Streaming wars are boring. Pick a lane and watch good stuff. HBO Max has the deep cut. And the fresh releases.
Warner Bros. and HBO originals mix together here. Some classics. Some weird new things. If you’re wondering if the service is worth your cable cut, maybe look elsewhere. If you have the password? Read on.
The best way to consume media is without a strategy.
New on June 5–23
These drop next. Grab popcorn or ignore them.
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June 5
Pillion (2025)
A romantic drama? Yes. A shy man gets picked up by an intense, beautiful biker who decides he’s a submissive. Simple. Complicated. Watch it if you like tension. -
June 7
Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World (2.06)
A doc about the band. From the 70s to now. It digs into the spiritual philosophy behind the hits. Heavy music, heavy thoughts. -
June 19
How to Make a Killing (2.06)
Comedy thriller. Becket Redfellow was disowned at birth for being poor. His family is obscenely rich. He wants the inheritance. He will kill anyone standing in his way. Family reunions get weird, don’t they? -
June 23
The Welcome Table (2.06)
Climate refugees. Six continents. People kicked off their homes by weather events. It celebrates their voices. Sad, but necessary.
The Heavy Hitters
Drama fans have options. Lots of them. Oscars piled high.
Drama
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One Battle After Another (2.05)
Six Oscars. Including Best Picture. Paul Thomas Anderson directing Leonardo DiCaprio? Say less. DiCaprio plays a guy in a revolutionary group called the French 75. Jump ahead 16 years. He’s off the grid with his daughter. His past comes back to kill him. Or at least bother him. The pacing doesn’t stop. -
Marty Supreme (2.05)
Timothée Chalamet again. Playing table tennis this time. 1950s setting. Marty Mauser wants to be the world champ. Nine Oscar nominations. The cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin O’Leary? Who asked? Doesn’t matter. Watch Chalamet focus. -
Sing Sing (2.04)
Colman Domingo wins big. He plays Divine G in a prison theater program. Real formerly incarcerated people act alongside him. Subtle. Hits hard. Uplifting despite the walls around them. -
Juror #2 (2.04)
Clint Eastwood directing. Nicholas Hoult as the juror. J.K. Simmons. Toni Collette. Hoult sees something bad happen. Jury duty gets tricky. He has to choose: follow the law or follow his conscience. A moral dilemma that actually hurts. Well acted. Haunting. -
Turtles All the Way Down (0.24)
John Green adaptation. Isabela Merced plays a teen with OCD and anxiety. It’s straight to streaming but don’t write it off. Romance mixed with mental health struggle. Merced carries it. -
The Fallout (2.2)
After a school shooting, Vada Cavell (Jenna Ortega) tries to be a teenager again. She has friends. A family. Trauma. It doesn’t scream for attention. It whispers. Realistic dialogue. Maddie Ziegler plays the new friend Mia. Glued to the screen. 90 minutes go by too fast. -
Dune & Dune: Part Two (2.01/2.04)
Remember when movies dropped here day-and-date with theaters? Gone. But Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epics stay. Part one. Part two. Both spectacular. Visual masterpieces that look better on big TVs. -
Bad Education (2.9)
Hugh Jackman embezzling public funds? Allison Janney helps him. A real scandal based on Robert Kolker’s article. Student journalists break it. Emmy winner for Outstanding Television Movie. Addictive watching.
Comedy
Laughter isn’t the only goal. Connection is.
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Am I OK? (0.2)
Dakota Johnson is 32. She tells her best friend Jane she’s into women. Jane leaves for London. Lucy is stuck between a new identity and an old friendship. Late bloomer stuff. Funny. Touching. Don’t sleep on this. -
Father of the Bride (0.2)
Third adaptation. Andy Garcia is Billy, the patriarch. He’s traditional. Cuban American family. Daughter wants to move away for love. He panics. Gloria Estefan sings. Enjoyable iteration of an old trope. -
Let Them All Talk (0.20)
Meryl Streep on a boat. Steven Soderbergh behind the camera. Crisp light. Natural sound. Alice Hughes is an author chasing her next book. Her friends are older, sharper, funnier. The dialogue is mostly improvised. Watch Lucas Hedges react.
Action and Adventure
Chase sequences. Dead cats. Post-apocalyptic fury.
