Month: November 2025

Death By Lightning (2025)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Four 55-minute episodes
Synopsis: American political miniseries
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: funny, entertaining, historical
What I don’t like about it: could’ve been a movie

Review:
This historical four-parter follows three strands; the first is principled Republican outsider James Garfield (Michael Shannon), who quickly rises to Presidential nominee thanks to a grand speech and an exhausted convention. The second is the corrupt Republican establishment hoping to control President Garfield, represented primarily by his hard-drinking V.P. Chester A. Arthur (Nick Offerman). Finally, in arrestingly pathetic form is Matthew Macfadyen as Charles Guiteau, a style-over-substance conman fated to enact regime change which benefits the establishment.

It’s well-written, well-acted, entertaining and a genuinely interesting episode of American politics. It could have been shorter but it doesn’t drag.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): sex

Peacemaker (2022)

Where to find it: Now TV
Length: Sixteen 45-minute episodes
Synopsis: Superhero-set comedy
Recommendation rating: 4/5

What I like about it: entertaining, funny, well-written, dance routines
What I don’t like about it: soundtrack

Review:
John Cena is charming as ever in this DC comedy about a costumed vigilante who finds a team and tries to be less of an asshole. Full of swears and cultural-political commentary, it’s not Ibsen but it succeeds at what it aims for – a real-world social dynamic in an unreal setting. Season 1 is full of glam metal, which is awful but at least funny, and a plot about Bolshevik butterflies. Season 2 has better music but a worse plot about a fascist alternate dimension. There won’t be more; Cena’s probably gonna run for president or something.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): blood and violence, swearing, obligatory HBO nudity and sex