Television series

Feud

Name: Feud
Genre: Drama
Released: 2017
Cast: Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon, Judy Davis, Jackie Hoffman, Tom Hollander

Feud pits two Old Hollywood titans against each other and lets you watch every knife land. Ryan Murphy's anthology drama restages the making of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? as gladiatorial camp with real ache underneath: two brilliant women fighting over scraps in an industry that discarded them at forty. Lange and Sarandon are magnificent. It's for anyone who wants backstage bitchiness with a genuine bruise beneath the glitter.

TVMaze rating

7.5

If you liked this

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?1962

This is the film Feud dramatizes the making of — watch Davis and Crawford's real venom curdle into an actual gothic thriller about two sisters trapped together, and you'll never see the show's recreations the same way again.

But Slow, stagy, and genuinely unsettling in a way modern horror rarely bothers with; it's 1962 pacing throughout.

All About Eve1950

The original backstage knife fight, decades before Feud, with Bette Davis herself delivering one of the great performances about ambition, aging, and theatre's appetite for its own. Every barbed line still lands.

But Talky and theatrical by design — if you want plot momentum over dialogue, this will feel like a stage play.

Mommie Dearest1981

The camp companion piece: Faye Dunaway's legendarily unhinged Joan Crawford biopic, made decades before Feud rehabilitated her image, shows exactly the reputation Feud is quietly trying to complicate.

But It's so over-the-top it tips into unintentional comedy — treat it as spectacle, not history.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Sunset Boulevard1950

Baby Jane, and by extension Feud, is Sunset Boulevard's grandchild — Gloria Swanson, herself a real silent-era star, plays a discarded actress clinging to relevance, a role Crawford and Davis's actual careers seemed to be quoting.

The original portrait of Hollywood's cruelty to ageing actresses, told as pitch-black noir rather than prestige drama — a former silent star haunting her own mansion, waiting for a comeback that isn't coming.

But It's a noir, not a character drama — colder, stranger, and less interested in redemption than Feud is.

American Crime Story2016

Ryan Murphy's other great anthology season, same appetite for turning real tabloid history into operatic tragedy, with a career-best Sarah Paulson proving Murphy's ensemble casting instincts weren't a one-off.

But Heavier subject matter — this is about a real murder trial, not showbiz cattiness, so the stakes feel different.

The Crown2016

Swap Hollywood soundstages for Buckingham Palace and you get the same pleasure: extraordinary actresses playing real women trapped by institutions that used them up and moved on.

But Much more restrained and stately — if you came to Feud for claws-out theatrics, this plays a longer, quieter game.

Halston2021

A gorgeous, bitchy miniseries about another real figure chewed up by fame and fashion, with Ewan McGregor doing career-peak work and the same eye for beautiful, doomed excess.

But Runs out of story faster than it runs out of style — the back half sags.

Ratched2020no page yet

More Murphy, more Sarah Paulson, dialed up into full lurid melodrama — if you loved Feud's stylised nastiness, this pushes the camp even further.

But Trades emotional truth for spectacle far more than Feud does; it's style over substance, unapologetically.

The Comeback2005

Lisa Kudrow's cringe-comedy masterpiece about a washed-up sitcom actress fighting for relevance turns Feud's tragedy into excruciating, brilliant comedy — same industry cruelty, different tone entirely.

But The cringe is real and constant; if secondhand embarrassment isn't your comedy, this will be a hard watch.

Postcards from the Edge1990no page yet

Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine as a fading actress and her monstrous, magnificent movie-star mother — a lighter, funnier take on Feud's obsession with women, fame, and generational damage.

But Considerably gentler and more forgiving than Feud — don't expect the same bite.

Grey Gardens1976

Feud is fascinated by real women left behind by fame; this documentary shows you the unscripted version — no screenplay, no actors, just two actual society women rotting gorgeously inside their own legend.

The Maysles brothers' cult documentary about a mother and daughter marooned in a decaying East Hampton mansion is stranger, sadder, and funnier than any scripted version could be — pure, unfiltered eccentricity.

But No structure, no narrator, no comfort — it's raw vérité footage, and some viewers find it more uncomfortable than entertaining.

Death Becomes Her1992

Same rage against an industry that discards women at forty, but Feud's tragedy becomes literal horror-comedy here — Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as former friends destroying each other over eternal youth, played for gore and laughs instead of grief.

If Feud's rivalry ever made you laugh at how absurd the cruelty was, this cranks that absurdity into full black-comedy horror — vain, vicious, and gloriously silly.

But It's broad, gross-out fantasy comedy — anyone wanting Feud's emotional weight will find this deliberately, defiantly shallow.