The best movies on HBO Max to watch right now (November 2022)

HBO Max’s launch in 2020 has seen a lot of changes. Following the unprecedented day-and-date release of the studio’s entire film slate in 2021, HBO Max’s reach has continued to grow thanks to its direct-to-streaming releases and ongoing TV series like House of the Dragon, Succession, Westworld, The Rehearsal. And, thanks to the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, it’s also courted controversy.

HBO Max, at its core, is an excellent service that offers great movies from popular culture icons like Mad Max Fury RoadAnd The Matrix series to canonical classics like Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and Shining. There are many a Ton There are many great titles available across the site, and they keep adding new titles every month. With that said, there’s a lot to choose from and only so many hours in the day.

Don’t sweat it, we’ve got you covered: Here are the best movies on HBO Max to stream so you can finally start whittling down that watchlist.

Editor’s pick: To Be or Not to Be

Image by United Artists

Genre: Comedic Comedy
Run time: 1h 39m
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack

This one’s on my short list of favorite movies of all time. Carole Lombard stars alongside Jack Benny as two well-known actors from war-time Poland who use their talents to trick the invading Nazis. (Unless their egos get in their way). Lubitsch could always find humor in a difficult situation, even when it seemed like it was impossible. To be or not to be One of the most hilarious movies that you’ll ever see. It’s also a moving portrayal of wartime resistance. Can’t go wrong with that! —Pete Volk

2001: A Space Odyssey

Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre: Sci-fi
Run time: 2h 19m
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast:Gary Lockwood and Keir dullea

2001: A Space OdysseyThis is an unassailable masterpiece of science-fiction cinema. It’s a work that is both visually stunning and epic in scale. The film’s legacy will be as long as the shadows of any of its famous monoliths. Co-written by science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick’s landmark 1968 film follows the epic voyage of the Discovery One from Earth to Jupiter following the discovery of a mysterious artifact on the surface of the Moon. Humanity attempts to comprehend an unknown alien intelligence, but the voyage becomes complicated as Discovery One’s onboard AI gains consciousness and threatens to endanger the lives and safety of its crew. From the film’s opening flashback to the dawn of human evolution to its dazzling and iconic “star gate” sequence, 2001: A Space OdysseyFor serious sci-fi fans, this is the film to watch. —Toussaint Egan

Batman

Photo by Jonathan Olley/Warner Bros.

Genre: Superhero
Run time: 2h 56m
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano

Robert Pattinson (Twilight) stars in Matt Reeves’ “gritty” new take on Batman as a young and sullen version of the eponymous Dark Knight. Two years into his crusade against the criminals of Gotham City’s underworld, billionaire orphan-turned-nocturnal vigilante Bruce Wayne finds himself is challenged by a new nemesis in the form of the Riddler (Dano), a sadistic killer with a vendetta against the city’s upper crust. To uncover a conspiracy at the heart of his family’s legacy and stop the Riddle from wreaking havoc on the city, Batman will have to turn to the help of Selina Kyle (Kravitz), a cat burglar with her own grudge against the city’s criminal elite.

A brooding, propulsive superhero action thriller that focuses on Batman’s deductive skills, pugilistic aptitude, and penchant for dramatic entrances and exits, BatmanIt is undoubtedly one of the most important films of 2022. —TE

Black Narcissus

Image: The Archers

Genre: Psychological melodrama
Run time: 1h 40m
Directors:Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Cast:Deborah Kerr. Sabu Dastagir. David Farrar

Centered on a cloister of nuns attempting to establish a convent in the Himalayas, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 film Black NarcissusThis is a sensuous and psychological drama about the dangers of sin, isolation, mortal temptation and the horrors of nature. The film was hailed as one of the most important achievements in cinema. It won the 20th Academy Awards two Oscars for cinematography and art direction. —TE

Dune

Image: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Genre: Sci-fi
Run time: 2h 35m
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac

Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s landmark sci-fi novel stars Timothée Chalamet (You can call me by my name(played by Isaac) is Paul Atreides. He’s the son of a noble family and plagued with mysterious visions about a desert planet called Arrakis. When his father, Duke Leto Atreides (Isaac) is betrayed in a plot orchestrated by their family’s long-time enemy Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), Paul and his mother Jessica (Ferguson) must flee into desert and seek refuge from the planet’s local inhabitants, all while Paul comes into his newfound power as a messianic warrior and the soon-to-be future ruler of humanity. This sci-fi masterpiece is packed full of beautiful and minimalist scenes, accompanied by an orchestral score. Dune is a spectacle well worth witnessing — and Part II can’t come soon enough. —TE

F is for Fake

Image: Les Films de l’Astrophore/SACI

Genre: Docudrama
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Orson Welles; François Reichenbach, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar (uncredited)
Cast: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Elmyr de Hory

