Twenty (very) good series of less than six hours to devour in one weekend

From the return of the Bouleys and the Lepics in lunar episodes of “Fais pas çi, fait pas ça” to the chilling and perverse “Mon petit reinne”, including the little-known “Joan”… Our selection of miniseries to devour in less than six o’clock.

«The Machine» with Eiza González and Gael García Bernal. Photo Cristian Salvatierra / HULU

By Macha Dussart with the serial service

Published on January 10, 2025 at 5:41 p.m.

Read in the app

VDo you know this feeling? A series totally captivates you, you devour all the episodes, and suddenly… frustration, loneliness, lack. An endless wait of one or even two years before the next season… Telerama thinks of you and offers a new selection that allows you to watch a miniseries in less than six hours. This holiday season, you can explore an entire world in just a few episodes. Thriller, romcom, gore, black comedy… there is something for all tastes, all schedules and on all platforms, whether free or paid.

AppleTV +

Feminist remake: “Presumed innocent”

OT Fagbenle and Peter Sarsgaard in “Presumed Innocent,” now on Apple TV+.

OT Fagbenle and Peter Sarsgaard in “Presumed Innocent,” now on Apple TV+.

OT Fagbenle and Peter Sarsgaard in “Presumed Innocent,” now on Apple +. Apple TV+

The erotic thriller from the 1980s, directed by Alan J. Pakula, is reborn with this series from David E. Kelley, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Renate Reinsve. Devoid of the sexism of the time, the story seduces today with its fascinating ambiguity.

8 x 45 mn

Prime Video

Complex heroine: “Joan”

Snowed-In Prod.- All3media Interantional

A young mother without resources embarks on a career as a jewel thief. A high-quality miniseries, inspired by the memoirs of Joan Hannington, and served by a top-flight Sophie Turner.

4 x 45 mn

Winslet-style autocracy: “The Regime”

Photo Miya Mizuno/HBO Max/Warner Bros. Discovery

The authoritarian leader of a fictional Central European country falls in love with her bodyguard. And precipitates the collapse of the country… An ambiguous series, between laughter and unease, which is diluted a little over the length but is worth a look for the imperial Kate Winslet.

4 x 50 mn

“Here the voice…”: “Cult”

Photo Fanta Kaba

Loana in the swimming pool, the squabble between M6 and TF1… Loft Story told with a bang. Just like the glorified rise of Alexia Laroche-Joubert, the first to introduce reality TV in , who also happens to be… the producer of the series.

6 x 45 mn

Arte.tv

Trash TV vs zombie : “Dead Set”

BBC4

When the production company behind Big brother prides itself on exploiting the cynical mechanisms of reality TV in a horrific fiction, this results in this very dark, delightful and twisted series. Both a distressing thriller and a comedy, a massacre game created in 2008 by Charlton Brooker, the future creator of Black Mirror.

45 min + 5 x 30 mn

Love, love, love: “Lonely loves” (also available on France tv Slash)

Milgram

The series continues to explore the different ways of being a couple, of loving each other… and of separating. After a sensitive first season around Maud and Simon and their epistolary love, here is the story of Maëlle and Saïd, for the reconquest of a lost love. Always fair, a miniseries freely inspired by Morgane Ortin’s eponymous Instagram account.

Maud and Simon23 x 3 mn
Maëlle and Saïd8 x 30 mn

False pretenses: “The world does not exist”

Photo Sarah Alcalay/Arte/Image&Compagn

A journalist leads a fierce investigation in his hometown into a news item that affects him closely. With this thriller, a successful adaptation of the eponymous book by Fabrice Humbert, Erwan Le Duc renews the codes of the genre, with Niels Schneider on the verge of implosion.

4 x 50 mn

Nickel-plated feet: “Headhunters”

Photo Lillian Julsvik

Roger Brown is a headhunter for large companies. But he is also a liar and manipulator, whose plans often end up failing. Adapted from the novel by famous Norwegian author Jo Nesbø, a delicious black comedy with cruel humor.

