10 Great Movies Hiding on HBO Max That You Can Stream Right Now

Welcome back, HBO Max. You didn’t really leave, but the name change back to what we were introduced to you as is somehow a comforting reminder that nothing really ever changes in the entertainment industry, and that it’s never just TV… it’s HBO. HBO Max, in part due to its corporate ties to Warner Brothers, is still one of the best streaming services for movies just based on the sheer quantity of quality films you can find.

While there are certainly obvious choices for the best films on HBO Max — the streaming service will be the new home for Sinners starting July 4th, for example — there are many more forgotten or underrated gems that make their home on the platform. That HBO Max has a hub for TCM and Studio Ghibli, among other great properties, is just another sign that this is the place to find a new favorite. Here are 10 great, hidden movies on HBO Max that you can watch right now.

1) M (Lang, 1931)

M was not famed film director Fritz Lang’s last film made in Europe before he would leave for America — but it was the last film he was able to see made and released in Germany essentially uncensored by the rising Nazi party. M was also Lang’s first sound film, and while he would make many sound films after that, it might be his most cool and subtle use of the then new technology. Lang’s films are always technical marvels (his filmography includes Metropolis), but M is notable for how streamlined and efficient it feels. It uses Peter Lorre in just his third film role in spectacular style; Lorre is always a little odd looking, but he’s still sympathetic here, despite who he’s playing. M is a crime thriller, but it’s more interested in a eerie feel than real grittiness. Unlike some of its louder American contemporaries from the same time, it still feels as creepy as it must have back in 1931.

2) I Married a Witch (Clair, 1942)

If you watch TCM on cable, you’ve probably seen I Married a Witch around Halloween. It’s a quirky screwball comedy that utilizes fantasy aspects, as well as a tongue-in-cheek interpretation of historic witch hunts to its supremely mischievous advantage. One of the original bombshells, Veronica Lake, plays nigh-immortal witch Jennifer, who takes the form of a young woman who looks much like Lake, and manages to bewitch (she might say merely enchant) a pathetic descendant of one of the Puritans who originally persecuted her, played by Fredric March. If it sounds convoluted, it certainly is, but it’s given charm by Lake and March, who are totally game for the misadventures of the script, partially doctored by great writers like Dalton Trumbo. French film director René Clair was given I Married a Witch as an assignment by the likes of screwball great Preston Sturges, and while they didn’t agree on the final product, you can understand why the film still feels magical over eighty years later.

3) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Richter, 1978)

There seemed a great hunger for nostalgic genre throwbacks in the 70s; Star Wars recalls Buck Rogers serials, Star Trek got its first big revival, and 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which was already a big film in its day, got a star-powered revival with Donald Sutherland in the lead role, with support from Leonard Nimoy and a very young Jeff Goldblum. To some extent, both Invasions have been meme’d to death on the Internet at this point, and any science fiction film from that era comes with the caveat that this was a transitional period in American film. (Even recently screened 1977 prints of Star Wars shock fans.) But Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) is still considered one of the best remakes of all time, which is pretty remarkable. The original can apparently be viewed on The Roku Channel for free, so it might be worth it to pair them together, especially if you want to see the differences between 1950s paranoia and 1970s paranoia.

4)Withnail and I (Robinson, 1987)

Withnail and I mostly became a cult classic by virtue of being a small British black comedy produced on a low budget, with two (at the time) no-name actors: Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann. McGann would be cast briefly as the Eighth Doctor in a short-lived Doctor Who reboot in 1996, and Richard E. Grant, would, of course, eventually become Classic Loki. McGann was known a little when Withnail and I showed up; the film was Grant’s film debut. The bleak comedy arguably rests on the chemistry between the two young actors, who are, in turn, playing two depressed chronically unemployed actors. The film wasn’t necessarily overlooked when it originally debuted, but it only really made an initial splash with critics (like Roger Ebert); when it got its home video release in the 1990s, its legend began to grow. It’s an ideal film to watch on a rainy day stuck at home.

5)The Cat Returns (Morita, 1992)

Part of the fun of Studio Ghibli’s films making their home on HBO Max is that there are some really underrated gems among the big names, like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. The Cat Returns is one of the smaller films Studio Ghibli’s produced; it’s a spin-off of 1995’s Whisper of the Heart. Both the original Japanese film and the dubbed film are available on Max, and they’re both well worth a watch. The English cast includes a young Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, and Tim Curry. The film is full of enchanting visuals, and if you’re a fan of dapper cats inviting you on absurd adventures, then The Cat Returns is for you.

