There’s something a regular show can’t really do that a miniseries can: it gets to end on time. No filler season to justify a renewal, no dragging a mystery out past the point it still makes sense. These six all know exactly how many hours they need and use every single one of them well.
A couple of these are true stories, one’s basically someone’s real diary turned into television. What they share is pacing; you sit down for one episode and somehow it’s three hours later, and the show gives you the full feel of it. Ranked from great to unmissable, here are the six best miniseries worth your time.
6
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ (2020)
Image via Netflix
Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) grows up in an orphanage where she’s handed tranquilizers along with all the other kids, and that’s where her chess obsession and her addiction both start, tangled up together from the very beginning. She’s a genuine prodigy, and the show actually choreographed her matches with help from Garry Kasparov and a real chess coach, so the games hold up. Beth visualizes moves on the ceiling above her bed, whole boards floating there while she works out a play, and it’s one of the simplest tricks the show uses to get you inside her head.
Her wardrobe tracks her arc too: she starts in plain, dark clothes and slowly moves into these sharp black-and-white outfits that mirror the chess pieces themselves. Marielle Heller plays Alma, Beth’s adoptive mother, an alcoholic herself who ends up being oddly good for Beth in odd ways. The show did so well that chess sets and chess apps saw a real sales spike after it came out, which isn’t something you’d expect from a period drama about a card game’s stuffier cousin.
5
‘Mare of Easttown’ (2021)
Image via HBO
Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) is a small-town Pennsylvania detective working a murder case while quietly falling apart over her son's suicide. Winslet trained hard to nail the specific Delco accent, all those flat vowels, and it grounds the whole thing in a very real, very unglamorous version of small-town life. Jean Smart plays her mother, sharp-tongued and living in the same house, and their scrapping back and forth ends up being some of the best writing in the whole show.
Creator Brad Ingelsby actually grew up in the area, and it shows this never feels like outsiders doing poverty tourism with a nice cable budget. Nearly everyone in town ends up a suspect at some point, which keeps you guessing right up until the final reveal. It’s not flashy, but it earns every bit of its ending.
4
‘The Night Manager’ (2016)
Image via Prime Video
Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) works as a hotel night manager until an intelligence officer, Angela Burr (Olivia Colman), recruits him to infiltrate an arms dealer’s whole operation from the inside. That arms dealer is Richard Roper, played by Hugh Laurie, who’s so used to playing charming and kind that watching him be quietly, casually monstrous here is genuinely unsettling. John le Carré‘s original novel was written during the Cold War, but the show moves the setting into the Arab Spring era instead.
The character Angela Burr was male in the book, and changing that role for Colman turned out to be one of the smartest calls made during production. The locations alone are worth watching for—Mallorca, Cairo, the Alps—all shot to look as expensive as Roper’s own lifestyle. It swept multiple Emmys and Globes upon release, and none of that felt undeserved.
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labelclass =”q-option-btn q-opt-a “for =”q-q1a”>A
label >We got loud about same obsession never stopped.
labelclass =”option-btn “for =”option-b”>B
label >They invited me somewhere before we had properly met.
labelclass =”option-btn “for =”option-c”>C
label >We bonded over disliking exactly same thing.
labelclass =”option-btn “for =”option-d”>D
label >They noticed I was struggling stayed with me.
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labelclass =”btn-next “for =”s-next “>NEXT QUESTION →
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p >02
spanquestion-text >What is perfect Saturday your best friend?
spanquestion-sub >Friendship mostly built out very ordinary hours.
/div >
p >
labeloption-btn option-a for=q-q >A ridiculous plan neither us should attempt.
labeloption-btn option-b for=q-q >Somewhere new photographed heavily ending very late.
labeloption-btn option-c for=q-q >Somewhere quiet few people zero small talk.
labeloption-btn option-d for=q-q >Something simple conversation actually matters.
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p >03
spanquestion-text >You call them at two morning what happens?
spanquestion-sub >This real test friendship everybody knows it.
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p >
labeloption-btn option-a for=q-q >They already putting shoes on.
labeloption-btn option-b for=q-q >They answer instantly turn into plan.
labeloption-btn option-c for=q-q >They answer say something unflattering true.
labeloption-btn option-d for=q-q >They listen hour never check time.
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labelbtn-next for=s-next >NEXT QUESTION →
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p >04
spanquestion-text >What do want from them when you clearly wrong?
spanquestion-sub >best friendships ones survive being corrected.
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labeloption-btn option-a for=q-q >Support first we can review mistake later.
labeloption-btn option-b for=q-q >A relentlessly positive reframe entire disaster.
labeloption-btn option-c for=q-q >The blunt version do not soften it me.
labeloption-btn option-d for=q-q >Patience no judgment about how I got here.
