10 Greatest HBO Miniseries You’ll Wish You Watched Sooner

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Amy Adams as Camille Preaker in 'Sharp Objects'

Published May 13, 2026, 4:28 PM EDT

Jessica is a journalist, editor, TCA critic, and multimedia storyteller with a decade of experience covering pop culture, film, TV, women's sports, lifestyle, and more. She earned her degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington with a focus in creative writing before moving to N.Y.C. and getting her start at The Huffington Post. (She still misses those nap pods.) She's covered multiple film festivals, recapped some of your favorite series, worked too many red carpets to count, and even yapped on a podcast or two. When she’s not interviewing your favorite showrunner or ranking Ryan Gosling's best roles for places like UPROXX, Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, The Daily Beast, and Cosmopolitan, she’s busy being a full-time hype woman to her cat, Finn. You can find her on Bluesky and, sadly, Twitter.

HBO has spent the better part of two decades convincing us that prestige television lives or dies with names like Tony Soprano, Carrie Bradshaw, and Daenerys Targaryen. But some of the network's most rewatchable and memorable work has happened inside the strict containment of a single season.

Miniseries don't have to wring a fifth installment out of a story that should've wrapped at the end of Season 1. They get in, gut you, and get out. Below are 10 that more than earn their place on this list, even if you slept on a few of them the first time around.

1 'Sharp Objects' (2018)

Amy Adams as Camille Preaker looking at something intently in Sharp Objects.

Amy Adams plays Camille Preaker, a St. Louis crime reporter dragged back to her dying Missouri hometown of Wind Gap to cover the murders of two young girls in this Gillian Flynn adaptation. Reuniting with her toxic mother (Patricia Clarkson, in a performance so toxic you'll want to fumigate your TV) and an unsettling teenage half-sister she barely knows (Eliza Scanlen, also frighteningly good), Camille drinks her way through the assignment while peeling back layers of family dysfunction more horrifying than the case itself.

Jean-Marc Vallée's eight-episode descent into Southern Gothic dread is the kind of show that gets under your fingernails. The director likes to linger on the details of Wind Gap — the sweat-splattered bodies of teenagers rollerblading down Main Street, the rotting wood of a plantation porch. He cuts past and present together so fluidly you sometimes don't realize you've slipped into Camille's traumatic memories until you're already drowning in them, a tactic that pays off in the show's nastiest reveals. Adams, who'd spent a career being cast as a bright young thing until this show, is doing something different here. She's playing a woman who has clearly not eaten a real meal in years, carves words into her own skin, and flirts with a teenage suspect because she can’t resist the temptation to self-destruct. It's truly thrilling to watch.

2 'The Night Of' (2016)

John Turturro speaking with Riz Ahmed in a jail cell in 'The Night Of'.

Riz Ahmed plays Naz, a Pakistani-American college kid who borrows his dad's cab to hit a Manhattan party, brings a beautiful stranger home, wakes up next to her bloody corpse, and proceeds to make every catastrophic decision the criminal justice system rewards with a Rikers Island bunk. From there, an eczema-ridden, sandal-wearing John Turturro takes over as Jack Stone, the bottom-feeder defense attorney who sees something in Naz worth fighting for. Eight slow, meticulous episodes that double as a procedural and an autopsy of how easily American justice grinds a brown kid into something unrecognizable follow.

Naz gets processed, gets a cellmate (Michael K. Williams, magnetic as always, playing a Rikers shot-caller who takes an interest in him), gets a neck tattoo, a heroin habit, and, eventually, gets very good at survival in a place he should never have ended up. Meanwhile, Stone is shuffling around Manhattan in those flip-flops, building a defense on phone records, autopsy timelines, and a dogged refusal to let his client become a statistic. Ahmed's transformation is the spine of the whole thing, and Turturro is the heart. The finale doesn't give you the catharsis you want, but it does give you something messier and truer to life, which is exactly why it works.

3 'Watchmen' (2019)

Sister Night with another masked officer and other policemen behind her in an open field in Watchmen

Damon Lindelof's audacious sequel to Alan Moore's graphic novel opens with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and never quite lets up on our necks after that. Regina King plays Angela Abar, a Tulsa cop moonlighting as the masked vigilante Sister Night in an alternate America where police hide their identities behind hoods because white supremacists have made that necessary. Jeremy Irons mutters around an English manor, Jean Smart busts vigilantes and busts out homemade sex toys as an FBI agent with an axe to grind, and Tim Blake Nelson wears a reflective head sock with conviction.

Watchmen is nine episodes of pulpy, big-swing television that somehow manages to be a faithful comic-book sequel and a piercing meditation on American racial trauma at the same time. The episode "This Extraordinary Being" remains one of the most stunning hours of TV in the streaming era, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's score will haunt your driving playlist for years to come.

