5 HBO Max TV Shows You Can Binge-Watch In One Day

You've finally got some time off and you're looking forward to a good, old-fashioned streaming binge. But you're not trying to get caught up in the multi-day, lost-time marathon action of that "Portlandia" sketch where Doug (Fred Armisen) and Claire (Carrie Brownstein) lose their jobs watching all of "Battlestar Galactica" — you just want the instant gratification of a one-day binge. And when it comes to short-but-sweet complete series, HBO Max has you covered with critically-acclaimed dramas you can finish in less than a day.

Ever since "The Sopranos" first aired, HBO and Max have been helping to set the standard for quality dramas, and not every series is a four-season epic saga. Whether you're in the mood for a brooding detective drama or you'd rather get lost in a steamy romance, there's a series for you. Grab the popcorn and switch your phone to "do not disturb" to settle in with one of the five best HBO Max shows you can binge-watch in just a day.

A series that got a lot of buzz when it aired, "Mare of Easttown" is a universally acclaimed crime drama starring Kate Winslet as its eponymous Marianne "Mare" Sheehan, a police detective and former local basketball hero in the fictional Easttown, Pennsylvania. After a year spent watching a warm case turn cold and amid heartbreaking moments and personal crises that include a divorce and the death of her son, Mare finds herself plagued with self-doubt as she investigates a teen mom's recent murder.

As Mare, Winslet played a complex and intense character that many critics found mesmerizing. The actor was widely lauded for her performance in "Mare," which garnered her a handful of awards, including a 2021 Primetime Emmy for lead actress in a limited or anthology series. Evan Peters co-stars as a detective called in to work the case with Mare. With seven episodes and a runtime of around an hour per episode, it's a perfect one-day watch.

If you enjoy alternate history dramas like "The Man in the High Castle" and "For All Mankind," you'll likely appreciate "The Plot Against America," a 2020 miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Philip Roth. Told from the perspective of a Jewish family living in New Jersey beginning in 1940, the series imagines the hypothetical rise to power of an American fascist — the notoriously xenophobic Charles Lindbergh — as he ascends to political power and the U.S. presidency, ultimately becoming the United States' version of Hitler.

Critics praised the series for its awareness of cultural relevancy in today's world, a marked departure from the novel it was adapted from (albeit a bleak one). Winona Ryder, Morgan Spector, and John Turturro all co-star in this cautionary tale about the potential dangers of populism. With six 60-minute episodes, the series can be viewed in a single afternoon or evening.

"Chernobyl" is a 2019 miniseries chronicling the events surrounding the catastrophic 1986 nuclear disaster, wherein Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine (formerly the USSR) exploded, releasing radiation that would ultimately harm thousands in the region. To this day, the Chernobyl disaster remains the worst nuclear disaster in history. A five-part mini-series coming in at between 58 and 72 minutes per episode, "Chernobyl" is a cinematic, beautifully crafted, yet ominous tale of humanity's hubris.

The series boasts an outstanding cast of veteran actors. Jared Harris plays Valery Legasov, the deputy director of the Kurchatov Institute brought in to manage the cleanup. Stellan Skarsgård co-stars as Soviet politician Boris Shcherbina. Emily Watson and Paul Ritter also star in the series.

Created, written, and executive produced by Craig Mazin, who would go on to co-create and executive produce "The Last of Us," HBO's "Chernobyl" swept the 2019 Emmy Awards with 19 nominations and 10 wins, including outstanding limited series, outstanding sound mixing, and single-camera picture editing.

If you're in the mood for sci-fi, "Years and Years" tells a satisfying post-apocalyptic tale across six hour-long episodes. Whovian fans will appreciate the writing of creator Russell T. Davies, who changed "Doctor Who" forever when he ran the series from 2005 to 2010.

"Years and Years" revolves around the Lyons family of Manchester as they navigate the changing world over a 15-year period while facing varying levels of upheaval in the world around them. It stars Emma Thompson as the charismatic populist Viv Rook, a woman who starts her own political party after an expletive-laden live television comment about her lack of consideration for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As Viv slowly rises to power in the background, the Lyons family struggles to navigate their lives in the wake of a nuclear strike and amid a pandemic, individual health crises, and other ongoing disasters. The longer the series runs, the further it veers into "Black Mirror" territory, right down to the techno-fueled anxiety.

A steamy sports romance that became number one on HBO Max and took over the internet for a time, "Heated Rivalry" is the story of two ice hockey players who maintain a long-term relationship undercover while playing for rival sports teams. The series follows Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian player Ilya Grigoryevich Rozanov (Connor Storrie) after their first meeting in 2008 at the International Prospect Cup final. Shortly after they are both drafted to professional teams, the pair hook up for the first time, kicking off a long-term situationship that begins as casual but simmers through the years, slowly heating up into something more serious.

A tale of intense romance anchored in the chemistry of its central lovers, "Heated Rivalry" is an addictive watch with less than a six-hour total runtime. In addition to the nuanced portrayal of the show's LGBTQ characters, Williams' sensitive portrayal of the autistic Hollander is a win for fans of neurodiverse inclusivity as well.