Television series

Filthy Rich

Name: Filthy Rich
Genre: Drama
Released: 2020
Cast: Kim Cattrall, Melia Kreiling, Aubrey Dollar, Corey Cott, Benjamin Levy Aguilar

Other titles called Filthy Rich: the 2016 series (TVNZ 2).

Family drama
Relentless

A Southern Gothic melodrama about old money, Christian empire-building, and the illegitimate children who upend it all. Kim Cattrall presides over a family imploding in real time, with twists that don't pretend to subtlety. Soapy, dark, and unapologetically fun—for viewers who want their drama operatic and their secrets scandalous.

TVMaze rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy sudsy, high-gloss soap operas where the scheming is the point and the camp is played with a straight face, the rich-family backbiting turned up to full volume.

Skip it if you want slow, restrained prestige drama; this one leans into melodrama and heavy plotting, and its sincere-sounding dialogue can grate when you are after subtlety.

What it asks of you: Ten hour-long episodes and a plot that keeps moving at a brisk, bumpy clip, so it wants you to stay locked in rather than dip in and out.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Dynasty1981

The template for wealthy-family-eating-itself drama. Cattrall herself walked this ground; here's what made the formula work when it was new, with Joan Collins at full wattage and zero restraint.

But It's genuinely dated now—the pacing feels sluggish, the production values have aged, and modern viewers accustomed to speed might find it ponderous.

Succession2018

Wealth and power corrupting everyone it touches, but with surgical precision and a savage wit. The family dynamics have that same baroque cruelty, but with contemporary intelligence and no camp whatsoever.

But It's bleak in a way Filthy Rich isn't—there's no pleasure in the darkness, just accumulating damage. Some find it punishing rather than entertaining.

Godless2017

A different kind of empire—a mining town run by women—but the same collision of money, power, and religious justification. Gorgeously shot Western with a manic energy that matches the soapiness.

But Only one season, and it ends on considerable ambiguity. If you need closure, this will frustrate you.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Filthy Rich

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Mildred Pierce2011

Both track how family secrets and inheritance weaponize love itself. But where Filthy Rich moves at soap speed, this crawls—same Gothic DNA, utterly different rhythm and register.

Todd Haynes' five-hour miniseries transforms a period melodrama into something mythic. Kate Winslet as a woman destroyed by family need and her own ambition, with production so gorgeous it's almost unbearable.

But It's slow in a way that demands your full attention—there's no plot mechanizing you forward. The atmosphere and performance have to be enough, and they're not for everyone.

The Righteous Gemstones2019

Danny McBride's love letter to Christian-industrial excess. A megachurch family with secrets that go nuclear—and it's actively funny in a way Filthy Rich reaches for but rarely lands.

But The comedy is sometimes broader than the drama can support; tonal whiplash if you want the stakes to stay serious.

Bloodline2015

Family secrets and mutual destruction in a Southern setting, with methodical pacing and genuine darkness. Kyle Chandler carrying the weight of everything his family is hiding.

But The final season botches the landing badly—knowing that's coming can make earlier seasons feel like they're building toward disappointment.

Scandal2012

Relentless plot velocity, characters willing to destroy anyone for advantage, and Kerry Washington's absolute commitment to every absurd turn. It doesn't stop moving, ever.

But The twists eventually eat their own tails—by the end, the show has become almost self-parody, which some find exhilarating and others exhausting.

Big Little Lies2017

Secrets, wealth, and the violence underneath beautiful surfaces. Methodical storytelling with Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, treating the drama with genuine seriousness.

But The second season loses the thread—the first eight episodes work beautifully, but the expansion into a new mystery feels padded and less focused.

Santa Clarita Diet2017

Suburban Gothic where the mundane and grotesque collide. Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant with dark chemistry, and the show finds horror-comedy in family complicity.

But It never quite decides what it wants to be—horror, comedy, or family drama—and some viewers find that uncertainty undermines all three.

Kin2021

Family inheritance as curse rather than blessing—but here the threat is criminal, not religious, and the show trusts you to read subtext instead of spelling everything out.

An Irish crime family drama that builds its power through accumulation and atmosphere rather than twists. Subtler than anything on American TV, but with a darkness that lingers because it's earned.

But The pacing is glacial and the accents take adjustment. If you need immediate plot momentum, you'll be frustrated inside ten minutes.

Daddy's Home2015

Same premise—the intrusion of a secret child—but treated as farce instead of tragedy. Shows what happens when you flip the emotional valence of the same situation entirely.

A comedy built on the exact inverse of Filthy Rich's engine: what if the illegitimate father showed up asking for inclusion? Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg's chemistry sells the absurdity, and the film finds genuine sweetness underneath.

But It's fundamentally a studio comedy, so the darkness stays surface-level. If you want the stakes to matter, the tone works against you.