Collider Exclusive · Marvel Personality Quiz Which MCU Hero Are You? Spider-Man · Daredevil · Iron Man · Punisher · Thor · Cap

Six heroes. One destiny. Answer 10 questions to discover which Marvel Cinematic Universe hero shares your personality, values, and fighting spirit. Will you swing, fly, or thunder your way to glory?

🕷️Spider-Man

😈Daredevil

🤖Iron Man

💀Punisher

⚡Thor

🛡️Cap

FIND YOUR HERO →

What drives you to do what's right? Choose the answer that feels most like you.

AWith great power comes great responsibility — I protect those who can't protect themselves. BMy faith and my conscience — I believe justice must be served, even in the dark. CLegacy and ego, honestly — but I've learned that others depend on me now. DThe system failed. Someone has to make sure the guilty actually pay. EDuty to the innocent and honour to my name — I was born to protect realms. FThe values I was raised with — freedom, decency, and never backing down from a bully.

NEXT QUESTION →

It's 2 AM. Where are you? Your answer says more about you than you'd think.

ASwinging between skyscrapers, keeping an eye on the neighbourhood. BRunning rooftops in Hell's Kitchen, listening for trouble. CIn my lab, upgrading my suit with a cold cup of coffee nearby. DStaking out a target I've been tracking for three weeks. ESomewhere between the stars, or at a feast that got out of hand. FOn a morning run — I was up at 4, actually. Couldn't sleep.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you handle a villain who keeps escaping justice? Every hero has a method. What's yours?

AWeb them up and leave them for the police — again. BBuild an airtight case and dismantle their entire operation from the inside. CDeploy a containment system I designed specifically for them. Tech wins. DMake sure they don't escape a third time. Permanently. EChallenge them to single combat. Honour demands a decisive end. FRally allies, adapt the plan, and bring them in — by the book, even if it's hard.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you feel about keeping a secret identity? The mask — or the lack of one — says everything.

AEssential — my loved ones would be in danger if anyone found out who I am. BCritical — the mask protects my mission as much as my face. COverrated — I announced myself to the world and I'd do it again. DI'm a ghost. The less people know about me, the better. EMy name is known across the Nine Realms. There's no hiding it. FI don't hide — but I understand why some need to. Transparency builds trust.

NEXT QUESTION →

You've lost someone important because of your heroism. How do you carry that? Every hero pays a price. The question is how they pay it.

AWith guilt that never fully goes away — it pushes me to do better, every single day. BI channel it into purpose — their memory is the reason I keep fighting. CI buried myself in work for years. I'm only recently learning to face it. DIt transformed me completely. I'm not the same person I was before. EWith warrior's grief — I honour them by fighting with everything I have. FI keep moving forward. Stopping means letting the loss win.

NEXT QUESTION →

What's your role when working with a team? Who you are under pressure is who you actually are.

AThe enthusiastic wildcard who somehow makes it work — and keeps the mood up. BThe strategist who works best alone but shows up when it matters most. CThe one who funds it, equips it, and occasionally takes over the whole operation. DI don't do teams. I'm more effective operating solo, on my terms. EThe heavy hitter — I crash in, draw fire, and turn the tide of battle. FThe leader — I earn trust, build the plan, and make sure no one gets left behind.

NEXT QUESTION →

Where do you draw the line between justice and revenge? The answer defines what kind of hero you really are.

AClearly — I don't kill, and I wrestle with that line constantly. BI try to hold the line, but I've come terrifyingly close to crossing it. CPractically — I do what's necessary to protect people, including hard calls. DI crossed that line long ago. What I do is justice — the system just won't admit it. EIn battle, victory is justice. Mercy is earned — not automatic. FFirmly. The moment we abandon our principles, we become what we fight against.

NEXT QUESTION →

When you're not saving the world, what does life look like? The person behind the mask is always the more interesting story.

ATrying to juggle school, a part-time job, and not failing my friends. BWorking as a lawyer by day, fighting for justice in court and on the streets. CRunning a global company, attending galas, and pretending I'm sleeping enough. DQuiet. Isolated. Surviving with a clear mission and no distractions. ENavigating a bizarre and fascinating mortal world — coffee is extraordinary. FAdapting to a world decades ahead of everything I knew. Quietly, stubbornly.

NEXT QUESTION →

What keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of.

AThe people I couldn't save — and the ones I might not reach in time tomorrow. BWhether the monster I fight every night is starting to live inside me too. CThe threats I can see coming and whether my tech is actually good enough. DNothing. Silence is the only peace I get. I've made my choices. EWhether I'm truly worthy — of the hammer, of the throne, of the people I protect. FA world where no one stands up anymore. Where good people do nothing.

