Inglourious Basterds Meets Back To The Future In Netflix's 8-Part Stephen King Series

A Stephen King TV series is one of the best currently streaming on Netflix, and it’s a perfect mix of Inglourious Basterds and Back to the Future. While Netflix now mostly stands out for its original content, it still offers a wide variety of licensed content. Netflix is the current home of some of the best TV shows of all time across different genres, and among its many shows are some based on the works of Stephen King.

Netflix has its own original Stephen King movies, such as Gerald’s Game and In The Tall Grass, but when it comes to TV shows, it’s all licensed content. One of the best Stephen King TV shows currently on Netflix is 11.22.63, based on the 2011 novel of the same name. 11.22.63 is a sci-fi thriller that premiered in 2016 on Hulu, and it’s a miniseries of just eight episodes, but it’s one of the best in the genre.

Unlike most of King’s works, which are horror stories, 11.22.63 is an alternate history thriller that explores the possibility of stopping the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the consequences this could have in the future. 11.22.63 currently holds an 83% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s a perfect mix of the alternate history aspects of Inglourious Basterds and the time travel and rules established in Back to the Future.

11.22.63 Is One Of The Best Time Travel TV Shows

11.22.63 follows Jake Epping (James Franco), a divorced English teacher in Lisbon, Maine, whose friend, Al Templeton (Chris Cooper), offers him a unique opportunity: to travel back in time to 1960 and stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. What Epping couldn’t have anticipated is growing attached to the life he builds in the past, and this can mess with his mission. Epping finds himself creating and maintaining a new life he begins to enjoy while also getting the information he needs to save Kennedy.

However, Epping also has to consider the consequences of changing the past, which will directly affect the future he has come to know. 11.22.63 was a critical success and was very well-received by general audiences as well, with an 87% popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes. 11.22.63 has been praised for its story, performances, tone, and adaptation of King’s novel, as well as for the themes it addresses, such as free will, fate, and justice.

While many other contemporary sci-fi shows that use time travel tend to complicate it and give it messy, confusing, or sometimes borderline nonsensical rules, 11.22.63 keeps it simple: every action in the past that changes the course of events will have direct consequences on the present, and no matter how much time the subject spends in the past, it will only be two minutes in the present.

This simplicity is key to the success of 11.22.63, as it allows the audience to fully focus on the story and Epping’s missions rather than on the dos and don'ts of time travel. 11.22.63 successfully mixes drama, suspense, thriller, alternate history, and sci-fi, making it one of the best shows of its kind from the 2010s.

11.22.63 Is One Of The Most Bingeable Shows On Netflix

Another thing that has made Netflix stand out in the streaming era is its bingeable model. While this is mostly seen with Netflix’s original productions, some of its licensed content can also be binge-watched. Netflix has a wide variety of great miniseries, and 11.22.63 is one of its most notable ones. With only eight episodes and no continuations, 11.22.63 is a perfect weekend binge-watch.

The pace and writing of 11.22.63 are so good that it tells a complete story in just eight episodes, with a compelling story and mystery, engaging character dynamics, and a production design full of details that make for an immersive experience. It’s not surprising, then, that 11.22.63 has been popular on Netflix since its arrival on the platform in early 2026, and it will continue to be for as long as it stays.

Release Date 2016 - 2016-00-00

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  Sarah Gadon

  Sadie Dunhill