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Mickey 17 (5.5)
Bong Joon Ho directs. Robert Pattinson is the star. Mickey Barnes is “expendable.” He goes on missions for a colony planet. When he dies? They print a new one. He wakes up in the clone body. It happens every time. Dark humor. Great performance. Deserves the spot on this list even if it’s not Parasite. -
Flow (2.04)
Best Animated Feature Oscar winner. Latvian film. No words. Just a black cat and a flood. He teams up with a capybara. A lemur. A bird. A dog. Stunning visuals. Thought-provoking silence. Kids love it. Adults respect it. -
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (4.2)
Prequel to Fury Road. Anya Taylor-Joy as a young Furiosa. Charliize Theron was the adult. Here? She’s fighting to survive in the Wasteland. Chris Hemsworth is the bad guy. Chris Hemsworth is always good as a bad guy. Visually loud. Intense action. Don’t look away. -
The Boy and the Heron (3.3)
Hayao Miyazaki came back out. Studio Ghibli magic. Wins an Oscar. English voices? Christian Bale. Robert Pattinson. Florence Pugh. The animation is beautiful. The story is confusing but that’s the point. Who can resist a Ghibli film? -
Barbie (3.2)
Everyone has seen this. Everyone has opinions. Greta Gerwig directed. Margot Robbie is Barbie. Ryan Gosling sings “I’m Just Ken.” Highest-grossing Warner Bros. movie ever. It’s pink. It’s smart. It’s here. Watch it again.
Thriller
Nerves. Sweat. Suspicion.
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Kimi (0.0)
Zoë Kravitz with neon blue hair. Agoraphobic. Works from home. Sees something creepy in audio files. She has to go outside. Soderbergh makes tech look stylish. Great cinematography. Root for the recluse. -
No Sudden Move (0.21)
Detroit in the 50s. Soderbergh again. Fish-eye lens? Maybe you hate it. Maybe you love it. A group of crooks work a heist. It goes wrong. Don Cheadle. Benicio del Toro. David Harbour. Twists and turns. A messy crime caper. Entertaining enough.
Superhero
Capewearing problems.
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Superman (2.0)
James Gunn writes/directs. David Corenswet is Superman. He lost a fight. First time. Nicholas Hoult is Lex Luthor. Rachel Brosnahan is Lois Lane. Krypto is the dog. Chaos. The world already knows the Man of Steel. Now he has to prove himself. Compelling action. Charming. -
The Batman (2.02)
Robert Pattinson broods. Gotham is wet and gray. Matt Reeves directs. A riddler murderer pops up. Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman adds swagger. Before you watch The Penguin spinoff? Watch this. The tone sets everything. Dark mystery. Satisfying payoff. -
The Suicide Squad (0.1)
James Gunn again before DC Studios took over. Villains on a suicide mission. Margot Robbie. Idris Elba. John Cena. Blood everywhere. Funny? Wickedly so. Destroy Project Starfish. Peacemaker exists on Max too. Binge both if you want chaos.
Musical
Sing along or cry along.
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The Color Purple (3.0)
Movie musical adaptation of Alice Walker. Celie’s journey through hardship. Fantasia Barrino. Halle Bailey. Taraji P. Henson. Colman Domingo returns from drama season. Danielle Brooks gets Oscar noms. Strength found in community. -
Wonka (3.3)
Timothée Chalamets is a chocolate kid. Prequel to Dahl’s classic. Paul King directed (Paddington ). Whimsical. Giraffe-sized ambition. Oodles of candy. Comfort food for the brain. Easy to like.
Documentary
Reality checks.
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All That Breathes (0.02)
New Delhi. Two brothers run a hospital for black kites. Birds of prey dying in the sky. Beautiful images. Stick with you. Oscar contender. Haunting. -
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off (0.2)
Skateboarder history. The 80s scene. Hawk is lanky, stubborn. He does stunts that defy physics. A time capsule. Marvel at the persistence. Or the broken bones. Probably both. -
Roadrunner (2.001)
Anthony Bourdain. Morgan Neville films his life. Friends talk. Ex-partners talk. Career struggles. Two hours long. If you knew him, you’ll feel it. If you didn’t, you’ll meet him. Complex man. Complex film.
