Best Movies on HBO Max Right Now

The 100 best movies you can stream on HBO Max in the US this month, ranked by Kernel Score. Each pick includes our verdict and a parents' age guide. Updated 2026-10-12.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 97% · 2001 · ages 11+
The start of a three-film fantasy epic that is richly made and deeply felt. The world is real and lived-in, the cast are well chosen, and it makes a long quest feel like an adventure.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 97% · 2003 · ages 10+
The grand finale of the trilogy, with huge battles and an emotional farewell that has been earned over two earlier films. It's best seen as the end of the full story, not on its own.
Sinners 97% · 2025 · ages 15+
Ryan Coogler sends twin brothers home to start fresh, only to find something worse waiting. Michael B. Jordan plays both, and viewers and the Kernel score rank it among the best recent horror.
The Dark Knight 96% · 2008 · ages 11+
A crime thriller dressed as a superhero film. Heath Ledger's Joker gives it a menace few films in the genre match, and the story keeps raising the cost of doing the right thing.
Spirited Away 96% · 2001 · ages 6+
A ten-year-old girl is stranded in a spirit bathhouse and has to work to save her parents. Miyazaki's film is full of strange, beautiful creatures and feels like a dream, but it's grounded in a child's courage.
The Departed 96% · 2006 · ages 15+
A taut cat-and-mouse crime thriller about two moles on opposite sides, one in the police and one in the mob. It has sharp dialogue, a great cast and a nerve-racking pace.
The Shining 95% · 1980 · ages 15+
Kubrick's haunted-hotel film builds dread through cold, careful camerawork and a growing sense that something is wrong with the father. It's slow, ambiguous and unsettling, and the images stay with you.
2001: A Space Odyssey 94% · 1968 · ages 6+
Kubrick's slow, silent, visually astonishing journey from the dawn of humanity to deep space, with HAL 9000 as one of cinema's great villains. It demands patience and explains little, which is its point.
Dune: Part Two 94% · 2024 · ages 11+
A huge, serious sci-fi epic with striking desert imagery, big battles and a dark turn for its hero. Villeneuve makes it feel enormous, and it pays off the first film.
Castle in the Sky 93% · 1986 · ages 7+
Miyazaki's rollicking sky-pirate adventure is full of invention, charm and heart. It's an easy place to start with Studio Ghibli, and the floating-castle finale is lovely.
Final Destination Bloodlines 93% · 2025 · ages 15+
A well-liked entry in a series built on elaborate, darkly funny deaths. If you enjoy waiting for the next accident to land, it delivers; if you want real scares or deep characters, it is not that.
Joker 92% · 2019 · ages 15+
A bleak character study of a lonely man pushed over the edge, anchored by a hugely committed Joaquin Phoenix. It's powerful and uncomfortable, and it's far from a comic-book crowd-pleaser.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 92% · 2002 · ages 10+
The middle chapter is darker and more intense, with the siege of Helm's Deep as the centrepiece. It's a stronger film in its battles than its set-up, and it needs the first film to work.
Howl's Moving Castle 92% · 2004 · ages 8+
Miyazaki's gentle, beautiful fantasy about a young woman cursed to look old who finds a home in a moving castle. It is charming, strange and moving, though the plot wanders near the end.
Princess Mononoke 92% · 1997 · ages 11+
Miyazaki's epic about a cursed prince caught between forest gods and an iron-making town is violent, grown-up and beautifully drawn. It's a serious fantasy that doesn't pick an easy villain.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 92% · 2023 · ages 7+
A dazzling, ambitious sequel that pushes animation further than almost anything before it. The story is bigger and ends on a cliffhanger, so you need the first film and patience for the next.
Perfect Blue 92% · 1998 · ages 15+
A pop singer turned actress is stalked while the line between her real life and her role blurs. This is a tense, disturbing anime thriller that's smart about fame and identity, and it's for adults only.
The Kid 92% · 1921 · ages 5+
High and Low 92% · 1963 · ages 11+
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 91% · 2004 · ages 7+
The best of the Harry Potter films, with a more grown-up tone, more creative look and a good mystery. It works well even if you've only seen one other film in the series.
The Usual Suspects 91% · 1995 · ages 15+
A tight crime thriller built around five crooks and a legend named Keyser Soze, with a final reveal that remains one of the best known in film. It has a great cast and rewards a second watch.
Seven Samurai 91% · 1954 · ages 11+
A poor village hires seven masterless samurai to defend it from bandits. It runs over three hours, but the characters, the preparation and the battle in the mud are some of the best filmmaking ever.
