3 short Netflix miniseries you can actually finish this weekend

The weekend is here, and we want to make sure you spend it as enjoyably as possible. You have some time to spare, but not THAT much time with everything else going on, so what’s a Netflix miniseries you can watch that’ll entertain you without forcing you to spend TOO much time on the couch? These three series will occupy your day, but won’t take longer than that, and will show you a great time besides.

Baby Reindeer

The best comedy-drama-thriller around

Baby Reindeer is the lightest offering on this list, which says something about the rest of the entries because it’s not that light. Baby Reindeer is a vaguely true story based on the life of creator and star Richard Gadd, who plays a bartender named Donny who one day comforts a weeping patron named Martha (Jessica Gunning) by giving her a free cup of tea. He comes to regret that decision after Martha becomes obsessively attached to him.

At first hearing this, you might think that Baby Reindeer is a kind of cringe comedy that wrings humor out of awkward situations, and it is that…in part. But Baby Reindeer dives much deeper. Marta’s stalking forces Donny to examine every part of his life, including his sexuality and some trauma from his past. Martha isn’t painted as purely a loony weirdo and Donny isn’t painted as an innocent victim. Everyone gets a lot of shading, which helps explain why this show become one of Netflix’s biggest breakout hits in 2024.

And at seven episodes of around 30 minutes each, Baby Reindeer respects your time. You can wrap up the whole thing in around four hours, which is the sweet spot for a lot of these miniseries.

Death By Lightning

History comes alive, but in a reasonable time frame

If you’re winding down after a busy week and finally have some time to yourself, there’s nothing better than a meaty historical series to help you unwind, and Netflix just came out with a juicy one. Death By Lightning is about President James A. Garfield (Michael Shannon), one of the country’s lesser known presidents today. One of the reasons he didn’t leave behind much of a legacy was that he didn’t get to serve as president very long; he was assassinated by a man named Charles G. Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen). Death By Lightning follows both of them up to that fateful day.

And while it gets there, we learn all about the political climate of post-Civil War America, a period that isn’t touched on in a lot of popular history, so there’s a good chance that you, like me, will learn a lot. How many times has President Chester A. Arthur (Nick Offerman) appeared in a movie or TV show? It can’t be very often.

Death By Lightning takes itself seriously, but it wants to capture the full breadth of life in this period, which means there are still moments of levity. And Charles J. Guiteau has a “stranger than fiction” aspect to him that’s hard to forget.

Death by Lightning runs for only four episodes. Even at an hour each, it ends up being about as long to watch as Baby Reindeer.

Release Date

2025 – 2025-00-00

Network

Netflix

Directors

Matt Ross

Writers

Mike Makowsky

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  Michael Shannon

  James Garfield

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  Matthew Macfadyen

  Charles Guiteau

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  Nick Offerman

  Chester A. Arthur

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  Betty Gilpin

  Crete Garfield

Adolescence

Catch up on 2025’s biggest breakout hit

If Baby Reindeer was Netflix’s breakout hit of 2024, then Adolescence filled the same role in 2025. If you haven’t seen it yet, this weekend is the perfect time to catch up.

That said, I wouldn’t call Adolescence an especially pleasant show to sit through, although it is timely and gripping. It’s about a 13-year-old boy named Jamie (Owen Cooper) who’s accused of stabbing a classmate named Katie (Emilia Holliday) to death. The compelling part of the show isn’t so much figuring out whether Jamie did it, but why. We learn that in addition to going through the struggles with identity that a lot of people his age face, Jamie has been radicalized online, which has led to him developing some warped, frightening views. We also see how Jamie’s situation affects his family, with his parents coming to learn how little they really knew about their son and the world he inhabits. The show explores these issues in a subtle way that doesn’t feel preachy or superficial, which can be hard to do when you’re pulling story ideas straight from today’s headlines.

The other thing worth noting about Adolescence is its technical mastery. Like Death By Lightning, each of the four episodes runs for around an hour. But in the case of Adolescence, each episode is delivered in one long continuous shot, which gives you plenty of time to appreciate the spectacular performances the actors are giving.

Release Date

March 13, 2025

Network

Netflix

Directors

Philip Barantini

Writers

Stephen Graham, Jack Thorne

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  Stephen Graham

  Eddie Miller

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Other shows and movies to enjoy this weekend, short and long, Netflix and elsewhere

There are obviously other popular Netflix miniseries you could check out, although most of them are a bit more of a time commitment. Still haven’t seen the Chess drama The Queen’s Gambit? It’s a great watch, but at seven episodes that sometimes go longer than an hour, you’ll probably have to spread it over a couple of days. Ditto for terrific western miniseries like Godless and American Primeval. Even a lighter show like Beef runs for 10 episodes at 30 minutes each. You might find miniseries you enjoy more than the ones we’ve recommended here, but you’re not likely to find many shorter.

Of course, you could always take the plunge and binge something longer, if you have a long weekend to kill. Why not stream a show like Mindhunter, which is so good it may ruin all other detective series for you? Everyone is trying to guess how Stranger Things is going to end; why not watch it and see what all the fuss is about? And if you still want to keep things short, there are plenty of fleet-footed sci-fi movies out there for you to sample.