The Best Movies on Max to Stream Now (June 2023)

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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett

HBO is best known for its prestigious television shows like Succession, The White Lotus and The Last of Us. But its streamer Max — the result of the merge between HBO Max and Discovery+ on May 23 — is also home to a massive library of movies, from colorful classics to modern box office hits.

With all of the options out there, it can be a little overwhelming to choose the perfect selection for your next movie night — so we've rounded up the best movies that Max has to offer at this moment.

Whether you're looking for Oscar-nominated movies like The Banshees of Inisherin and Elvis, bone-chilling horror flicks like Barbarian or iconic franchises like The Lord of the Rings, the streaming platform has something for every film lover.

Here are the best movies available to stream on Max right now.

Avatar: The Way of Water

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett

With audiences itching to revisit the sensational world of Pandora, it's no surprise why James Cameron's 2022 sci-fi epic was such a massive box-office knockout. Running over three hours and featuring aquatic CGI effects, thrilling action sequences and soul-stirring performances, Avatar: The Way of Water follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their family as they leave behind their human-invaded home and seek refuge with the oceanic clan of Metkayina, learning to harmonize with the sea and its ever-flowing gifts.

Watch Avatar: The Way of Water on Max

Magic Mike's Last Dance

For a third time, Channing Tatum's Mike Lane — a retired erotic dancer in his 40s — leaves little to the imagination in the Magic Mike trilogy's final installment. When invited to London by socialite Maxandra Mendoza (Salma Hayek), Mike is given the opportunity to choreograph a feminist dance production for her theater and hit the stage for one more striptease.

Watch Magic Mike's Last Dance on Max

Reality

Based on a true story, HBO's 2023 indie drama sees Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney enter an unexpected role as former United States Air Force member and NSA translator Reality Winner, who is notoriously known for leaking top-secret government documents to the public. Adapted from the real transcripts of the whistleblower's FBI interrogation, Tina Satter's directorial debut not only features gripping performances from Sweeney, but also from Marchánt Davis and Josh Hamilton as detectives.

Watch Reality on Max

I, Tonya

Shot in mockumentary style, this 2017 biographical black comedy tells the real-life story of renowned figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) and how her ex-husband was involved with the attack on her rival, Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver), who was struck at the knee several weeks prior to the 1994 Olympic Winter Games. In addition to its riveting narrative, gritty performances from Robbie, Allison Janney (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) and Sebastian Stan help reframe the sports scandal that ended Harding's skating career.

Watch I, Tonya on Max

Moonage Daydream

Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, Brett Morgan's documentary delves into the life of legendary musician David Bowie by using never-before-seen footage from his personal archives. The film chronicles the Picasso of Pop's creative journey, highlighting his artistic interests that lead to the glamorous aesthetic he's still known for today.

Watch Moonage Daydream on Max

Parasite

Making history as the first non-English language movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture, Parasite is deserving of all its acclaim. Bong Joon Ho's South Korean social thriller centers on the Kims, who live in poverty and lie about their qualifications to work in (and ultimately infiltrate) the Park family's opulent home.

Watch Parasite on Max

Blue Valentine

Premiering at Sundance Film Festival, Derek Cianfrance's 2010 romantic drama utilizes nonlinear storytelling to portray the events from the early honeymoon phase to the collapse of a married couple. Both earning Golden Globe nominations for best actor and best actress in a motion picture — drama, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams deliver authentic yet heart-wrenching performances that offer a palpable sense of pain and depth to this love story.

Watch Blue Valentine on Max

See How They Run

Set in 1950s London, this 2022 whodunnit comedy follows the unlikely buddy cop duo of Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and WPC Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) as they investigate a murder. When preparing to adapt Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap into a film, American director Leo Köpernick (Adrien Brody) is killed backstage and everyone in the theater is declared a suspect. With a stellar ensemble cast, the film also stars Ruth Wilson, Reason Shearsmith and Harris Dickinson, among others.