One of the last films completed before his death, Orson Welles’ 1973 experiment docudrama on the lives and legacies of two of history’s greatest “fakes”: The world-renowned art forger Elmyr de Hory and his biographer Clifford Irving, is a whimsical and mischievous work of sleight-of-hand filmmaking. Welles’ film inevitably circles back on the subject the filmmaker himself through its examination of both Hory and Irving’s lives, transforming into an irreverently charming and gleefully farcical meta-treatise on the nature of performance, illusion, and art. —TE

Goodfellas

Warner Home Video

Genre: Crime
Run time: 2h 26m
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci

One of Martin Scorsese’s most celebrated and memorable films, and possibly his last unimpeachable classic, Goodfellas charts the rise and fall of a wannabe gangster who works his way into the Mob in 1950s Brooklyn, then finds the organization’s focus and fortunes changing radically over the decades that follow. Packed with storytelling devices that Scorsese went on to repeat over and over — particularly the monologue-voiceover introduction of a whole pack of colorful gangster characters who don’t much matter — Goodfellas is full of indelible dialogue and familiar comic bits (“I’m funny how? I mean funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you?”), it’s the sprawling saga of a criminal watching the world change around him until he doesn’t recognize it anymore, made before any of these tropes, lines, and devices became clichés because so many people imitated Goodfellas. —Tasha Robinson

Hidden Fortress

Image: Toho Company

Genre: Historic adventure
Run time: 2h 6m
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki

Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 adventure film Hidden Fortress is perhaps best known by contemporary audiences for its role as one of the key inspirations behind George Lucas’ 1977 sci-fi juggernaut Star Wars. The similarities are clear from the film’s premise alone: following a princess (Misa Uehara) disguised as a mute farmer who is led through enemy territory by her loyal general and bodyguard (Toshiro Mifune) to retrieve a secret cache of gold with the gold of rebuilding her kingdom. The two are led by a pair of comical peasants, Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) who, unbeknownst to their companion’s true identity, lead them through danger in hopes of sharing in the gold as a reward. Hidden Fortress ranks among the very best of Kurosawa’s oeuvre; a grand-scale adventure filled with moments of gripping excitement, action, and disarming levity. —TE

Hoop Dreams

Image from Fine Line Features

Genre: Documentary
Run time: 2h 51m
Director: Steve James
Cast: Arthur Agee and William Gates

The American Documentary of the Year. Hoop DreamsFollow two basketball players from high schools as they work towards their ultimate goal, which is to make it to the NBA. If you’re not all that interested in basketball, don’t let that keep you away — it’s a moving, incisive depiction of American life that uses basketball as a way in to talk about all sorts of broader issues that still face our society today. —PV

House

Image: PSC/Toho Company

Genre: Horror
Run time: 1h 50m
Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi
Cast: Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Oba

Watching Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House This is like watching a cartoon in live action. From the very first frame, the cult horror film is full of brilliant experimentalism and delightful surrealism. It never slows down. One group of eccentric schoolgirls travels to the haunted home of an ailing aunt to encounter supernatural forces and apparitions. The house slowly takes on a new life. Oddball comedy meets architectural horror in what is likely to be one of the most hilarious and memorable movie experiences you’ll ever have. —TE

Jurassic Park

Image by Amblin Entertainment/ Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Genre: Sci-fi
Run time: 2h 7m
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum

The blockbuster movie that sparked a three decade-spanning franchise, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic ParkIt is a marvel of the late 20th-century special effects. The film’s memorable performances and stunning visuals continue to amaze audiences. This film features Dr. Alan Grant, a paleontologist played by Sam Neill and Dr. Ellie Sattler, a paleobotanist. They are hired as consultants to John Hammond’s latest venture in Costa Rica. It houses genetically resurrected dinosaurs. It is filled with action, horror, suspense and adventure. Jurassic Park is more than just a thriller movie; it’s a bonafide classic and arguably one of Spielberg’s best. —TE

Lone Wolf and Cub at the River Styx: Baby Cart

Image: Katsu Production/Toho Company

Genre: Take Action
Run time: 1h 25m
Director: Kenji Misumi
Cast: Tomisaburō Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa

Based on Kazuo Koike’s popular manga series of the same name, The Lone Wolf and Cub series is an undisputed classic of Japanese cinema. Tomisaburo Wakayama, in his most iconic role, inhabits the assassin-turned-itinerant-ronin-warrior Ittō Ogami, who travels the countryside of feudal Japan righting wrongs, felling foes, and raising his young son Daigorō. You honestly can’t go wrong with any installment of the Lone Wolf and Cub series (they’re held up as classics for a reason, after all), though most fans and film scholars would hold up 1972’s Lone Wolf and Cub at the River Styx: Baby Cart Ogami, who was assigned to assassinate Shogunate rogue while being chased by a fierce clan of female assassins, is the highlight of the series. If you’re a fan of either Samurai Jackor Wu-Tang Clan. You owe it yourself to take the time to see the Lone Wolf and Cub series. —TE

Image by New Line Home Entertainment

Genre: Fantasy
Run time: 2h 58m
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen

Director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy remains one of the most peerless cinematic works of our time. Though there’s no choosing one favorite out of the bunch, The Fellowship of the Ring, which kicks things off as hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) begins his quest to save Middle Earth, is perhaps the most evenly built. Fellowship, which features characters who are more interested in getting out of trouble than being stuck there, is definitely the lightest. If you haven’t watched the series recently, give it a whirl, then dive into our year-long tribute to the Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens’ series, which we call “Year of the Ring.”