NEXT QUESTION →

The battle is lost. You're outnumbered, outgunned, and exhausted. What do you do? This is your tiebreaker — choose carefully.

ACrack a joke to buy a second, then find the one web shot that changes everything. BBlock out everything except the sound of the next threat — and keep going. CActivate the emergency protocol I built for exactly this scenario. Always have a plan. DI don't accept that it's lost. I keep fighting until I physically cannot anymore. ECall the lightning. All of it. The storm answers to me. FPick up the shield. Stand up. Because as long as I can stand, it's not over.

REVEAL MY HERO →

Your Hero Has Been Identified Your MCU Hero Is…

Based on your answers, the Marvel hero who matches your spirit, values, and instincts has been revealed.

🕷️ Spider-Man

You carry the weight of the world on shoulders that are younger than they should have to be — funny, loyal, and endlessly self-sacrificing.

You do the right thing not because it's easy, but because no one else will.
You understand that responsibility isn't a burden you choose — it's one that finds you.
Whether it's a neighbourhood mugging or a multiverse crisis, you show up.
Peter Parker's lesson — that great power demands great responsibility — isn't a slogan to you. It's the code you live by, even when it costs you everything.

😈 Daredevil

You fight in the shadows between law and chaos, guided by a fierce moral compass that refuses to let the guilty walk free.

You use every tool available — your mind, your body, your faith — to protect those the system overlooks.
You've looked into the darkness and chosen not to become it, though the line has never been easy.
Matt Murdock's duality — champion in the courtroom, devil in the alley — mirrors your own.
Relentless, conflicted, and unwilling to stop. That is exactly you.

🤖 Iron Man

Brilliant, driven, and occasionally insufferable — but always the person who solves the unsolvable problem.

You lead with your mind and back it up with resources, innovation, and a stubbornness that borders on heroic.
You started out looking out for yourself, but somewhere along the way the world became your responsibility.
Tony Stark's arc — from ego to sacrifice — is your arc too.
You build, you plan, and when the moment comes, you're willing to give everything. Because in the end, you're Iron Man.

💀 The Punisher

You've been through fire that would break most people — and it did change you, completely. What's left is unyielding, relentless, and operating by a code forged in grief.

You don't ask for forgiveness, and you don't expect gratitude.
You see a corrupt, broken world and you've decided to do something about it, consequences be damned.
Frank Castle's war is born from love twisted by loss — and so is yours.
Uncompromising and unflinching — the world may not agree with your methods, but your conviction is absolute.

⚡ Thor

Powerful, proud, and on a lifelong journey to become worthy of the legend you carry.

You lead with strength but have learned — sometimes painfully — that true greatness comes from humility and growth.
You're larger than life, yet more vulnerable than you let on.
Thor's story is one of transformation: from arrogant prince to worthy king, from isolated warrior to beloved protector.
You bring the storm when it's needed — and the warmth when it matters just as much.

🛡️ Captain America

You believe in something bigger than yourself — and you fight for it even when the world has moved on and nobody else will.

You don't bully the small guy, and you never stop when it gets hard.
Steve Rogers didn't become a hero when he got the serum — he was always one. So were you.
Your strength isn't in your fists; it's in your refusal to compromise what's right, no matter the cost.
In a world full of people taking the easy road, you're the one who picks up the shield and stands up — every single time.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

4 'Chernobyl' (2019)

Boris (Stellan Skarsgard) and Valery (Jared Harris) stand outside in 'Chernobyl.'

Who would've thought the guy who wrote The Hangover Part II had this in him? Craig Mazin pivoted from broad studio comedy to prestige drama and somehow delivered the most harrowing piece of historical reconstruction HBO's ever put on the air. Across five episodes, Jared Harris (as Soviet scientist Valery Legasov), Stellan Skarsgård (as a reluctant Party functionary), and Emily Watson (as a composite scientist who refuses to swallow the official story) walk us through the infamous 1986 nuclear meltdown from the moment the reactor blows to the courtroom postmortem of who let it happen.

It's bleak, obviously, but it's also a masterclass in how to make policy malfeasance feel like edge-of-your-seat suspense. The cold open alone, Harris recording his confession before he hangs himself, ranks among the bleakest first scenes of any TV show. So, maybe try to watch this in two sittings?

5 'Mare of Easttown' (2021)

Kate Winslet stands outside the police station in Mare of Easttown.

Kate Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a vape-puffing, Wawa-grazing, hoagie-clutching Delco detective in this moody crime drama that became something of a pop culture phenomenon when we were all confined to our couches during the COVID-19 lockdowns. She's newly separated, still grieving the death of her son, sharing a house with a mom (Jean Smart, Emmy-winning per usual) who keeps pinching her sleep aids, and getting nagged by the entire town to solve the murder of a local teenager. Evan Peters drops in as a sweet outside detective brought in to help, Julianne Nicholson plays her best friend with surprisingly deep ties to the case, and Guy Pearce smolders through a side plot as the visiting professor-with-benefits.