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labelbtn-next for=s-next >NEXT QUESTION →
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p >05
spanquestion-text >What do your friends actually value about you?
spanquestion-sub>The friend attract says something about friend you are.
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labeloption-btn option-a for=q-q>I am all always about everything.
labeloption-btn option-b for=q-q>I can turn almost any situation into good time.
labeloption-btn option-c for=q-q>I say thing nobody else room will.
labeloption-btn option-d for=q-q>I look after whoever having worst day.
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labelbtn-next for=s-next>NEXT QUESTION → /label >
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p >06
spanquestion-text>You have falling out how does go?
spanquestion-sub>This friendship repairs itself matters more than how breaks.
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labeloption-btn option-a for=q-q>Loudly briefly then back normal Tuesday.
labeloption-btn option-b for=q-q>The apologise first enthusiastically gift.
labeloption-btn option-c for=q-q>Cold silence then one dry joke fixes everything.
labeloption-btn option-d for=q-q We talk until both understand what actually happened.
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labelbtn-next for=s-next>NEXT QUESTION → /label >
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p >07
spanquestion-text>You actually need best friend?
spanquestion-sub>This missing something right friend fills that gap.
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labeloption-btn option-a for=q-q To make my life bigger than would be alone.
labeloption-btn option-b for=q-q To push me out house into my own life.
labeloption-btn option-c for=q-q To catch me when start lying myself.
labeloption-btn option-d for=q-q To be person who never gave up me.
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labelbtn-next for=s-next>NEXT QUESTION → /label >
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p >08
spanquestion-text>Twelve years now what keeps two you close?
spanquestion-sub>This eight questions this decides who get.
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labeloption-btn option-a for=q-q We would still drop everything each other instantly.
labeloption-btn option-b for=q-q We still make plans still actually go.
labeloption-btn option-c for=q-q We still cut through each other’s nonsense one sentence.
labeloption-btn option-d for=q-q They stood once when cost them something.
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labelbtn-next for=s-R REVEAL MY BEST FRIEND → /label >
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spanresult-label>The Group Chat Has Spoken
spanresult-title>Your Best Friend Is…
p result-intro-text Four Netflix characters four completely different ways showing up somebody this one fits how actually do friendship what having them life would be like.
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divresult-card res-dustin style border-left-color:#E03C31;
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spanbadge style background:#E03C31;
spanresult-card-banner-text color:#EF6F66 Stranger Things · Netflix · Since 2016
divresult-card-inner
spanresult-card-title style background linear-gradient(135deg,#fff 40%,#EF6F66);background clip:text;-webkit-background clip:text;-webkit-text-fill-color:transparent;background clip:text>Dustin Henderson
p result-card-text>You do not do friendship half volume neither does he. What want somebody who says yes plan before have finished describing plan.
ulresult-bullets
li>Dustin friend entire show runs on loyal past point sense enthusiastic about everything incapable leaving anybody behind.
li>You have same instinct Your friendships loud specific slightly ridiculous last decades because it.
li>He also one person would take strangest interest completely seriously far rarer sounds.
li>You would have group chat It never once quiet.
divresult-card res-emily style border-left-color:#E8609C;
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spanbadge style background:#E8609C;
spanresult-card-banner-text color:#F084B4 Emily in Paris · Netflix · Since 2020
divresult-card-inner
spanresult-card-title style background linear-gradient(135deg,#fff 40%,#F084B4);background clip:text;-webkit-background clip:text;-webkit-text-fill-color:transparent;background clip:text Emily Cooper
p result-card-text>You are friend makes things happen so is she Together would mildly exhausting everyone around completely delighted yourselves.
ulresult-bullets
li>Emily treats ordinary Tuesday something could turned into occasion which either best worst quality friend depending your energy levels.
li>You share her refusal sit still Neither you ever accepted night when something happening somewhere else.
li>She far more loyal than people give credit She defends friends loudly publicly occasionally before checking facts.
li>She would post photo without asking You would forgive because very good photo.
divresult-card res-wednesday style border-left-color:#8E44AD;
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spanbadge style background:#8E44AD;
spanresult-card-banner-text color:#A972C4 Wednesday · Netflix · Since 2022
divresult-card-inner
spanresult-card-title style background linear-gradient(135deg,#fff 40%,#A972C4);background clip:text;-webkit-background clip:text;-webkit-text-fill-color:transparent;background clip:text Wednesday Addams
p result-card-text>You have no patience pleasant lies she has no ability tell them What looks like coldness outside most reliable friendship this list.
ulresult-bullets
li>Wednesday never says kind thing does not mean makes rare ones count enormous amount.
li>You would rather told truth than made comfortable She constitutionally incapable offering anything else.
li>Underneath all ferociously protective simply refuses make performance caring.
li>No expect birthday message Do expect ruin anyone wrongs you.
