Death by Lightning focuses on the rise to power of the 20th American Present, James Garfield (portrayed by Michael Shannon – A Different Man), and his eventual assassin, Charles J. Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen – Deadpool And Wolverine), which gives us an interesting early line, as the latter protests, “I’m as American as anyone else”, even though Mr Macfadyen was born in Norfolk, England.
Still, after watching this series, I did see that the men they portray are pretty much their spitting image! And the actors do a great job of chewing the scenery.
As we encounter him, chancer and thief Guiteau is out of jail and wants to start a newspaper but is still a financial scumbag.
Garfield is due to recommended John Sherman (Alistair Petrie – Agatha and the Midnight Murders) for President, but we know it’ll be the lead who gets the job, given the premise and how history turned out, but it is amusing how the result comes about, and for the whole of this four-parter, it’s less about the destination and more about the journey.
It’s also a point of historical fact that in due course, it was Garfields, VP, Chester A. Arthur (Nick Offerman – Civil War), who took over as the 21st President, a fact I would not have known if it was for having seen this come up 30 years ago, in Die Hard With A Vengeance.
Note that the title comes from when there’s fears for Garfield’s life, yet he quips, “Assassination can no more be guarded against than death by lightning. It’s best not to worry too much about either one”.
I hugely enjoyed this, and it cemented my thoughts of… Can we have more 4-part dramas, please? I’m far more likely to actually finish one of these, instead of an overlong 10-part series where my interest might wane!
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Death by Lightning is on Netflix from today.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 50-60 minutes per episode (4 episodes)
Release date: November 6th 2025
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.39:1
Director: Matt Ross
Producers: Olly Robinson, Hameed Shaukat, Mark Taylor, DB Weiss
Writer: Mike Makowsky
Novel: Candice Millard
Music: Ramin Djawadi
Cast:
James A. Garfield: Michael Shannon
Charles J. Guiteau: Matthew Macfadyen
Chester A. Arthur: Nick Offerman
Lucretia Garfield: Betty Gilpin
James Blaine: Bradley Whitford
Roscoe Conkling: Shea Whigham
Blanche Bruce: Barry Shabaka Henley
Franny Scoville: Paula Malcomson
Kate Chase Sprague: Tuppence Middleton
Mollie Garfield: Laura Marcus
Frederick Douglass: Vondie Curtis-Hall
Doctor Willard Bliss: Željko Ivanek
Joe Brown: Archie Fisher
Robert Todd Lincoln: Kyle Soller
George Scoville: Ben Miles
Mary Scoville: Madeleine Crow
Bertha Scoville: Evelyn Crow
Dr. Charles Purvis: Shaun Parkes
John Sherman: Alistair Petrie
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.