Death by Lightning
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Nov 6, 2025
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31

Critic Reviews

  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Jenna Scherer
    Nov 6, 2025
    58
    There’s so much material that Death By Lightning can’t decide what to focus on, so it opts for packing as much as possible into its scant four episodes. The result is a meandering saga rife with tonal whiplash.
  2. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Patrick Smith
    Nov 6, 2025
    40
    While it’s garnished throughout with nice visual touches, Death by Lightning is not without longueurs: the first episode, in particular, feels a little like sitting through a fusty lecture on the politics of the Gilded Age. Not helping its cause is a script from Mike Makowsky that, on occasion, makes the whole thing feel like a belated PR exercise for America’s most unsung president.