The Matrix series

Warner Home Video

Genre: Sci-fi/action
Run time: 2h 16m (The Matrix); 2h 18m (Reloaded: The Matrix); 2h 10m (The Matrix Revolutions); 2h 28m (Resurrections of the Matrix)
Director:Lana and Lilly WachowskiThe Matrix, Reloaded: The Matrix, The Matrix Revolutions); Lana Wachowski (Resurrections of the Matrix)
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss

Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s sci-fi action film series is nothing short of revolutionary. Along with its 2021 sequel, the original trilogy was made. Resurrections of the MatrixThis book tells the story Neo (Reeves), an aspiring computer hacker who wakes up to realize that all is not as it seems. Recruited by Trinity (Anne-Moss) and Morpheus (Fishburne), rebel fighters in a post-apocalyptic world where human beings have been mentally enslaved inside a computer program known as the Matrix, Neo must accept his role as “The One” — a messianic figure capable of bending the Matrix to his whim — if he has any hope of securing humanity’s future.

A fusion of dystopian cyberpunk sci-fi, wuxia wire-fu martial arts, and anime-inspired spectacle, there was nothing quite like the Matrix series before it first premiered and there honestly hasn’t been anything quite like it since. If you’ve somehow never experienced Wachowski’s magnum opus, brace yourself for one hell of a ride. —TE

Mikey & Nicky

Image: Paramount Pictures

Genre: Crime
Run time: 1h 59m
Director: Elaine May
Cast:John Cassavetes and Peter Falk

Elaine May’s laughs were a hallmark of the 1970s. Like her Nichols partner Mike Nichols in sketch comedy, May turned her sketch comedy career to a full-time acting, writing and directing life. She starred in her own directorial debut, 1971’s A New LeafHe was opposite Walter Matthau. The Neil Simon adaptation quickly made him a hit commercially. Heartbreak Kid. So there’s reason to think 1976’s Mikey & NickyThe romp through a mob environment would include Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, longtime colleagues. Nope! May’s film is a nuclear attack on toxic masculinity, and among the more challenging films I’ve ever watched.

Nicky calls Mikey Falk (Cassavetes), and in the middle night begs for his assistance. He’s stolen money from a mob boss, and now he’s convinced he’s as good as dead. And he’s right — in fact, Mikey is actually assisting the hitman (Ned Beatty) assigned to take out his best bud by coaxing Nicky out of a barricaded apartment. Something of a coward, Mikey won’t pull the trigger himself, so the two wind up cavorting around Philadelphia for the night. The result is a maelstrom full of psychotic, violent, and rancid behavior. An unpleasant incident occurs when a black man stops at a bar. Their misplaced aggression makes a bus driver the target. A meetup with Nicky’s girlfriend turns to sexual violence, even from Mikey, who is, in theory, the clear-headed of the two. It’s a nightmare, and May traps viewers inside it.

Mikey & Nicky is hard to recommend — it’s Not enjoyable — but like great art, the film peers into the shadows of everyday life that we all know exist, but rarely see in mainstream storytelling. This film was made in 1973. Mean streets hit theaters, and it now feels like the ultimate condemnation of how Martin Scorsese’s films (perhaps unintentionally) glamorized mob violence and life. They are horrible men who do terrible things. These men are well-known, and they are a trap for the women around them. That’s not the kind of character study most people want out of a laid-back night at the movies. But it’s necessary. It’s important to see. —Matt Patches

Princess Mononoke

GKIDS/Studio Ghibli

Genre: Historical fantasy animated
Run time: 2h 13m
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Yōji Matsuda, Yuirko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka

Princess Mononoke is one of Studio Ghibli’s best films. This dark, lush fairy tale tells the story of Prince Ashitaka who leaves his village to seek a cure. He finds himself in Irontown after he leaves his village to seek a cure. Irontown is a small community of forest spirits led by Lady Eboshi. The town’s deforestation methods put it at odds with San, an animal-loving wild girl. Like many Ghibli movies, there is an environmentalist message at the movie’s core, as modernity and progress duel with nature and preservation. Unlike many Ghibli movies, it actually gets pretty gory in order to emphasize its message and doesn’t hold back in the consequences the characters face for some devastating actions. It is a powerful and moving movie. Princess MononokeThe film lingers the way Ghibli movies do with bittersweet poignance. — Petrana Radulovic