Netflix’s Death by Lightning, the eight-part limited series that premiered on December 19, 2025, has electrified audiences with its gripping retelling of one of America’s most overlooked presidential assassinations. Created by Mike Makowsky and based on Candice Millard’s book Destiny of the Republic, the show stars Michael Shannon as President James A. Garfield and Shea Whigham as his deranged assassin Charles Guiteau, delivering a tense, character-driven drama that blends historical accuracy with psychological thriller elements. With a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score and praise as “a masterclass in slow-burn suspense,” Death by Lightning has quickly become one of Netflix’s top-watched titles, pulling in 25 million views in its first week.

The series chronicles Garfield’s brief 1881 presidency—cut short just 200 days in by Guiteau’s bullet—and the chaotic aftermath, including Vice President Chester A. Arthur’s (Matthew Macfadyen) reluctant ascension. Shannon’s Garfield is a principled everyman, a former professor and Civil War hero thrust into power amid Gilded Age corruption. Whigham’s Guiteau is chillingly unhinged—a delusional office-seeker convinced divine mandate drove his act. Betty Gilpin shines as First Lady Lucretia Garfield, her grief anchoring the human cost.

Makowsky’s script weaves medical drama—Garfield’s agonizing death from infection due to unsanitary probing—with political intrigue: factional battles, Alexander Graham Bell’s (Bradley Whitford) metal detector invention to locate the bullet. The ensemble—Kieran Culkin as scheming Roscoe Conkling, Josh Hamilton as Secretary of State James Blaine—adds layers of ambition and betrayal.

Critics rave: “Shannon and Whigham are electric—history crackles” (Variety). Fans binge: “Better than any presidential drama” (@HistoryFan, 80k likes).

Death by Lightning isn’t just history—it’s haunting reminder of fragility. Stream on Netflix; the shot echoes.