The Great Dictator 91% · 1940 · ages 11+
Chaplin plays both a ruthless dictator and a Jewish barber in his first full sound comedy. It still has laugh-out-loud slapstick, and the final speech is moving, even if it feels stagey.
In the Mood for Love 91% · 2000 · ages 11+
Two neighbours in 1960s Hong Kong grow close after suspecting their spouses of an affair. Almost nothing is said outright, and the film is all glances, music and restraint. It's one of the most beautiful romances ever made.
8½ 91% · 1963 · ages 13+
Rashomon 91% · 1950 · ages 14+
City Lights 91% · 1931 · all ages
Paris, Texas 91% · 1984 · ages 15+
Chungking Express 91% · 1994 · ages 11+
Tokyo Story 91% · 1953 · ages 6+
A Clockwork Orange 90% · 1971 · ages 16+
Kubrick's violent satire of a thug who's subjected to forced conditioning. It's bold, unforgettable and extremely disturbing, and not an easy watch.
The Conjuring 90% · 2013 · ages 13+
A properly scary haunted-house film that earns its scares with patient build-up and sharp direction by James Wan. If you like old-fashioned horror without too much gore, this is among the best of recent years.
Your Name. 90% · 2016 · ages 8+
A beautiful animated romance about two teenagers who swap bodies and gradually fall for one another across distance. Gorgeous visuals, a sweet love story and an emotional twist.
Full Metal Jacket 90% · 1987 · ages 15+
A war film in two halves: brutal Marine boot camp, then chaotic street fighting in Vietnam. It's cold, sharp and unforgettable, and the first half is among the most intense scenes ever filmed.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 90% · 2017 · ages 15+
A grieving mother puts up three billboards demanding the police solve her daughter's murder. It is darkly funny, angry and surprising, with great acting from McDormand and Rockwell, though it can be abrasive.
Hidden Figures 90% · 2016 · ages 6+
A warm, well-acted true story about three Black women whose maths skills helped launch NASA's space missions. It is crowd-pleasing and a bit tidy, but the lead trio and the story are well worth the time.
Coraline 90% · 2009 · ages 8+
Henry Selick's stop-motion fantasy about a bored girl who finds a too-perfect parallel home is creepy, inventive and kind to its heroine. It really is scary for younger kids.
Casablanca 90% · 1943 · ages 8+
In wartime Casablanca, a cynical bar owner meets the woman he loved just as she needs his help. It's romantic, funny and wise, with the sharpest dialogue of its era, and still one of the most enjoyable classic films.
Modern Times 90% · 1936 · all ages
Chaplin's Tramp battles factory life and the Depression in a mostly silent comedy. The gags still work, the romance is sweet, and it's short enough to watch even if you've never seen a silent film.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire 90% · 2019 · ages 15+
A quiet, beautifully painted romance between a portrait painter and her subject on an isolated island in Brittany. It is slow and restrained, but the final stretch is deeply moving and it stays with you.
Stalker 90% · 1979 · ages 11+
M 90% · 1931 · ages 11+
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox 90% · 2013 · ages 11+
When Marnie Was There 90% · 2014 · ages 8+
The Gold Rush 90% · 1925 · Rated NR
Yojimbo 90% · 1961 · ages 11+
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War 90% · 2020 · ages 15+
Ikiru 90% · 1952 · ages 11+
The Passion of Joan of Arc 90% · 1928 · ages 11+
The Red Shoes 90% · 1948 · ages 6+
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 89% · 2005 · ages 8+
The fourth Harry Potter film turns darker, with a dangerous tournament, a growing threat and the first real feeling that the stakes are high. It's busy but entertaining, and the tone shift works.
Dune 89% · 2021 · ages 11+
The first half of Frank Herbert's desert epic, filmed on a huge scale with serious craft. It's slow and deliberate, and it ends on a cliffhanger, but the visuals and sound are spectacular.
Zack Snyder's Justice League 89% · 2021 · ages 15+
The four-hour director's cut of Justice League is far better than the 2017 version, with clearer characters and a coherent story. It's still long and heavy on slow-motion, but fans of the heroes will find it rewarding.
Room 89% · 2015 · ages 13+
A deeply affecting drama about a woman and her five-year-old son held in a single room, and then what freedom means. Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay are exceptional. It is hard going but hopeful.
My Neighbor Totoro 89% · 1988 · all ages
Miyazaki's quiet story of two sisters and the forest spirits near their new home is gentle, calm and endlessly rewatchable. Nothing really threatens them, and that's the point: it's pure childhood wonder.
