Hulu has a ton of miniseries that are worth binge-watching over a weekend. It even just added a new one to its roster — A Murder at the End of the World — though you can only watch the first two episodes of that particular miniseries.
But the seven on this list? You can watch these limited series in their entirety, and all are doable over the course of a Saturday and Sunday. Some you could even do in just a day, like Catch-22, a dark comedy about World War II, which takes less than six hours to complete.
So if you’re looking for a way to kill some time this weekend, we’ve got you covered with this curated selection of the great limited series the popular streaming service has to offer. Here are our picks for the seven Hulu miniseries you should binge-watch this weekend.
Catch-22
This Hulu miniseries may seem like a typical war TV series at first, but this show is much more about the absurdest comedy of its content than a pure historical war dramatization a la Band of Brothers. Based on the novel of the same name, Catch-22 stars Christopher Abbott as Capt. John Yossarian, a United States Army Air Forces bombardier in World War II who tries to get out of combat but is thrown into more missions the more he tries to get out.
While the Hulu miniseries doesn’t quite live up to the legendary novel it’s based on, it’s still worth watching. It’s also undeniably funny and is loaded with acting talent. Abbott in particular is excellent as Yossarian, as is George Clooney as Scheisskopf, an officer who is promoted constantly despite being possibly one of the worst men for the job.
Genre: Dark comedy
Episodes: 6
Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%
Watch now on Hulu
Dopesick
Catch-22 may be a dark comedy, but Dopesick is just dark. Starring Michael Keaton as Dr. Samuel Finnix, Dopesick is a Hulu miniseries based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America, which covers the opioid crises in America and Purdue Pharma’s role in this disastrous chapter of American history.
Overall it’s an incredible dramatization of the web of corruption that led to the opioid epidemic in America. The cast alone is a reason to watch, particularly Keaton’s performance as Finnix, which would go on to win a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. Fellow cast members Will Poulter, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mare Winningham and Kaitlyn Dever would also garner nominations for their performances, just some of the 14 Emmy nominations Dopesick would receive. When it comes to finding an acclaimed miniseries to binge, it’s tough to beat Dopesick.
Genre: Drama
Episodes: 8
Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%
Watch now on Hulu
Normal People
If you’re looking for something to watch with the whole family, Normal People is not going to be for you. But if you want an incredible, relatable drama about how difficult relationships can be, then Normal People is a must-watch. It’s based on the novel by Sally Rooney and unlike Catch-22, which falls a bit short of its source material at times, Normal People excels as an adaptation as well as a dramatic miniseries in its own right.
Normal People stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Marianne Sheridan and Paul Mescal as Connell Waldron and follows their relationship from secondary school (high school) through college in Dublin. Their performances as a couple struggling to make things work with each other are vulnerable and at times brutal to watch (in a good way), so if you decide to ration this miniseries over a couple of viewings I won’t blame you. But Normal People is easily one of the best miniseries you can binge this weekend on Hulu.
Genre: Romance drama
Episodes: 12
Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
Watch now on Hulu
The Looming Tower
The Looming Tower tracks the rise of al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden in the years leading up to the terrorist attack on 9/11. It stars Jeff Daniels as John O’Neill, the head of the FBI’s New York Counterterrorism Center and Tahar Rahim as Ali Sufan, a Muslim Lebanese-American member of O’Neill’s I-49 task force who eventually becomes O’Neill’s most-trusted man in the FBI. But The Looming Tower isn’t just about the attack from al-Qaeda, it’s also about the ineptitude and scheming that led to what could have been a preventable attack on U.S. soil.
When I looked at The Looming Tower’s reviews I was surprised to find it so divisive with audiences and critics. I found it to be incredibly engaging, must-watch television. The acting performances of Daniels and Rahim in particular are incredible to watch, but the storyline of a government that could not get out of its own way is equally enthralling. If I had to recommend just one of the miniseries on this list to binge this weekend, The Looming Tower just might be it.
Genre: Historical drama
Episodes: 10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
Watch now on Hulu
Devs
For fans of Ex Machina or Annihilation, director Alex Garland’s miniseries Devs is a must-watch. The show stars Sonoya Mizuna as Lily Chan, a software engineer at Amaya, a fictional Silicon Valley tech company. Her world turns upside down when her boyfriend and coworker Sergei mysteriously dies, and she starts to consider if there’s something more sinister behind his demise.
Criticisms of the show's slow pacing are … fair, though I found it worked for Devs. I watched every episode the night it came out during the pandemic and could not get enough. The psychological depths the show explores are thought-provoking, and I found the acting from the main cast to be a major selling point. Nick Offerman as Amaya’s CEO Forest is, of course, great, but the real stars for me were the duo of Stewart (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and Lyndon (Cailee), who both work on the “Devs” team at Amaya that the show takes its name from.
Genre: Science-fiction thriller
Episodes: 8
Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%
Watch now on Hulu
Mrs. America
Full disclosure, if you tell me a TV show, miniseries or movie is starring Cate Blanchett, I’m probably going to like it. She’s — and this is just my opinion — the greatest actress of all time. And, spoiler alert, Mrs. America does nothing to dissuade me of that opinion.
That being said, the rest of the cast is also incredible, with Uzo Aduba, Margo Martindale and Tracey Ullman all earning Emmy award nominations in addition to Blanchett for their performances as Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan respectively. Aduba would even go on to win for her portrayal of Chisholm. And there are so many other great actresses in this Hulu miniseries that I truly don’t have enough space to list them all.
Starring Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly, Mrs. America is a dramatized retelling of Schlafly’s real-life attempt to stop the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed U.S. Constitution amendment that was designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. This miniseries not only sheds insight into that fight and the women on both sides of it but also how that fight would go on to shape the American political consciousness going forward. A binge-worthy miniseries if there’s ever been one.
Genre: Historical drama
Episodes: 9
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Watch now on Hulu
Under the Banner of Heaven
I’m sure by this point you’ve noticed a pattern with a lot of these miniseries. They’re often based on existing source material (books) or real-life events, or both. They’re also often dark. Under the Banner of Heaven ticks all those boxes. Based on Jon Krakauer’s acclaimed True Crime book, this Hulu miniseries is based on the 1984 murder of Brenda Lafferty and her baby daughter Erica, who were both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), more commonly known as Mormons.
While it’s based on real-life events, this show is very much a dramatization. While it draws elements from real life, it’s very much a work of fiction. That being said, it is an incredible work of fiction, combining an enthralling procedural with a thought-provoking insight into a main character struggling with his shaken faith in the face of brutality. Andrew Garfield’s performance as that main character, Detective Jeb Pyre, is incredible and will have you ready to binge this miniseries once the first episode rolls credits.
Genre: True crime
Episodes: 7
Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
Watch now on Hulu
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