Watch See How They Run on Max

Coraline

She's a peach, she's a doll ... she's as cute as a button. From the director who created stop-motion animated features like The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Wendell & Wild (2022) comes a story about a young blue-haired girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) who moves into the Pink Palace Apartments with her parents and discovers a portal that leads to a colorful parallel universe, in which everything is perfectly tailored for her liking. However, the titular protagonist discovers there's more darkness to this new world than what meets the eye.

Watch Coraline on Max

Ghost

Featuring one of the most iconic scenes in cinema that melded passion with making pottery, this 1990 supernatural romance will fill your spirit with warmth. When Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) dies at the hands of a mugger, his spirit uses a psychic (Whoopi Goldberg in a role that earned her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress) to help save his girlfriend (Demi Moore) from his killer. Watch this otherworldly tearjerker before Channing Tatum steps into Swayze's role in his forthcoming remake.

Watch Ghost on Max

The Banshees of Inisherin

What do you do when your lifelong best friend suddenly doesn't want to talk to you anymore? That's the premise for The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh's 2022 drama that follows a pair of former friends living on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. The decisions ultimately have dire consequences for both the erstwhile pals and everyone else living on Inisherin. Banshees was nominated for nine Academy Awards — including four for actors Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan.

Watch The Banshees of Inisherin on Max

Dune

Based on Frank Herbert's 1965 epic science fiction novel, Denis Villeneuve's 2021 adaptation is sprawling. With a star-studded cast that includes Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa and more, Dune follows Paul (Chalamet), the heir of House Atreides, as he's thrust into a war over a life-extending drug, "the spice." But Paul has trouble focusing on politics when he begins to have powerful visions of his own.

Watch Dune on Max

West Side Story

The original West Side Story film nabbed 10 Academy Awards in 1961 and featured the work of icons like Natalie Wood and Rita Moreno. Now, head back to the Upper West Side with Steven Spielberg's dazzling 2021 remake of the classic love story, starring Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler in her breakout role. During this musical theater must-watch, you'll be singing along to hits like "I Feel Pretty," "America" and "Tonight" — and may spot Moreno herself in some scenes (as this former Anita plays Valentina, the widow of Jets-friendly drugstore owner Doc).

Watch West Side Story on Max

Elvis

You can't help falling in love with Baz Luhrmann's 2022 epic biographical drama, which follows a young Elvis Presley (Oscar nominee Austin Butler) as he navigates his relationship with a corrupt manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). Nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Elvis is a trip through the rock 'n' roll icon's mind over the course of 20 years — get ready to be "All Shook Up" by the results.

Watch Elvis on Max

The Menu

You'll be hungry for more after watching this 2022 satirical horror about a couple (Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy) who travel to an exclusive island restaurant run by a world-renowned chef (Ralph Fiennes). But they're shocked at what they find on the menu — and you'll be, too. Full of laugh-out-loud humor and fresh horrors, The Menu should be on every foodie's watch list.

Watch The Menu on Max

In the Heights

Get ready to sing along to this 2021 adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning musical. Bodega owner Usnavi de la Vega (Anthony Ramos) narrates the story of a group of dreamers born and raised in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood. Be sure to watch it for catchy numbers, complex choreography and more than one swoon-worthy romance.

Watch In the Heights on Max

Hereditary

This 2018 psychological horror — which Rolling Stone called a "modern horror classic" — isn't for the faint of heart. Among its all-star cast are Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro as the Graham family, who become haunted by a mysterious presence after the death of the kids' secretive grandmother. Along the way, the Grahams discover just how much darkness hides in their ancestry.

Watch Hereditary on Max

Room

Based on her book of the same name, Emma Donoghue's 2015 emotional drama Room features a then-8-year-old Jacob Tremblay in his breakout performance as Jack, a child born and raised in a meager shed that he and his mother call "Room." Beyond the heart-wrenching story, the Academy Award-winning performance from Brie Larson as Jack's mother makes Room a must-watch.

Watch Room on Max

Gone Girl

This 2014 adaptation of Gillian Flynn's hit thriller stars Ben Affleck as Nick, who is the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife, beloved children's book author Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike). With a stacked supporting cast that includes Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Emily Ratajkowski in her feature film debut, Gone Girl is sure to keep even the biggest mystery fans on their toes.

