As the birthplace of prestige TV shows like The Sopranos and The Wire, HBO—and, by extension, HBO Max—is best known for its impressive lineup of original series. The network has also been upping the ante with feature-length content that is the stuff of Oscar dreams.
Below is a list of some of our favorite films streaming on HBO Max—from thought-provoking documentaries to recent box-office smash hits. If you decide you’re in more of a TV mood, head over to our picks for the best shows on HBO Max. If you’re looking for even more recommendations, check out our lists of the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best movies on Disney+.
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Materialists
Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a professional matchmaker in New York City who is great at her job but not as lucky in her own love life. When she suddenly finds herself in the middle of a love triangle with two men—Harry (Pedro Pascal), a suave and wealthy broker who is everything Lucy has ever dreamed of, and John (Chris Evans), her aspiring actor ex—she is finally forced to figure out whether ticking every box in a nebulous list of must-haves is truly the answer to finding one’s perfect match. Celine Song, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind 2023’s Past Lives (also streaming on HBO), treats the topic with intelligence and respect.
Eddington
Ari Aster took a break from psychological thrillers like Hereditary to craft this Covid-themed neo-western. Set in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the film follows the everyday challenges of a small-town sheriff, Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), who believes he’s doing what’s best to keep his townspeople safe. After butting heads with the town’s mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), he decides to run for Garcia’s job himself. But in a town rife with misinformation and mounting tensions, the race gets more intense than he ever imagined.
One to One: John & Yoko
On August 30, 1972, three years after quietly informing his fellow Beatles that he was leaving the band, John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono headlined two shows of the One to One concert, a charity event which raised more than $1.5 million for kids with developmental disabilities and featured additional performers including Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, and Sha Na Na. This documentary from Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September) offers an up-close glimpse at John and Yoko’s lives at this time, having recently relocated to New York City and as they navigated the music industry in a post-Beatles world. It’s an intimate experience, like few docs before it.
Thoughts and Prayers
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