6 x 45 mn

France.tv

Intergalactic surprise: “Don’t do this, don’t do that: we’re going to walk on the Moon”

Photo Michaël Crotto/Elephant/France Télévisions

It’s not in great shape for our two favorite families… But propelled to the Moon thanks to a competition, the Bouleys and Lepic take us far, far away, on adventures that are always just as pleasant.

Lost souls: “Our lives up in the air”

Photo Louis-Adrien Le Blay – Wanda – France Télévisions

Two teenagers who want to end things meet on a roof and make a pact. Margaux Bonhomme brilliantly adapts Manon Fargetton’s novel through this touching and very modern miniseries.

5 x 25 mn

Netflix

Furious Vendetta: “Relentless”

Photo Andrew Cooper/Netflix

A collision in the car, and two lives going into a tailspin. Existential and cartoonish, this series irrigated with anger hits the question of free will and dares a confusing emotion.

10 x 30 mn

The space of the fantastic: “The Signal”

Photo Anika Molnar/Netflix

Beneath the fantastic suspense, this German miniseries hides the touching portrait of a father and his daughter confronted with the disappearance of the astronaut mother. An unpretentious success which shines above all by its restraint.

4 x 60 mn

Chilling: “My little reindeer”

Netflix – Clerkenwell Films

Adapted into a series, the true story of the harassment of Richard Gadd (Scottish comedian and screenwriter (Sex Education, Outlander) which plays its own role here. A traumatic episode which shook his twenties, which results in a fascinating thriller, sticky and complex.

7 x 45 mn

Black Lives Matter: “In their eyes”

Photo Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix

Ava DuVernay (Selma) returns to a news item from the 1980s to denounce the injustices suffered by African-Americans. By pressing heavily on emotion, it sometimes lacks subtlety, but its stunning casting touches us right in the heart.

4 x 70 mn

Disney+

Web of illusions: “Children are kings”

Disney+

Freely adapted from a novel by Delphine de Vigan, this miniseries highlights the dangers of exposing minors on the networks. A salutary reflection, with an astonishing cast, on a social fact that is still too underestimated.

6 x 30 mn

Rocky in Mexico: “La maquinà”

Photo Cristian Salvatierra / Upstream

Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, best friends in life, produce and star in this honest Mexican miniseries about a boxer on the ropes facing the drama of his declining notoriety.

6 x 45 mn

M6+

Every 7 minutes: “Three Girls”

Photo Ewen Spencer – BBC Studios

Inspired by a true story in the United Kingdom, this miniseries plunges us, with heartbreaking realism, into the horror of large-scale sex trafficking, while not avoiding any disturbing aspect, such as the terrible neglect of social services. and the police. Powerful and necessary.

3 x 50 mn

TF1+

BBC phenomenal series: “Nightsleeper”

EUSTON FILMS 2024

Embarked aboard a night train hijacked by a hacker, this British series proves frantic and entertaining… If not entirely credible. We enjoy the tension, and the jokes about the privatization of rail in the United Kingdom.

6 x 60 mn

The Bataclan myth: “A devoted friend”

Photo Carole Bethuel / Studio Fact Stories / June Films

Adapted from the investigative book on a false victim of the 2015 attacks, this miniseries aims to “understand without excusing” this all-consuming deception. Laure Calamy excels in her feverish acting.

4 x 52 mn

MyCanal

Série militante : “This Is Going to Hurt”

Photo Ludovic Robert/BBC

Transforming a logbook into a series is no small ambition. The British Adam Kay does brilliantly in this medical drama with corrosive humor where humanity is everywhere. Delivering a very realistic diagnosis of the state of the National Health Service (NHS), the United Kingdom’s public health system.

7 x 45 min

And for even more ideas for series available on Netflix, Arte.tv, MyCanal, etc., lasting six hours or more, find all our thematic selections and lists on our platform guide.

abe6fbca4d.jpg

New: discover our Platforms guide

Find films, series and documentaries available for streaming and recommended by Télérama.


I discover

-

-

PREV Vincent Lagaf’s game breaks two historic records
NEXT This documentary about a music legend airs on television tonight