Netflix has quietly unleashed one of the most powerful and emotionally devastating dramas of the year with Little Disaster, the eight-episode limited series that premiered on November 15, 2025, and has since rocketed to the global Top 10 in over 60 countries, amassing 80 million hours viewed in its first two weeks. Starring the powerhouse trio of Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott, and Jessie Buckley, the show is being hailed as “a gut-punch masterpiece” and “the most heartbreaking family story since This Is Us,” with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score and fans admitting they’ve had to pause episodes just to breathe through the tears.

Created by acclaimed writer Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Suffragette) and directed by Sarah Polley (Women Talking), Little Disaster follows the unraveling of a seemingly perfect family when their youngest child, six-year-old Lily (newcomer Lila Crawford), is diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of leukemia. What begins as a routine hospital visit spirals into a raw, unflinching exploration of grief, guilt, and the impossible choices parents face when their world collapses. Colman plays Dr. Eleanor Hayes, a pediatric oncologist who must confront the devastating reality that her own daughter is now her patient, while Scott portrays her husband, David, a successful architect whose carefully constructed life begins to crumble under the weight of helplessness. Buckley delivers a career-defining turn as Eleanor’s sister, Grace, a free-spirited artist who steps in to help but carries her own buried trauma.

The series is unrelenting in its honesty: hospital corridors lit in cold fluorescent light, the quiet terror of waiting rooms, and the shattering moment when Eleanor must deliver the prognosis to her own child. There are no easy miracles—only the brutal truth of treatment, side effects, and the family’s desperate fight to hold on. Morgan’s script balances crushing sorrow with moments of unexpected warmth: David’s late-night attempts to build a treehouse for Lily, Grace’s impromptu dance parties in the hospital room, and Eleanor’s quiet breakdown in the supply closet when she thinks no one is watching.

Critics are unanimous in their praise. The Hollywood Reporter calls it “a devastating triumph of emotional storytelling,” while Variety praises Colman’s “heart-shattering performance that will leave you in pieces.” Viewers are equally moved: “I cried through every episode—never been this emotionally wrecked by a show” (@DramaAddict, 100k likes). “This is the kind of story that changes you,” wrote another.

Little Disaster isn’t just a tearjerker—it’s a profound meditation on love, loss, and the strength it takes to keep going when the world feels like it’s ending. Stream all eight episodes now on Netflix. Bring tissues, but prepare to be changed.