A24 has become synonymous with cutting-edge independent cinema. Over the course of more than 150 movies since its inception in 2012, the studio has become one of the most influential studios in the modern film industry and is known for its offbeat, genre-bending, and auteur-driven films like Hereditary, Lady Bird, and Moonlight. Another movie in A24’s lengthy filmography remains criminally underrated, but movie lovers now have the chance to rediscover the 2014 crime thriller after it started streaming on HBO Max.
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Since earlier in January, HBO Max subscribers can stream A Most Violent Year. The movie, released towards the very beginning of A24’s start, stars Oscar Isaac as Abel Morales, a fuel supplier trying to avoid a life of corruption in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically the most dangerous year in the city’s history. Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, and Albert Brooks also star.
A Most Violent Year Is a Masterful Crime Drama and One of the Best Films of the 2010s
If you haven’t yet seen A Most Violent Year, then you need to add it to your watchlist before it has the opportunity to disappear from HBO Max in the future. Despite its “Certified Fresh” 89% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes putting it far from the top of A24’s best-rated movies (it takes No. 66 on the list on Rotten Tomatoes, proving just how consistently good A24 movies are), the film is one of the studio’s best early films and really a masterclass in tension, acting, and atmosphere.
Although the movie’s title seemingly promises a gritty, action-heavy gangster film, A Most Violent Year subverts expectations by delivering a quiet, tense drama about morality, ethics, and the pressures of the American Dream in 1981 NYC. The film masterfully creates a slow-burn intensity by using the atmospheric backdrop of one of NYC’s most dangerous years to build suspense, and it trades high-octane violence for a focus on the psychological pressure of trying to stay honest in a corrupt and high-pressure environment. Isaac and Chastain deliver powerhouse performances and share an onscreen chemistry described by the Film Experience as a “hard-won romantic synergy,” and the movie really plays out as an intimate, thoughtful, character-driven drama that is perfect for audiences who prefer psychological suspense over overt action.
A Most Violent Year was lauded by critics as “a slice of American cinema that’s as rare as it is beautiful” and “a film to remember.” Although the movie is unfortunately vastly overlooked, it has been well-received by audiences and holds a 69% Popcornmeter score.
What’s New on HBO Max?
There are plenty of great streaming options on HBO Max. In addition to A Most Violent Year, the streamer’s January lineup brought fellow A24 films Bodies Bodies Bodies, Ex Machina, Moonlight, and While We’re Young to the platform. Other recent additions include Fargo (1996), Taxi Driver, and World Without End.
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