6) Einstein and Eddington (Martin, 2008)

It’s what sounds like a fairly boilerplate costume drama from summary alone: a younger Albert Einstein then we’re used to, and a now unknown British scientist make a connection during World War I that will change the face of physics as we know it. It’s a film that originally debuted on BBC 2 in 2008, and that HBO picked up a few years later. If that was all it was, it probably wouldn’t be worth including on this list; however, like a lot of British period dramas, it features two of their greatest in the leads. David Tennant as Eddington would be in the middle of his tenure as the Tenth Doctor, and Andy Serkis as Einstein is in between making motion capture history in the Lord of the Rings films and doing it again with the Planet of the Apes movies. This is an Einstein well before the weary old man we meet in Oppenheimer; this is the Einstein who is making his theory of relativity. This is an extremely well-cast portrait of a piece of scientific history often overlooked, and it’s worth a watch.

7) This Means War (McG, 2012)

This is not a film that asks you to take it seriously; it’s ultimately about a romantic war between Reese Witherspoon, and her two suitors, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy. Pine and Hardy are CIA agents, as well as both friends and rivals, while Witherspoon is an outsider who both fall for. This is a script that was locked in development hell, but ultimately it works, if only because the trio at the heart of it are played by three extremely talented (if perhaps mismatched) actors. Witherspoon gets to use all her rom com chops, Pine gets to be incredibly charming, and Hardy gets to use his eternal intensity to try and beat back Pine’s charm, which would usually win the day. They also get to use gadgets, of course. There will be no saving the world, and much of the film feels unabashedly absurd, especially in 2025, but that only adds to its comedic potential.

8) Bad Education (Finley, 2019)

Bad Education might not be on this list if it wasn’t for the streaming wars. The film stars a post-Wolverine Hugh Jackman and tells the tale of a salacious public school scandal. It made a splash at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. It feels like a movie that would be fun to watch in theaters, and it could’ve even gotten Oscar buzz; but HBO Films snatched it up, and it became one of the hot new things HBO Max was advertised as having when it launched in May 2020. Bad Education never got a theatrical release; it dropped on HBO in April 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began, and while it got Emmy recognition later that year, those awards never felt right. This is much more stylish and well directed than your average TV movie (even those on HBO). Director Cory Finley, who debuted with 2017’s Thoroughbreds, makes visually interesting, cinema-worthy films on top of their compelling scripts. Of course, ironically, Bad Education being on this list at all means a recommendation for watching it at home on HBO Max, but if you missed it in the chaos of 2020, the dark comedy is well worth a viewing.

9) Tuesday (Oniunas-Pusić, 2023)

In between creating Selina Meyer and giving life to the MCU’s take on Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been starring in her own run of some remarkable indies. Tuesday, a debut feature by Croatian filmmaker Daina Oniunas-Pusić hit the festival circuit and had a small, limited release in both the US and UK. It was well-received, but not a lot of people actually watched it. It gives Louis-Dreyfus a chance to stretch her dramatic chops, though, as it tells a magical realist story about a mother, her terminally ill daughter, and their relationship with an avatar of Death. It’s an unusual film, and very deeply an A24 movie (who ultimately distributed it), and it’s nice it’s found a home on HBO Max.

10) The Iron Claw (Durkin, 2023)

Professional wrestling has had its share of tragedies. This 2023 drama retells the story of the Van Erichs, a family of wrestlers who seemed cursed. It’s got an all star cast, including a physically transformed Zac Efron as the lead, and it feels like it could’ve been a ‘this had Oscar buzz’ film, except for the fact that it’s actually good. Sean Durkin, its director, had Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest under his belt before undertaking The Iron Claw; thriller directors don’t tend to make boring biopics. The Iron Claw did well enough at the box office, and it made some critics’ end of year lists, but perhaps the abject tragedy of the story ultimately let it be one of 2023’s forgotten greats.

HBO Max, ultimately, has a lot of fantastic movies in its catalog, beyond the known blockbusters and the Oscar winners. What are some of your favorite hidden gems on HBO Max? Recommend them in the comments below!