The Best Movies on HBO Max Right Now

Too much to scroll through and not enough time to watch it all. These are the best movies streaming on HBO Max right now, pulled straight from my reviews and updated every month as titles come and go. Every pick is something I’ve seen and stand behind, with a link to the full review if you want the long version.

Last updated: October 16, 2026

Looking for something scarier? Here are the best modern horror movies on HBO Max.

SING STREET (2016)

Big-hearted, shamelessly cheerful and joyous beyond measure, Sing Street is an upbeat victory for director John Carney. Brimming with laughs and a surprising amount of tears, Sing Street is rarely seen uplift cinema sure to inspire an embarrassingly wide grin from start to finish, suffused with dreadfully catchy tunes to boot.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025)

One Battle After Another is another masterwork from American auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, who turns his incisive storytelling toward contemporary America and uses it as a battle-bound backdrop for a story about fighting for what matters. Every single thing works.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (2021)

Morgan Neville’s involving documentary puts Anthony Bourdain’s travels and struggles into razor sharp focus, creating a compelling and full-bodied portrait of an ambitious journeyman, a restless searcher, a semi-charmed lover, and a crestfallen philosopher.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

SICARIO (2015)

Emboldened by Roger Deakins’s screamingly accomplished cinematography, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s hypnotic score, Benicio Del Toro’s unforgettable performance and Denis Villeneuve‘s prudent, cold-blooded direction, Sicario‘ commits cinematic terrorism against our desire for narrative order. It’s time to welcome Villeneuve to the Masters circle.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

MOTHER MARY (2026)

David Lowery’s hypnotic Mother Mary‘ is a breakup song filtered through the lens of a ghost story, mounted with spectacular production elements and stitched together with unreal performances from Michaela Cole and Anne Hathaway.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019)

A24’s unsettling The Lighthouse is like a message in a bottle from a far off time, one that signals writer-director Robert Eggers established brilliance. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson are electric as stranded men with unfurling sanity and unmoored moral compasses in this wholly original nautical folk tale about paranoia, desolation, mermaids, murder, moral decay, and self-destruction.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (2017)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has smacks of knifelike dark comedy, a handful of brilliant performances (all hail Frances McDormand!) and a director (Martin McDonagh) back on the tippy-top of his game, rounding out into a breathtakingly funny and confoundingly sad crime drama that’s also one of the best films of 2017.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

MARTY SUPREME (2025)

Josh Safdie proves he was the chosen one with Marty Supreme, a chaos-riddled epic about a scumbag ping-pong player trying to scheme his way into proving that he’s the world’s greatest. Chalamet is outstanding in this singularly tumultuous and deeply funny vision of going all in on your dreams.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

WEAPONS (2025)

Cregger delivers just about everything a genre fan could ask for with Weapons: a twisted, well-acted dark fairytale with an unforgettable villain turn. It’s truly one of a kind, ambitious, unafraid to swing for the fences, and packed with ideas. Easily one of the bests of 2025.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

ROOM (2015)

A healthy dose of heartbreak and humor gives Room dramatic gravitas in spades. Add in two top-of-the-line performances from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay and you have a picture not to be missed.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

DUNE (2021)

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is a science fiction spectacle of epic proportions with an indomitable cast, state-of-the-art visual effects, and an undercurrent of adult-tilting thematics running throughout. A masterwork only complicated by its (temporarily) unfinished nature and one I can’t wait to see again.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

HEREDITARY (2018)

Ranking up their with the great contemporary horror movies of our time, Hereditary delivers the scares of ‘The Conjuring’ with the atmospherics of ‘The Shining’ all matched to a jaw-droppingly stunning performance from Toni Collette. Now go scare the shit out of yourself with it.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

SALTBURN (2023)

Emerald Fennel’s venereal second feature is an explosive satire of inheritance and deception framed as a simmering psychosexual thriller. The entire cast is wonderful but Barry Keoghan proves himself as a truly one-of-a-kind talent.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017)

Like a demented and brilliant episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’, The Killing of a Sacred Deer posits a reality off its axis in elusive and dangerous ways. This pitch black dark comedy/familial parable defies easy explanation but with outstanding direction, top notch performances and a bevy of unsubtle nastiness creeping below the surface, it’s as memorable a movie experience as 2017 has to offer.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

DUNE: PART TWO (2024)

Dune: Part Two further opens the book on the world of Paul Atreides and Arrakis in this towering accomplishment that’s as thrilling as it is stunning to watch, hear, and feel. Witness it on the biggest screen you can find.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

SINNERS (2025)

Ryan Coogler delivers a bloody, soulful masterstroke of music-driven genre filmmaking with Sinners, a movie that erupts with passionate craft just as much as it surprises with its thematic depth. Michael B. Jordan is tremendous in a dual role, but it’s Coogler and his ability to pull everything together with style, substance, and swagger who truly steals the show.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017)

The Shape of Water shucks convention in making a throwback to the monster movies of yesteryear, showcasing Guillermo del Toro’s soaring visual style and a breathtaking lead performance from Sally Hawkins while telling a love story from the most bizarre, and somehow moving, of angles. Fans of esoteric erotica, prepare to swoon.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

US (2019)

As cool as it is inventive, Us takes liberties with horror movie expectations and shows Jordan Peele breaking down what worked for him before and building a unique premise up from scratch, once again, to striking effect. Lupita Nyong’o is fire.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

THE REVENANT (2015)

A technically consummate piece of high art bred with a tension-ridden tale of against-all-odds perseverance, The Revenant is a brutal, frigid masterwork that benefits from its callous commitment from director Alejandro González Iñárritu, brilliant visuals from cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and incredible performances from stars Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

EVIL DEAD BURN (2026)

Evil Dead Burn is a sadistic addition that proudly continues the franchise’s tradition of treating its characters with extreme cruelty while gifting its sicko fans with some of the year’s gnarliest gore. Beneath all that blood, however, lies a surprisingly thoughtful story about an abuse survivor fighting to escape a family determined to wear her down long before the Deadites arrive.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies on HBO Max right now?

This month’s top picks include Sing Street, One Battle After Another, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Sicario and Mother Mary. The full list of 20 films is drawn from Silver Screen Riot reviews and updated monthly.

How often is this list updated?

Every month. Films that leave HBO Max are removed, and newly added movies we’ve reviewed are added. Last updated October 16, 2026.

What are the best horror movies on HBO Max?

See our separate guide to the best modern horror movies on HBO Max: the best horror movies on HBO Max