Brad Ingelsby’s creation is a whodunit that isn't really about the whodunit. Mare of Easttown earns its emotional gut-punch by treating everything from grief to opioid addiction and casual misogyny with the same importance as the central murder mystery. Winslet's accent (the show's most viral export) props up one of the best performances of her career, a woman who is bone-tired in every frame. By the end, you’ll totally understand why.

6 'Empire Falls' (2005)

Ed Harris and Paul Newman in 'Empire Falls'

Adapted from Richard Russo's Pulitzer-winning novel, this two-part Maine-set miniseries gathered Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Aidan Quinn, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robin Wright into the orbit of a dying mill town and the diner that anchors it. Harris plays Miles Roby, a passive divorcé running the Empire Grill at the whim of a powerful matriarch (Woodward), while his deadbeat father (Newman, having an absolute ball) drinks and schemes around the margins. It's a subtler, slower list entry, but one with a knockout supporting cast that reads like a roundup of America's best character actors.

Newman is the obvious scene stealer, devilish and twinkly in what would become one of his last great roles, but Hoffman, in particular, gives a small, pre-Capote performance so fascinating that it functions as its own little movie. This show is the kind of mid-2000s prestige TV no one talks about anymore, but they really should.

7 'The Young Pope' (2016)

Diane Keaton and Jude Law in The Young Pope

Paolo Sorrentino dropped the most beautifully blasphemous show of the decade onto HBO, and most of America was too busy meme-ing the title to notice. In The Young Pope, Jude Law plays Lenny Belardo, a chain-smoking, Cherry Coke Zero-craving young American cardinal who's just been elected the first U.S. pope, and who promptly reveals himself as the most reactionary pontiff in modern memory. Diane Keaton plays the nun who raised him in an American orphanage, wearing a habit and a Knicks jersey, sometimes simultaneously.

This is 10 episodes of Sorrentino in his element, delivering gorgeous visuals and monologues that land somewhere between profound and unhinged. Law's performance is indulgent and eccentric and deliciously off-kilter. He should've won more awards for it. Instead, the show became a punchline before audiences realized it was funnier and weirder than anyone gave it credit for.

8 'The Undoing' (2020)

Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman surrounded by the press in The Undoing.

David E. Kelley adapted Jean Hanff Korelitz's novel into the most expensive-looking limited series of pandemic-era HBO with The Undoing. Nicole Kidman plays Grace Fraser, an Upper East Side therapist whose oncologist husband (Hugh Grant, in full reptilian-charm mode) becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a beautiful art-mom from their son's private school. Donald Sutherland looms grandly as Grace's wealthy father, his eyebrows doing most of the heavy lifting.

This show is a six-episode whodunit dressed in cashmere and filmed in townhomes and the lobbies of buildings most New Yorkers can't afford to even walk past. The mystery itself is fine, though the ending is still divisive. But the real reason to watch is Grant's mid-career renaissance, that floppy-haired rom-com lead now playing men whose surface charm conceals something rotten underneath. It’s a role he feels born to play, compliment intended.

9 'The Investigation' (2020)

A Danish-Swedish co-production picked up by HBO, Tobias Lindholm's six-part series fictionalizes the real-life investigation into the murder of journalist Kim Wall by Peter Madsen aboard his homemade submarine. Søren Malling plays detective Jens Møller, the patient, exhausted lead investigator working alongside divers, prosecutors, and Wall's grieving parents to build a case against a defendant the show pointedly never names or shows on screen. That choice, refusing to give the killer a face or a single moment of screen time, is what elevates The Investigation above the parade of true-crime adaptations that have chased it.

Lindholm centers the victim and family, here, resisting the seductive impulse of serial-killer prestige TV. The show is sad, gray, and devastating, and a model for how the genre might responsibly exist going forward.

10 'The Regime' (2024)

Kate Winslet as Chancellor Elena Vernham in HBO's The Regime

This Kate Winslet turn couldn’t be more different from her Philly-twanged hard-ass in Mare of Easttown. As Elena Vernham, the fictional dictator of a fictional Central European nation, who rules her marbled palace with the help of an ex-soldier (Matthias Schoenaerts) she essentially keeps as a pet, Winslet is at her most deranged. Across six episodes, she fears mold spores, communes with her father's preserved corpse, croons Chicago at state functions, and drives her country off a slow, gilded cliff.

Will Tracy, the Succession alum behind The Menu, brings his signature brand of acidic political comedy to a show that pairs slapstick autocracy with genuine geopolitical dread, and Winslet is having a hell of a time, lisping and over-pronouncing her way through a performance she herself described playing "an awful, awful cow." What’s not to like?