Watch Gone Girl on Max

(500) Days of Summer

This offbeat rom-com follows hopeless romantic Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he reflects back on his relationship with co-worker Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and tries to figure out where, exactly, it all went wrong. With a supporting cast that includes Chloë Grace Moretz and Matthew Gray Gubler, the 2009 indie breakout will make you rethink everything you knew about breakups.

Watch (500) Days of Summer on Max

All the President's Men

Widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, All the President's Men tells the true story of two rival Washington Post journalists, Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), who tied the Watergate break-in back to Richard Nixon and the White House. Through a series of meetings with a secret source dubbed Deep Throat, their investigative work helped bring down the Nixon administration.

Watch All the President's Men on Max

Spotlight

This 2015 Best Picture winner tells the true story of the Boston Globe journalists who exposed systemic child sex abuse (and the subsequent cover-ups) by Boston-area Catholic priests. Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Brian d'Arcy James as the eponymous "Spotlight" team, the film is a critical reminder of the importance of investigative journalism and the search for truth.

Watch Spotlight on Max

Ex Machina

Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson star in this twisty, high-stakes science fiction film about a computer programmer invited to a remote destination by his ambitious boss to determine the capabilities of Ava, a beautiful and mysterious robot. But the two men soon learn that Ava is much more intelligent and self-aware than they thought.

Watch Ex Machina on Max

Don't Worry Darling

Now you can stream the film that caused so much off-screen drama. Olivia Wilde's second directorial feature follows Alice (Florence Pugh) as she uncovers the secrets behind her idyllic life with her husband Jack (Harry Styles) in the fictional company town of Victory, Calif. With a supporting cast that features Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll and more, 2022's Don't Worry Darling is a twisty thriller that'll keep you guessing.

Watch Don't Worry Darling on Max

Barbarian

Get ready for a fright: Even the horror movie aficionados at Bloody Disgusting found Barbarian to be one of the scariest films of 2022. The movie focuses on a young woman (Georgina Campbell) who finds an unexpected guest (Bill Skarsgård) — and much, much more — at her Detroit rental home.

Watch Barbarian on Max

The Matrix series

The science fiction series that changed the genre forever is now available to stream on Max. Follow hacker Neo (Keanu Reeves), computer programmer Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and the mysterious Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) as they discover that their world isn't quite what it seems.

Watch The Matrix series on Max

The Batman

Robert Pattinson makes his DC debut as the titular caped crusader in Matt Reeves' 2022 superhero film The Batman. In the first film of what will be a franchise, Pattinson's Batman follows the trail of a deranged serial killer called the Riddler (Paul Dano) and uncovers corruption in Gotham, meeting the antiheroine Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) along the way.

Watch The Batman on Max

The Lord of the Rings trilogy

The Return Of The King - 2003 — New Line/Kobal/Shutterstock

Settle in for a movie marathon with The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and it will be a marathon — in total, the three films span over 11 hours). J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tales of Middle-earth follow hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and the Fellowship of the Ring as they embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring. Featuring performances from Orlando Bloom, Sir Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a necessary binge for any fantasy lover.

Watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy on Max

Joker

Joaquin Phoenix's harrowing take on the classic DC villain not only nabbed him an Academy Award for Best Actor, but also began a franchise that'll include Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in the 2024 musical sequel. Joker tracks Arthur Fleck, a feeble clown and struggling stand-up comedian, as he descends into madness and slowly becomes the famed criminal mastermind.

Watch Joker on Max

Belfast

In Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical drama Belfast, 9-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill), his parents (Jamie Dornan and Caitríona Balfe) and his grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds) are caught up at the start of the Troubles in 1969. Buddy must grow up quickly, while his parents decide if they want to leave Belfast forever.

Watch Belfast on Max

The Fantastic Beasts trilogy

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - 2018 — Warner Bros/Moviestore/Shutterstock

If you're a fan of Harry Potter, then you'll love the spinoff prequel series Fantastic Beasts. The franchise — which debuted in 2016 with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — focuses on future Herbology author Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in 1920s New York City as he protects the magical world from being discovered by Muggles. But along the way, Newt gets mixed up in the feud between Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen).

