HBO was, for at least a couple of generations,thehome of movies on cable—no one else could compete. For a while, it seemed like HBO Max could well be the ultimate streaming destination for movie lovers, but the jury is still out.
Even so, HBO Max maintains a collaboration with TCM, giving it a broad range of classic American and foreign films. It's also the primary streaming home for Studio Ghibli and A24, so even though the streamer hasn't been making as many original films as it did a few years ago, it still has a solid assortment of movies you won't find anywhere else.
Here are 25 of the best of HBO Max's recent and/or exclusive offerings.
One Battle After Another(2025)
Perennial awards-season darling Paul Thomas Anderson is back, the director's dark comedy/action thriller scoring an impressive 13 Oscar nominations. Leo DiCaprio is Bob, a retired and consistently stoned former revolutionary living off the grid with his daughter, Charlene. It's all going—well, pretty terribly, actually—when the shoe drops and Sean Penn's Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) shows up. Charlene's mom humiliated him when their group liberated an immigrant mass detention center, and the corrupt and generally nuts officer has been hunting members ever since. Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro, and Leo all earned acting nominations.StreamOne Battle After Another.
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You(2025)
Rose Byrne earned a Best Actress nomination here playing Linda, a woman who isgoing through it. With a tone that's nearly that of a darkly comedic fever dream, Linda is raising a daughter with a rare disorder requiring nearly around-the-clock care while dealing with extremely dramatic and demanding clients in her day job as a psychotherapist. That's all before when her apartment floods, forcing her and her daughter into a cheap hotel while her husband remains wildly unsupportive. ThinkBeau is Afraid, but with a working mom.StreamIf I Had Legs I'd Kick You.
Sinners(2025)
Ryan Coogler's dusty, sweaty supernatural horror movie became the year's crossover hit, defying expectations for an R-rated horror movie—particularly when that movie is also a Depression-era period drama with an almost entirely Black cast. Michael B. Jordan plays a dual role as Smoke and Stack Moore, returning to rural Mississippi after having made names for themselves in Chicago. They intend to open a juke joint with some help from their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), an up-and-coming blues singer whose music has the power to bust down barriers—between the local Black and immigrant communities, and between our world and a darker one. Beautifully unclassifiable, and an increasingly rare example of a major studio movie with an original concept—it's already one of the year's best.StreamSinners.
I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not(2026)
Love him or hate him (and, let's be honest, there are at least as many in the latter camp as the former these days), there's no question that Chevy Chase had an outsized impact on American comedy in the late 1970s and early '80s. Filmmaker Marina Zenovich explores that career in this documentary, Chase here himself to offer up commentary on his career and current life. It's neither hagiography nor hit piece, but the subject himself is fascinating (which is often here another way of saying: kind of a jerk). While looking back, the movie hunts for the bits of humanity within a subject who seems absolutely determined to come off like a giant asshole—your take on that, the extent to which he's a broken genius, a self-satisfied has-been, or something more complicated entirely, may well serve as a kind of Rorschach test.StreamI'm Chevy Chase and You're Not.
Superman(2025)
David Corenswet dons the cape in this James Gunn-led reboot that brings a light touch back to the DC movie universe. While the plot turns on Superman's dive into international power politics and unexpected betrayals, the pulpy also brings us old-school robots, flying cars, and a thoroughly ill-behaved superdog. Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane is as tough as she is big-hearted, Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor is a perfectly punchable billionaire, and Edi Gathegi steals every scene as Mister Terrific. It's a ton of fun, which is a nice change of pace after a decade of far more dour Superman flicks.StreamSuperman.
Eddington(2025)
Ari Aster, who brought us such divisive "delights" asHereditary,Midsommar, andBeau is Afraid, is back with a new film which has, surprise!, divided both audiences and critics. Aster takes us back to 2020, to the New Mexico town of the title. Eddington mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) institute a COVID-19-related mask mandate that divides the town and puts him at odds with the local sheriff, Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix). Also in the mix are the sheriff's volatile wife (Emma Stone) and conspiracy-loving mother-in-law, as well a cult leader, various social-justice warriors, and a couple of terrorists. The questions the film grapples with are less about who's right and who's wrong, and more about whether any of us can accomplish anything good given the chaos, confusion, and division that has become the normal way of doing things in modern America.StreamEddington.
