The best HBO Max original movies and shows and where to watch them

HBO Max has experienced many changes over the last two years. It launched May 2020. At launch, the service struggled to distinguish itself for many consumers from HBO (an understandable point of confusion), and it’s been a long road to its current status as one of the better streaming libraries available.

All Warner Bros. films premiered on HBO Max in 2021 on the same day they were released theatrically. That changed in 2022 to a 45-day window — movies like Batman required to wait at most 45 days before accessing the streaming platform.

There are more developments in the pipeline. The cancellation of in-progress work was one of the first indicators. Batgirl The movie was originally slated as an HBO Max Original. David Zaslav is the new CEO at Warner Bros. He has made clear that he doesn’t want any scripted content to go straight to streaming. He wants non-scripted programming, such as reality television, to be used for streaming.

That’s also meant quite a few HBO Max originals have been removed from the service to reduce costs (even though they are HBO Max originals, they still have licensing fees to remain on the platform). HBO Max, however, does not limit these originals only to its platform. They can still be viewed elsewhere via digital rental, or any other method, even after they have been removed from HBO Max. Netflix does remove original programming, which is something they do.It’s gone!

That’s where we come in! We’ve collected our favorite HBO Max original movies and series, as well as where you can watch them now. It does Not You can also watch HBO’s shows such as WestwOrld or BarryBecause those selections are not HBO Max originals. While some selections of this sort are still available on HBO Max, others are no longer. As such, we will be updating the list.

These are the best original HBO Max series

Our Flag Means Death

Photo: Aaron Epstein/HBO Max

These days, “It gets good later” is practically a kiss of death; who could possibly have time and stamina these days to wait anything out for a vague promise of goodness? [Ed. note: TV editors do! Don’t @ me.]Yet, Our Flag Means DeathThe little pirate ship that could was the best, and not only did it put on an amazing show, but also attracted legions after legions. It was the best thing about it. Good. Rhys Darby is a man who became a pirate and teams up with Captain Blackbeard (Taika waititi) to create an engaging story that is both funny and deeply personal. Our FlagIt was both heartwarming and just plain delightful. While there are many reasons why someone may not be interested in the show, we are all able to agree on one episode. This is exactly the kind of charmer that streamers were born to keep floating — long may it reign on HBO Max. —Zosha Millman

Our Flag Means Death You can still watch it on HBO Max.

Peacemaker

Image Credit: Max

We continue to recognize John Cena’s excellent performance as Peacemaker, even though himbos are still a culturally important group. The show’s titular character, John Cena, is a preeminent hisbo. Peacemaker, in case you’re a himbo reading this) had to handle a lot: being a comic book hero no one really thought much about; coming off a villainous turn in Suicide SquadIt was about making an inept jock, who dealt with his abusive father, and became a powerful lead character.

But Cena lands them all with aplomb, maneuvering Peacemaker’s character through tricky terrain like an angry, soaring eagle. The show went above the usual comic book show delights — though it had its fair share of cameos and Easter eggs and what-have-yous — but the main reason a second season on HBO Max is so exciting is because Cena’s performance can clearly handle anything the show throws at him. No matter what aliens and alienated emotions may be, Cena can handle them all. PeacemakerIs up for the challenge. —ZM

Peacemaker You can still watch it on HBO Max.

Hacks

Image Credit: Max

Hacks wasn’t a part of its launch, but HBO Max couldn’t have asked for a better ambassador for its originals than this acidic, poignant, Emmy-winning dramedy. The series could just as easily have fallen under the HBO banner, but, as a Max original, it’s set a new bar for streaming comedies, avoiding the usual bloat and pacing issues. Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder and their relationship make the series a fascinating two-hander. Ava Daniels (the temporarily ineligible writer) and Deborah Vance, the legendary comedian (Smart), have played exploitative bosses and angry employees. Einbinder was a mentor and mentee. Now, after the success of Deborah’s comedy special, they’re closer to being contemporaries, but that doesn’t mean their dynamic will be harmonious — or equitable. Lucia Aniello (series creator), Paul W. Downs (series creator), and Jen Statsky are more familiar with the process of creating a new season. This finale only fueled the desire for the third. —Danette Chavez

HacksYou can still watch it on HBO Max.

FBoy Island

Photo: Hassen Salum/HBO Max

These are just a few of the choices on this list. Fboy IslandThe one most at risk of disappearing is this. This reality show is notoriously expensive to make, but it has an enticing premise that could be sold to another network. Rather than describe said premise, I’m going to quote my friend and Polygon contributor Cameron Kunzelman, who described the show as follows (during an episode of his podcast Homestuck Made This World):

“Three women are on an island, like an island resort, with — oh, let’s say 20 men. I don’t know how many, exactly. Everybody is extremely hot. It’s a dating show, kind of like Bachelorette or something like that, you know — they’re all gonna go on dates, and people are gonna get voted off one by one. So, it’s half BacheloretteHalf a game Mafia. Okay? You know, like the forum game. Or, The UsTake, for instance. Because half of the men are there to really find love, blah blah blah — The Bachelor, BacheloretteThis is a common thing. Half of the men are there — they’re just fboys.”

