her previous tenure in the NYPD into account, her reputation as a cop took a nosedive after she ended a personal relationship with her outwardly charismatic superior, Marshall (Jake Lacy). Rumors about why they broke up have swirled ever since, but the truth, we soon discover, is even uglier than most people realize, especially once it becomes clear that Alice is struggling to even take showers without flashing back to the physical and emotional abuse she endured behind closed doors. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Marshall and Alice grew up together, and in that kind of small, tight-knit community where everyone's private business becomes widespread knowledge sooner or later, it didn't take long for everyone to choose a side — and Alice now finds herself largely ostracized not just by most of her friends but also the majority of her colleagues.

When the son of Jay Easton (Peter McRobbie), a powerful New York businessman, is discovered dead, seemingly of an overdose, Alice is pulled into the investigation given its surprising link to a case she previously worked on with the NYPD. Soon, other wealthy, influential men across the city are being targeted, turning the crime from a simple murder into a much more involved set of serial killings. With the FBI and NYPD reluctantly forced to work together, the resulting investigation leads Alice and her partners, including resilient FBI agent Nora Washington (Quincy Tyler Bernstine) and loyal homicide detective Danny Kelly (Scoot McNairy), down the rabbit hole into the city's dark underbelly, where the richest and most powerful men believe they can commit heinous acts without consequence.

Even more surprising is the individual responsible for their deaths, a young woman named Catherine Grace (Lola Petticrew), who uses her diminutive stature and unassuming nature to her advantage. She's not so intimidating that she can't convince her targets to lower their guard long enough to let her in, and that, paired with her ability to manipulate others by preying on their generosity, allows her to continually stay one step ahead of Alice and her pursuit. The more the bodies start to pile up, though, the harder it becomes for Catherine to maintain the upper hand, especially when more parties than just the FBI have a vested interest in making sure that the monstrous secrets linked to these deaths stay buried.

Emmy Rossum and Lola Petticrew Lead a Fearless Cast in 'Furious'

Over the course of its eight episodes provided for review, Furious results in Rossum's most viscerally raw performance since her decade-long tenure on Shameless. It doesn't take long for the audience to not only grasp Alice's deep-rooted pain but also the trauma inextricably linked to it, which distills the character's complex and occasionally abrasive actions through a specifically brutal lens. As often as there are moments when she has to remain buttoned-up and professional, moments that feel as though she's barely able to contain her own anger and rage, there are the scenes of her releasing all of those pent-up feelings — pulling out her hairtie to let her mess of curls spill free, crumpling to the floor as though her legs can't bear her weight, crying into the jacket she's just stripped off at the end of a long shift. It all adds up to the proof of a woman who's been forced to navigate life and work around lingering, albeit invisible, emotional wounds, still nursing the damage left behind by both past abuse and gaslighting about said abuse from not just her ex, but those closest to him.

On the other side of Furious' story is a young woman who likely views herself as an avenging angel, but the reason for her murderous actions is revealed to be much more personal than her first appearance indicates. At the start of the series, Catherine Grace is an enigma, someone whose motives are tantalizingly withheld, and Petticrew has to rise to the task of portraying a character who is both easily overlooked and underestimated at one's peril. Yet it speaks to the natural presence they have onscreen that, despite the distinct size difference between Petticrew and their brief scene partner Rob Delaney, for instance, the Say Nothing actor is the one you can't tear your eyes away from.

Furious's two leads are bolstered by a terrific supporting cast, each of whom earns a significant part to play in the unfolding narrative while also contributing unique energy to thoroughly impactful scenes. Bernstine's Nora is a woman hardened by the reprehensible crimes she's forced to wade into every day on the job, but the actress pairs the character's world-weariness with a blisteringly wry sense of humor that makes her the best kind of wildcard whenever she's onscreen. Lacy's Marshall isn't as paint-by-numbers as you might expect, and the investigation that puts him back in Alice's orbit results in the characters being forced to acknowledge their history in ways that are both vulnerable and incredibly toxic. By contrast, you'd never expect McNairy to be positioned in the story as a potential romantic endgame, but he continually infuses his performance with so much tenderness and sensitivity that you'll be rooting for Danny and Alice to give in to their obvious feelings for each other. Other cast members, including Hope Davis, Danny McCarthy, and an especially great standout in comedian Steve Way, add more dimension to not just this complicated world but also the sinister secrets that gradually emerge as Catherine's quest for vengeance begins to unravel.

'Furious's Most Surprising Twists Have More To Do With Character Than Plot

In addition to subverting its advertised premise for a more visceral examination of trafficking, abuse, and power imbalances, the biggest twists in Furious aren't even found within its overarching narrative. Instead, it's the two women at the center of the narrative who are both the major drivers of the plot and the source of its most compelling reveals. In many ways, Alice and Catherine are two sides of the same coin, shouldering significant trauma that informs all of their present-day decisions, and any time more backstory details are breadcrumbed for the viewer, the show becomes that much more gripping to watch. Like the central premise of Task, the main question of Furious isn't if these two characters will cross paths, but when and how — and the inevitability surrounding that meeting doesn't successfully tie up every loose end, either, but makes the overall investigation that much more complicated when past weights are tagging along for the ride.

Superb cast and twisty storytelling aside, the series does stumble somewhat in its overall depiction of sex work, occasionally conflating it with the more severe violation of trafficking that unflinchingly touches almost every character's storyline in some way. There's timely commentary to be mined from the premise of men using their privilege to take advantage of the less privileged, operating largely unchecked by civil institutions to boot, and Furious leverages that to gripping effect in more than one episode, especially its gut-punch of a finale, but it's hard to fully overlook the show intermittently positioning exploitation and consensual industry under the same umbrella.

One of the strongest indications that any series has done its job, however, is whether you're still turning it over in your head days after finishing it, and Furious definitely meets that criterion and then some. Rossum, in particular, delivers one of her most piercing performances since her Shameless era, while Petticrew's utterly dauntless choices will linger in your memory, and both are skillfully reinforced by a great ensemble that captures the show's impressive blend of drama and action, paired with a dash of humor and romance. It might not be the clear-cut cat-and-mouse thriller that marketing has made it out to be, but that only makes more room for what Furious best embodies at its most successful: a barely contained scream of female rage.

Furious premieres with its first three episodes July 27 on Hulu, followed by new episodes airing weekly each Monday.

Release Date July 27, 2026

Network Hulu

Directors Brian Kirk

Cast

Pros & Cons

Emmy Rossum and Lola Petticrew deliver extraordinary performances as the women on either side of the investigation.
Quincy Tyler Bernstine is an utter force of nature as Nora Washington.
Scoot McNairy infuses his performance as Danny Kelly with welcome emotional depth.

There's less of a cat-and-mouse conceit than advertised, which may turn away some viewers anticipating a Killing Eve replacement.
The show's primary focus on exploitation and trafficking leaves little room for more nuance about sex work.

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