Dead of Winter(2025)
Between this and the seriesDown Cemetery Road, Emma Thompson may well be entering her Liam Neeson-esque action star era—and I am 100% here for it. Here she plays Barb, a widow traveling to the site of her first date with her late husband, where she'll scatter his ashes (the northern Minnesota setting, equally ominous and polite, can't help but evoke a bit of thatFargofeeling). Stopping at a cabin for directions, she encounters a shifty guy and some blood in the snow, which seems like it might be from a deer, until she sees a bound woman that she definitely was not meant to see. Barb is extremely capable, we discover and, unlike many of our male action heroes, she has a big heart—her compassion only making her that much more formidable when she sets out to help. Judy Greer also stars.StreamDead of Winter.
The Alabama Solution(2025)
Though this Oscar-nominated documentary started out as a film about prison religious revival, filmmakers Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman were approached quietly approached by inmates with inside information about failures within the complex (not the American prison system, surely?). They spent the subsequent six years documenting abuse and even murder within Alabama prisons, always from the perspective of the incarcerated individuals, and subsequently documenting the resulting movement for change.StreamThe Alabama Solution.
The Smashing Machine(2025)
Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) wrote and directed this genre-defying sports biopic, depicting the rise of real-life MMA star Mark Kerr, played by Dwayne Johnson under plenty of makeup, along with the rise of the sport itself. The movie's unconventional structure, at least for a sports movie, has divided audiences—even if critics have been more positive. Dodging and weaving cliches, the movie focuses more on the central relationship between Kerr and his troubled girlfriend Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt), with Johnson and Blunt both offering up impressively grounded performances.StreamThe Smashing Machine.
The Conjuring: Last Rites(2025)
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are back as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. In the 1980s, they're investigating a cursed mirror that has ties to one of their first cases from 1964; that demon-possessed home furnishing threatens our heroes alongside their now-grown daughter. There aren't a ton of surprises but still a bit of spooky fun in this, the "last"Conjuringfilm (until the already-announced next one). Bonus points for casting actual actors (Orion Smith and Madison Lawlor) as young Ed and Lorraine, rather than doing the creepy CGI de-aging that other franchises have toyed with.StreamConjuring: Last Rites.
Materialists(2025)
Playwright and filmmaker Celine Song follows up the acclaimedPast Liveswith this rom-com (-ish) love triangle involving matchmaker Lucy (Dakota Fanning), actor/cater-waiter John (Chris Evans), and millionaire Harry (Pedro Pascal). LikePast Lives, the deliberate pacing and subdued tone might put off viewers looking for something brighter and bubblier, but a bit of patience will be rewarded if you can settle in for a mature and thoughtful story of complicated lives and tentative relationships.StreamMaterialists.
Mickey 17(2025)
The latest from Bong Joon Ho (Parasite,Snowpiercer),Mickey 17didn't do terribly well at the box office, but that's not entirely the movie's fault. It's a broad but clever and timely satire starring Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, a well-meaning dimwit who signs on with a spaceship crew on its way to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Because of his general lack of skills, he's deemed an Expendable—his memories and DNA are kept on file so that when he, inevitably, dies (often in horrific ways), he'll be reprinted and restored to live and work and die again. Things get complicated when a new Mickey is accidentally printed before the old one has died—a huge taboo among religious types who can handle one body/one soul, but panic at the implications of two identical people walking around. It's also confusing, and eventually intriguing, for Mickey's girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie). Soon, both Mickey's are on the run from pretty much everyone, including the new colony's MAGA-esque leader (Mark Ruffalo).StreamMickey 17.
Final Destination Bloodlines(2025)
Are we a little exhausted with all the nostalgic legacy sequels? We are. Does that mean there aren't some pretty damn good examples of the form floating around out there? It does not. Bloodlines picks up the franchise last seen in 2009 with an appropriately lean, mean, and bloody sequel that doesn't reinvent theFinal Destinationwheel, but that does everything these movies are supposed to do, and better than most. The opening sequence alone, set in 1969 at a high-rise restaurant tower, is a series best, rivaling even the log truck of part two for white-knuckle ingenuity. The movie also bids a lovely, spooky farewell to William Bludworth, played for the last time by the late, great Tony Todd. StreamFinal Destination Bloodlines.
Pee-Wee as Himself(2025)
Paul Reubens participated in dozens of hours worth of interviews for this two-part documentary, directed by filmmaker Matt Worth, but from the opening moments, the erstwhile Pee-Wee Herman makes clear that he is struggling with the notion of giving up control of his life story to someone else. That's a through line in the film and, as we learn, in the performer's life, as he spent decades struggling with his public profile while maintaining intense privacy in his personal life. Reubens' posthumous coming out as gay is the headline story, but the whole thing provides a fascinating look at an artist who it seems we barely knew.StreamPee-Wee as Himself.
