Death by Lightning Parents Guide

Death by Lightning is rated TV-MA by Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for mature audiences. This series is best suited for older teens (16+) and adults.

Ever wondered who killed President James Garfield or, honestly, who James Garfield even was? If your answer is “no,” Netflix’s Death by Lightning might change that. The series opens with a literal brain in a jar rolling across the floor while “Everyday People” blasts from a radio. Yep, it’s weird, darkly funny, and immediately tells you this isn’t your typical history lesson.

From there, the series created by Mike Makowsky (Bad Education) and produced by Game of Thrones duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss rewinds the clock to 1880 and unearths the strange, tragic connection between President James A. Garfield and the man who killed him, Charles Guiteau. Most of us probably couldn’t name Garfield as anything more than a trivia answer sandwiched between Ulysses S. Grant and Chester Arthur, but this show insists he deserves a second look.

The Story

The heart of Death by Lightning belongs to its two leads. Michael Shannon plays Garfield not as a saint, but as a man trying almost reluctantly to do the right thing in a system that rewards the opposite. There’s a quiet nobility to him, a sense that he’s too grounded and too idealistic for the snake pit of Washington. When we meet him on his farm in Ohio, surrounded by his wife Lucretia (a wonderful Betty Gilpin) and their children, he feels genuinely content, even disinterested in power. Politics, for him, isn’t about glory it’s about service.

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Then there’s Matthew Macfadyen’s Charles Guiteau: the anti-Garfield in every sense. He’s a drifter, a failed preacher, a self-proclaimed genius who’s just delusional enough to believe the world owes him greatness. Macfadyen plays him as both pitiful and chillingly funny—one minute you’re laughing at his pompous speeches, the next you’re realizing you’re watching a man mentally unravel in slow motion.

By the time Guiteau is rejected one too many times by Garfield’s inner circle, his fragile ego collapses. He convinces himself that assassinating the president will make him a national hero. It’s delusion, sure, but also a commentary on the dangerous hunger for recognition that’s as relevant today as it was in 1881.

Makowsky’s script doesn’t just retell history it revels in it. The early episodes capture the chaotic energy of the Republican National Convention, where Garfield accidentally becomes the party’s nominee after 36 ballots and a storm of political backroom deals. These scenes have a surprisingly modern rhythm: all frantic shouting, double-dealing, and backstabbing that could easily pass for a present-day political drama.

Budapest stands in for Chicago and Washington, D.C., and while the architecture occasionally betrays its European roots, the visual world feels rich and tactile. You can almost smell the cigar smoke and see the sweat on every politician’s brow. Director Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic) and cinematographer Adriano Goldman (The Crown) shoot the 19th century not as a distant, dusty past but as something alive and pulsing a country on the edge of invention and insanity.

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And insanity is the right word. Death by Lightning leans into Guiteau’s unraveling mind without turning it into cheap spectacle. There’s real empathy in how the show portrays mental illness he’s not a monster, just a man broken by ambition and self-delusion. You don’t root for him, but you can’t quite look away either.

If this series works and it really, really does it’s because of its performances.
Michael Shannon is magnetic. He plays Garfield with that quiet, world-weary dignity only Shannon can pull off. You can see the conflict in his eyes: the sense of duty warring with the exhaustion of trying to stay moral in a corrupt world. When he gives a speech at the convention about “lifting into the firmament those immortal pillars of justice and truth,” it’s one of those moments that make you sit up and realize you’re watching a real actor at the height of his craft.

Macfadyen, meanwhile, is just extraordinary. After years of being everyone’s favorite emotionally repressed Brit (Succession’s Tom Wambsgans, anyone?), he goes all in on Guiteau’s mania smiling too wide, sweating too much, and delivering lines that teeter between comedy and tragedy. You can see every crack forming in his mind.

Supporting players add to the richness: Shea Whigham as the vile Senator Conkling, Bradley Whitford as the calculating James G. Blaine, and Vondie Curtis-Hall as the dignified Frederick Douglass. And Nick Offerman, in a surprising turn, makes Vice President Chester Arthur a kind of 19th-century frat king who hides real humanity behind the bluster. When he bellows, “Music! Fighting! Sausages!” it’s absurd but somehow also heartbreaking.

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What makes Death by Lightning so compelling is that it treats history as drama, not homework.
You don’t need to know anything about the Gilded Age or the spoils system to be hooked. The show gives you context without ever talking down to you. And yes, it takes creative liberties there are moments that are clearly dramatized but they always serve the emotion of the story rather than distorting it.

There’s a rhythm to the storytelling that feels almost musical. One scene will hit you with laughter; the next will make you uneasy. It’s tonally daring part The Death of Stalin, part Oppenheimer, and a touch of Hamilton’s energy buried under Victorian waistcoats. That’s a strange cocktail, but somehow, it works.

By the time the series reaches its devastating final stretch the shooting at the train station, Garfield’s slow death, and Guiteau’s delusional trial you realize this isn’t just a history lesson. It’s a story about how fragile democracy can be, and how easily ambition curdles into madness.

Garfield, in Shannon’s hands, becomes a symbol of what might have been a president who actually wanted to unite people in decency and reason. Guiteau, meanwhile, becomes the warning: that obsession with self-importance can destroy even the most hopeful moments in history.

The title Death by Lightning comes from Garfield’s own haunting wordsmthat assassination is as random and unstoppable as a lightning strike. The irony, of course, is that his death wasn’t random at all. It was the result of ego, delusion, and a system that often rewards the loudest voice instead of the truest one.

Content Breakdown for Parents

Violence & Intensity: Moderate to strong. The assassination scene is portrayed with realistic gunfire and aftermath, including Garfield’s suffering and medical treatment. It’s not gratuitous, but the emotional weight and brief glimpses of blood may disturb sensitive viewers. There’s also tension in several political confrontations and moments of mental breakdown.

Language: Frequent use of strong language, including several f-words and period insults. It feels true to the characters and tone rather than excessive, but parents should be aware of rough dialogue in both political and personal exchanges.

Sexual Content / Nudity: Minimal. A few mild references to marital intimacy, but nothing explicit. The series focuses more on ambition and ideology than romance.

Drugs, Alcohol & Smoking: Frequent social drinking, cigar smoking, and party scenes typical of the Gilded Age. Vice President Chester Arthur is often shown drinking heavily at gatherings. No drug use depicted.

Scary or Disturbing Scenes: The assassination itself and Garfield’s slow decline may be upsetting. Guiteau’s erratic behavior, mania, and delusional outbursts are intense and sometimes unsettling. Occasional imagery (such as the preserved brain from the opening scene) might startle younger viewers.

Parental Concerns: While gorgeously acted and intelligent, this isn’t an easy watch. The pacing is deliberate, the tone somber, and the subject matter assassination, delusion, and death may feel heavy for kids or tweens. The language, violence, and psychological distress push it firmly into adult territory.