Netflix’s new historical series Death by Lightning is already making an impact in just days. The show follows the events leading up to the presidency and assassination of James A Garfield (Michael Shannon), who comes across his killer, Charles J. Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen). The miniseries is based on the 2011 book Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard.
Following its streaming release on November 6, Death by Lightning is hitting Netflix’s top 10 charts in the United States, currently ranking at No. 2. While it’s sitting behind the stand-up comedy Leanne Morgan Unspeakable Things, the show is ahead of Nobody Wants This season 2, Squid Game: The Challenge season 2, and Selling Sunset.
The historical series is earning critical acclaim, as it currently holds a strong 88% Rotten Tomatoes based on 42 reviews. While audiences are slowly clicking their way to check out the miniseries, it does have a 90% audience score.
Even though Death by Lightning depicts a forgotten part of history as indicated in the opening credits, critics agree that the historical show delivers on a riveting tale of the short-lived presidency and players involved, which surprisingly has a hint of levity. ScreenRant‘s Ben Gibbons was among the critics who highly praised the series with an outstanding 9 out of 10 stars, finding the story to be “enthralling” and “shocking.” He also applauded that the series was pristine in recreating the late 1800s via its costume, setting, and dialogue.
In addition, critics emphasized the strong performances of the Death by Lightning cast, especially Shannon and Macfadyen. The latter once again portrays a similar kind of loser character that he once played with Succession‘s Tom Wambsgans, with pundits saying that he takes it to a whole new level. The remaining cast also includes Nick Offerman, Betty Gilpin, Shea Wingham, and Bradley Whitford.
Death by Lightning becoming a streaming hit continues the redemption arc for Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who are executive producers. After a controversial final season for Game of Thrones, the duo exited their Star Wars project as a result of their Netflix deal. Since then, the creative minds have been firmly collaborating with Netflix on series like The Chair and 3 Body Problem. The sci-fi series became a hit and was renewed for seasons 2 and 3.
The series was created by Mike Makowsky, who also acted as an executive producer and writer for all four episodes. Matt Ross directed all four episodes, while Ramin Djawadi reunites with the Game of Thrones collaborator on the score.
All four episodes of Death by Lightning are now available on Netflix.
- Release Date
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November 6, 2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Matt Ross