This is the best part about Bachelor/ette franchise is trying to figure out which contestants are there for “the right reasons,” and which ones are fuckboys. Imagine if this were the whole point of the program. This, it seems, is how the former. Bachelor Elan Gale, co-executive producer, came up with this idea. Fboy Island.

The only problem is that it will make you start saying “fboy” instead of “fuckboy” in your regular vocabulary, because the show doesn’t drop the f-bomb, and over time, “fboy” starts to sound like an actual normal word. Which it’s not. —Maddy Myers

FBoy Island You can still watch it on HBO Max.

Station Eleven

Photo by Parrish Lewis/HBO max

The adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel’s award-winning novel follows a decimating pandemic and the changed society that grows out of it. A personal story with human characters that is intimate and human. Station Eleven Sometimes it is difficult and sometimes hopeful. But, always worth the effort. —Pete Volk

The following is a review of our work:

Station ElevenRarely does pandemic media focus less on the heroes of a solution and thrills associated with core causes, but more on the notion of perseverance of community and creation of art. The show makes numerous connections between characters but much of the story is still unfinished. The show’s vignettes work out more like a collage that convey emotional tones. “Survival is insufficient” is more than a mantra painted on the side of the troupe’s wagon. It’s a thread that binds episodes together; it’s a reason to stay alive at all.

Station Eleven You can still watch it on HBO Max.

Original HBO Max films that are top-rated

American Pickle

Photo: Hopper Stone/HBO Max

Warm and humorous tale about the bonds between generations of families and what they have lost and gained over time. American Pickle This is Seth Rogen’s comedy in a completely different style (although there are some moments of slapstick). Rogen plays Herschel Greenbaum (a Jewish poor worker from Eastern Europe) who immigrates to America with Sarah Snook, his wife. Herschel is offered a job in a pickle factory and falls into one the pickling boxes. He wakes up one hundred years later in Brooklyn and meets his great-grandson Ben Greenbaum, also Rogen, an uninspiring young man who creates apps.

American Pickle’s strongest moments are when the two Greenbaums reflect on what their different relationships with Judaism mean to them, and the ways in which generations of assimilation in another culture can change your relationship with your heritage. The movie suffers a bit when it turns into a more conventional Rogen comedy of errors halfway through, as the two Greenbaums’ relationship changes into something more like a rivalry, but the heart of this generational fish-out-of-water comedy remains true.

Brandon Trost co-directed this movie and is his solo directorial debut. Dance Dance RevolutionA comedy style The FPWith his brother Jason. —PV

American Pickle Digital rental is possible.

Kimi

Photo: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.

Steven Soderbergh’s crime thriller takes intentional inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear windowIn this movie, Jimmy Stewart portrays a man who is bored with his broken leg and spends his free time healing. He soon discovers that one of his neighbours is a murderer. Rear windowIt has been parodied so many times and adapted so often that you may be surprised to learn that Kimi delivers a fresh take on the concept, proving it’s not overdone — or at least, not yet.

Zoë Kravitz stars as an agoraphobic tech worker who works remotely; in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is staying home and social distancing, so our heroine has as many neighbors to watch as the hero ofRear Window. However, since she’s an agoraphobe, she’s not quite able to head outside even with the aid of a mask, and that limits her ability to do anything about it when she discovers a murder.

She doesn’t witness this murder through a neighbor’s window — not quite. In her job as a tech worker, she runs diagnostics for an in-home device called Kimi that functions similarly to Amazon’s Alexa, recording its owners’ voices and obeying simple commands. Kimi unwittingly recorded a crime in progress. It’s the perfect modern twist with a high-octane denouement during which our heroine not only has to brave the outdoors but also the accused. —MM

Kimi You can still watch it on HBO Max.

No Sudden Move

Photo: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.

There’s a lot going on in No Sudden Move, because of course there is; it’s a Steven Soderbergh movie, after all. This seems like a typical crime thriller, but it’s not. Not just due to all of the back-stabbing and double-crossing. The first characters we meet are a bunch of small-time crooks, gangsters involved with Detroit’s underworld in the mid-1950s. Most of those foot soldiers don’t make it to the end alive, by which point Soderbergh has revealed the true criminals and malevolent forces pulling the strings behind the scenes: big business, politicians, and other monied interests, all acting with casual, careless racism. If that sounds like a slog, don’t worry — No Sudden Move’s twisty plot may be hard to follow, but its crackerjack dialogue and the uniformly terrific performances from its large ensemble cast make this film a very fun ride as well as a history lesson with plenty of modern-day relevance. —Samit Sarkar

No Sudden Move You can still watch it on HBO Max.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Image Credit: Max

I get why a lot of people don’t like this movie or don’t want to engage with it. It’s hard to watch because of the controversy and conflicting fan groups. But if you’re able to wade through those murky waters, on the other side you’ll see one of the best superhero movies ever made, a four-hour space opera epic (in the correct usage of that word, not the bacon one) from a filmmaker who cares deeply about the subject matter and was finally able to finish a project interrupted by personal tragedy. —PV

Zack Snyder’s Justice League You can still watch it on HBO Max.