Death by Lightning

Rating

4.5 (1)

Release Date

11/6/2025

Runtime

4 eps, 216 mins

Genres

Drama Crime

Overview

The story of James Garfield, who rose from obscurity to become America's 20th President — and Charles Guiteau, the man who assassinated him.

Status

Ended

Original Language

English

Budget

Revenue

Homepage

Visit

How It Feels

Read from this film's synopsis, keywords and credits, and used to work out what it sits beside.

A methodical historical drama that intertwines two men's lives across the arc of an assassination: one climbing toward the presidency, the other descending into obsession and delusion. It's a portrait of ambition and pathology rendered with the deliberate pacing of prestige television.

Mood

TenseContemplativeMelancholic

Themes

AmbitionPowerCorruptionIdentityJustice

Tone

Earnest

Pacing

Slow-burn

Look

Documentary-likeNaturalistic

Structure

Nonlinear

Michael Shannon

James Garfield

Matthew Macfadyen

Charles Guiteau

Nick Offerman

Chester A. Arthur

Shea Whigham

Roscoe Conkling

Bradley Whitford

James Blaine

Betty Gilpin

Crete Garfield

Alfie Tempest

Irvin Garfield

Anders Grundberg

Abram Garfield

Dylan Hughes

Jim Garfield Jr.

Jack Alldridge

Harry Garfield

Andrew Hefler

Tom Platt

David Nykl

Levi Morton

Reviews

stormaciousd

Jan 13, 2026

I'm shocked by how much I enjoyed this. A historical drama about a President I know nothing about, with a cast thats almost all men? That doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but I loved everything about it. The cast, the sets, the costumes, the writing. I never thought I'd be so invested in James Garfield.