5 best Max miniseries to watch this weekend rated 95% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes

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These Max miniseries can all be polished off in just a couple of days

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(Image credit: Shutterstock/Max)

We think Max is one of the best streaming services available right now. It's home to a ton of great shows, including a number of top-rated miniseries that you can watch in just one weekend. 

With so many streamers on the market and so much new stuff coming our way all the time, sometimes it can be way too hard to figure out what to watch. And sometimes, when you're looking for your next bingeable show (on Max or elsewhere), you don't always want to commit to a show with a ton of seasons or episodes. 

If you've got a few hours to kill and want to do so by cramming in a Max miniseries, here are five of the very best limited series that Max has to offer. If you're looking for even more streaming recommendations, check out our round-up of the Max top 10 shows and everything new to HBO and Max this month. Otherwise, here are 5 highly-rated Max miniseries that you can easily fit into a weekend. 

'Chernobyl'

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"Chernobyl" is a harrowing dramatization of the early-morning explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in April 1986. Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the event, this five-part miniseries follows the tragedy as it unfolds, documenting the loss of life in the days that followed. Visceral, often terrifying, and always intense, "Chernobyl" is a series I've been unable to forget since I laid eyes on it for the very first time. 

Episodes: 5
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Watch on Max

'Ren Faire'

What if "Succession" didn't revolve around a media company... but America's largest renaissance festival? That's essentially the pitch of "Ren Faire", a three-part docuseries that revolves around the Texas Renaissance Festival. 

86-year-old George Coulam — King George, to his employees — has decided it is finally time for him to retire from the TRF after half a century. This revelation ignites a power struggle between an actor, a former elephant trainer and a kettle-corn kingpin, all of whom think they're the right person to follow in George's footsteps.

Episodes: 3
Genre: Documentary
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
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'Watchmen'

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Set 34 years on from the events of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' seminal graphic novel, HBO's "Watchmen" functions both as a sequel and a sort of reimagining of the core idea and examines vigilantes working on both sides of the law. 

The series focuses on racial violence in Oklahoma. After a white supremacist group launches a coordinated attack against the Tulsa police department, laws are passed to allow officers to conceal their identities. One of the survivors, Angela Abar, begins investigating the murder of her police chief.

Episodes: 9
Genre: Drama / Science Fiction
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
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'It's A Sin'

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Before returning to "Doctor Who", British screenwriter Russell T. Davies delivered this deeply moving drama set in 1980s London, it follows the lives of four young gay men — Colin (Callu), Richie (Olly Alexander), Ash (Nathaniel Curtis) Roscoe (Omari Douglas) plus their friend, Jill (Lydia West) — whose lives intertwine when they leave their past behind and move to London amid the UK's HIV/AIDS crisis. Across an entire decade, we see the group exploring their identities and making their way in life as their lives are impacted by this new disease. It's joyful, heartbreaking, magnetic television.   

Episodes: 5
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
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'Irma Vep'

"Irma Vep" is an HBO comedy miniseries that's based on Olivier Assayas' movie of the same name. The show follows Mira Harberg (Alicia Vikander), an American movie star going through a bit of a rough patch (career disillusionment, a break-up) who heads to France for a huge new project: she's due to star in a new remake of the silent movie, "Les Vampires". Witty, meta and clever, it's one you shouldn't miss. 

Episodes: 8
Genre: Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Watch on Max

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Martin Shore
Martin Shore
Staff Writer, Streaming

Martin is a Streaming Writer at Tom’s Guide, covering all things movies and TV. If it’s in the theaters or available to stream somewhere, he’s probably watched it… especially if it has a dragon in it. Before joining the team, he was a Staff Writer at What To Watch where he wrote about a broad range of shows that stretched from "Doctor Who" and "The Witcher" to "Bridgerton" and "Love Island". When he’s not watching the next must-see movie or show, he’s probably still in front of a screen playing massive RPGs, reading, spending a fortune on TCGs, or watching the NFL.