Watch the Fantastic Beasts trilogy on Max

King Richard

This 2021 biographical sports drama examines the man behind two tennis legends. Will Smith plays Richard Williams, father and coach of Serena and Venus Williams, as he turns his daughters into professional tennis players. The role won Smith an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Watch King Richard on Max

2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick's trippy 2001: A Space Odyssey explores the meaning of humanity itself. Known for its pioneering special effects and scientifically accurate depictions of space flight, the 1968 epic science fiction film zeroes in on a group of astronauts (Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood and William Sylvester) and the sentient supercomputer named HAL (voiced by Douglas Rain) as they investigate an alien monolith on Jupiter.

Watch 2001: A Space Odyssey on Max

Singin' in the Rain

In one of the greatest musical films of all time, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor star as three silent film stars working on their first "talkie" to keep up with the industry's transition to sound. With iconic numbers like "Make 'Em Laugh," "Broadway Melody" and, of course, "Singin' in the Rain," the film is sure to put a smile on your face.

Watch Singin' in the Rain on Max

The Grand Budapest Hotel

A grand hotel in the middle of the fictional Eastern European country of Zubrowka — that's the setting for Wes Anderson's 2014 comedy-drama The Grand Budapest Hotel. Set between World War I and II, the film follows hotel concierge Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) after he's accused of murdering a wealthy dowager (Tilda Swinton). Fiennes leads a stacked ensemble cast that includes many Anderson favorites like Jason Schwartzman, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum and more.

Watch The Grand Budapest Hotel on Max

Ingrid Goes West

Ingrid Goes West is a movie you may not have heard about but should have. Aubrey Plaza leads this smart indie satire about a woman who moves to Los Angeles to insert herself into the life of her favorite influencer, Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). Also starring Wyatt Russell and Billy Magnussen, 2017's Ingrid Goes West will make you rethink the way you look at social media.

Watch Ingrid Goes West on Max

Dear Evan Hansen

Ben Platt reprises his Tony-winning role as the titular Evan Hansen in this 2021 film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. Also starring Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and more, Dear Evan Hansen examines loneliness and depression among high schoolers in the social media age.

Watch Dear Evan Hansen on Max

Spielberg

If you were left wanting to know more after the semi-autobiographical Fabelmans, legendary director Steven Spielberg becomes the subject in this 2017 documentary about his life and career. Alongside interviews with his family members and other legends like Martin Scorsese and George Lucas, Spielberg himself guides viewers through personal anecdotes and behind-the-scenes tidbits from classics like Catch Me If You Can and Schindler's List.

Watch Spielberg on Max

Jennifer's Body

This 2009 cult classic comedy horror film puts Megan Fox in the driver's seat as high school queen bee Jennifer Check, who begins killing her male classmates after an encounter with an occult-obsessed rock band. But it quickly becomes clear that the only person who can stop Jennifer is her conflicted best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried). With a rocking soundtrack and major camp elements, Jennifer's Body is a sharp commentary on power and accountability.

Watch Jennifer's Body on Max

Magic Mike

The name "Magic Mike" has become synonymous with male strippers — and now, you can watch the film that started it all, following Adam (Alex Pettyfer) as he is led into the world of stripping by veteran dancer Mike (Channing Tatum). The film's ensemble cast also includes Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello and Matthew McConaughey. Loosely based on Tatum's own experiences as a stripper in Florida, Magic Mike has since spawned two more films and a documentary series, Finding Magic Mike, that follows dancers hoping to perform at the Magic Mike live show in Las Vegas.

Watch Magic Mike on Max

Juno

In this 2007 coming-of-age film, Elliot Page stars as Juno, who becomes unexpectedly pregnant after having sex with her friend and longtime admirer Paulie (Michael Cera). Juno not only has to tell her father (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother (Allison Janney) about the pregnancy — she must also navigate a potential adoption by a local wealthy couple, Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner).

Watch Juno on Max