Love, Simon 89% · 2018 · ages 11+
A teenager keeps his sexuality secret while exchanging anonymous emails with a classmate. It's warm, funny and sincere, with a likeable lead, and it takes teen romance seriously without being heavy.
Kiki's Delivery Service 89% · 1989 · all ages
A young witch spends a year on her own in a seaside town, running a delivery business. It's a gentle, charming film about homesickness and losing confidence, and it treats its young heroine with respect.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 89% · 1984 · ages 8+
A young princess tries to stop a war between humans and a poisonous jungle full of giant insects. It's Miyazaki's early environmental epic, imaginative and humane, and the ideas still land.
Singin' in the Rain 89% · 1952 · all ages
A silent-film star and a chorus girl navigate Hollywood's switch to sound, with some of the best dance numbers ever filmed. It is joyful, funny and endlessly rewatchable. The title number is a high point of cinema.
The Seventh Seal 89% · 1957 · ages 11+
Ingmar Bergman's famous medieval story of a knight playing chess with Death. It's short, strange and still moving, with unforgettable images, and it is a great place to start with world cinema if you can handle subtitles and heavy ideas.
Bicycle Thieves 89% · 1948 · all ages
Weathering with You 89% · 2019 · ages 11+
Wolf Children 89% · 2012 · ages 8+
Persona 89% · 1966 · ages 11+
The 400 Blows 89% · 1959 · ages 11+
Whisper of the Heart 89% · 1995 · all ages
A Trip to the Moon 89% · 1902 · all ages
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya 89% · 2013 · ages 8+
Solaris 89% · 1972 · ages 8+
Le Samouraï 89% · 1967 · ages 11+
La Strada 89% · 1954 · ages 13+
The Wages of Fear 89% · 1953 · ages 11+
Throne of Blood 89% · 1957 · ages 11+
La Notte 89% · 1961 · ages 15+
The Hidden Fortress 89% · 1958 · ages 8+
Late Spring 89% · 1949
Red Beard 89% · 1965 · ages 11+
The World of Apu 89% · 1959 · ages 11+
Batman Begins 88% · 2005 · ages 11+
Nolan's grounded origin for Batman is serious, well cast and more thoughtful than most superhero openings. The fight scenes are messy, but it sets up the better film that follows.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 88% · 2011 · ages 11+
The closing chapter of the whole series is fast, emotional and rewarding if you've followed the characters from the start. It rewards loyal fans and doesn't work well as a first film.
The Batman 88% · 2022 · ages 11+
A long, dark, rain-soaked detective story that treats Batman as a worn-down investigator first and a fighter second. It's patient and moody, and viewers rate it very highly, though it asks for three hours.
The Exorcist 88% · 1973 · ages 15+
The reference point for possession horror: a family drama first, then a very frightening one. It's slow to start and shocking when it arrives, and it still works on audiences today.
Eyes Wide Shut 88% · 1999 · ages 16+
Stanley Kubrick's final film is a slow, dreamlike thriller about jealousy, desire and secret rituals. It's rich and strange, and some find it hypnotic while others find it cold and slow.
Ponyo 88% · 2008 · all ages
Miyazaki's gentle fairy tale about a fish who wants to be human. It's simple, beautifully hand-drawn and ideal for young children, though it has less depth than his best.
Gone with the Wind 88% · 1939 · ages 11+
A grand 1939 epic about a headstrong Southern belle through the Civil War and its aftermath. The scale, colour and star performances are spectacular, but it's very long and romanticises the Old South, a legacy that bothers many modern viewers.
Magnolia 88% · 1999 · ages 15+
Nine lives collide in one day in the San Fernando Valley, with Tom Cruise as a standout. It's long, ambitious and sometimes overwrought, but the best scenes are remarkable.
Night of the Living Dead 88% · 1968 · ages 15+
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 88% · 2006 · ages 8+
Three Colors: Blue 88% · 1993 · Rated R
The Maltese Falcon 88% · 1941 · ages 11+
Wild Strawberries 88% · 1957 · ages 8+
Three Colors: Red 88% · 1994 · ages 13+
Friends: The Reunion 88% · 2021 · ages 11+
Amarcord 88% · 1973 · ages 15+
Diabolique 88% · 1955 · ages 11+
Millennium Actress 88% · 2002 · Rated PG
Rome, Open City 88% · 1945 · ages 11+
The Normal Heart 88% · 2014 · ages 15+
The Circus 88% · 1928 · all ages
The Battle of Algiers 88% · 1966 · ages 14+

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