The Legend of Ochi(2025)
In an age of encroaching AI, it's always encouraging to find that there are filmmakers still doing things the old-fashioned way—even more so withOchi, which mostly forgoes even CGI in favor of actual puppetry and animatronics for anything other than wide shots. There's nothing inherently wrong with digital imagery, but our brains still kinda know when something has weight and presence in the real world, and the work that went into this fantasy pays off beautifully. Helena Zengel plays Yuri, a young girl growing up on the remote island of Carpathia. Her father, Maxim (Willem Dafoe) leads teams of (mostly) boy soldiers to hunt the island's wild Ochi—vaguely simian creatures that they've been trained to fear. Yuri discovers an injured infant Ochi and, rather than kill or capture it, she sets out to return it to its family. A rare family film from A24.StreamThe Legend of Ochi.
The Brutalist(2024)
Brady Corbet's epic period drama, which earned 10 Oscar nominations and won Adrian Brody his second Academy Award for Best Actor, follows László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who emigrates to the United States following the war. His course as a refugee follows highs and devastating lows—he's barely able to find work at first, despite his past as an accomplished Bauhaus-trained architect in Europe. A wealthy benefactor (Guy Pearce) seems like a godsend when he offers László a high-profile project, but discovers the limitations of his talent in the face of American-style antisemitism and boorishness.StreamThe Brutalist.
Babygirl(2024)
Nicole Kidman stars in this modern erotic thriller as CEO Romy Mathis, who begins a dangerous (i.e. naughty) affair with her much younger intern (Harris Dickinson). After an opening scene involving some deeply unfulfilling lovemaking with her spouse (we'll have to suspend disbelief on the topic of Antonio Banderas as a schlubby, sexually disappointing husband), Romy runs into Samuel (Dickinson), who saves her from a runaway dog before taking her on as his mentor at work. She teaches him about process automation while he teaches her about BDSM, but his sexy, dorky charm soon gives way to something darker. For all the online chatter (Nicole Kidman on all fours lapping up milk!), the captivating performances and the chilly direction from Halina Reijn elevate it above more prurient erotic thrillers.StreamBabygirl.
Death of a Unicorn(2025)
Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, playing father and daughter Elliot and Ridley, accidentally kill a unicorn whose parents go on a blood-soaked rampage by way of avenging their offspring. And ifthatisn't the platonic ideal of a plot for an A24 horror movie, I don't know what is. There are some themes here about class and the dangers of big pharma that don't entirely work, but there's still a well-acted family drama here with plenty of unicorn action—so it's certainly unique.StreamDeath of a Unicorn.
A Minecraft Movie(2025)
A fun and wildly successful (third-highest grossing movie of the year, so far) live-action take on the popular sandbox video game,Minecraftstars Jack Black as Steve, a doorknob salesman who first discovers the Overworld, a world of easy-to-manipulate cubes (a la the game), and then is kidnapped and taken to the hellish Nether. Following in his wake are four normal people: Garrett “The Garbage Man” (Jason Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers), and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) who are pulled into the Overworld and have to learn to work together to master the rules of the game/world. The mythology is surprisingly complicated, but the leads have great chemistry, which is where the movie's charm lies.StreamA Minecraft Movie.
Bring Her Back(2025)
If you saw Danny and Michael Philippou's previous feature,Talk to Me, then you have some idea what you're in for here, though this one goes even deeper and darker. Siblings Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong) discover their father dead on the floor in the shower; Andy is almost 18, a difficult age for foster care, but he begs to stay with his sister until he can formally take custody. The two are placed with former social worker Laura (Sally Hawkins), who is herself recovering from the tragic death of her daughter, and whose son is clearly struggling. Things get strange (and terrifying) very quickly as one of these grieving souls attempts to, well, consider the title. This is a horror film that speaks to the shattering power of grief.StreamBring Her Back.
2073(2024)
Inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 featuretteLa Jetée, which itself inspired the feature12 Monkeys, docudrama2073considers the state of our world in the present through the framing device of a woman (Samantha Morton) gazing back from the titular year and meditating on the road that led to an apocalypse of sorts. Her reverie considers, via real-life, current news footage, the rise of modern popular authoritarianism in the modes of Orbán, Trump, Putin, Modi, and Xi, and their alignment with tech bros in such a way as to accelerate a coming climate catastrophe. It's not terribly subtle, but neither is the daily news.Stream2073.
