Best TV Shows and Movies on Max May 2024

New on Max in May 2024

Other streaming services, like Netflix and Prime Video, might have more movies and TV shows, but Max makes up for its slightly smaller quantity with quality.

For one, it gives you access to the HBO vault, which includes decades of acclaimed series, like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Six Feet Under. For two, Max’s own shows (a.k.a. Max Originals like Hacks and The Flight Attendant) rank among the best you can stream.

It wasn’t easy to narrow down, but we’ve curated this list of some of our favorites currently available to stream on Max—and we didn’t even include all 26 seasons of South Park. Sorry, Kenny.

Jump to:

• Recommended TV shows on Max
• Recommended movies on Max
• More recommended shows on Max (by genre)

Recommended TV shows on Max

The White Lotus | Comedy, drama

Set in an idyllic Hawaiian resort (The White Lotus, of course), the first season of Mike White’s The White Lotus follows a group of guests (including Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Steve Zahn, Jake Lacey, and Alexandra Daddario) who come to realize there’s a darkness behind the Lotus’s sunny façade. In keeping with the Mike White brand, things get weird from there. The even-better second season goes to Sicily with Aubrey Plaza, Meghann Fahy, and Michael Imperioli.

Hacks | Comedy, drama

Veteran actress Jean Smart commands her role as Deborah Vance, a longtime Las Vegas comedian whose withering casino showcase residency is being threatened by younger acts. Reluctantly, she hires 20-something comedy writer Ava (Hanna Einbinder) to punch up her material. Sparks fly, but then a sweetly funny frenemyship is forged between these hacks.

The Flight Attendant | Comedy, drama

Kaley Cuoco jettisons her Big Bang Theory sitcom image with Cassie, a boozy international flight attendant who wakes up from her latest one-night stand next to a dead body. Soon, she’s on the run from the authorities and the killer, never without a vodka soda in hand or a terrible decision in mind. The Flight Attendant is a darkly comedic murder mystery that doesn’t let up.

Succession | Drama

If you think your family has problems, wait till you meet the Roys. As aging patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) clings to his role as head of a billion-dollar media conglomerate, he also pits his children (Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, and Alan Ruck) against each other to become his successor. This dark wealth satire is as unpredictable as it is biting, with almost no redeemable characters—and yet Succession is still addictive. You’ll (almost) pity the rich.

Barry | Comedy, drama

Hitman-for-hire Barry (Bill Hader) travels to Los Angeles for a job, but inadvertently becomes involved with the local theater scene and decides to pursue acting. Unfortunately, his mentor (Stephen Root) and the Chechen mob (including scene-stealer Anthony Carrigan as “NoHo Hank”) won’t let him out of the criminal life. Hader kills it, in every sense, as Barry.

More of the best TV shows on Max

• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Euphoria
• Insecure
• House of the Dragon
• The Last of Us

• Perry Mason
• Rap Sh!t
• The Rehearsal
• Watchmen
• The Wire

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Best movies on Max

Barbie | Comedy, fantasy

Barbie (Margo Robbie) has an existential crisis in sunny Barbieland, so she and Ken (Ryan Gosling) travel to the real world for answers from The Patriarchy. That’s just one story in 2023’s billion-dollar Barbie—there are plenty more, and they’re all pitch-perfect. Greta Gerwig’s pink-powered pronouncement for feminism was more than right-wing talking news heads (who are now targeting another blonde, Taylor Swift) could handle, so you know it’s on to something. For all the feels and all the fun, Barbie is the one.

The Menu | Drama, thriller

Obnoxious foodie Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) and paid escort Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) sail to an exotic island to dine at Master Chef Slowik’s (Ralph Fiennes) ridiculously exclusive restaurant. Slowly, it becomes obvious that Chef Slowik has darker plans aside from serving a $1,200-a-plate dinner to a gaggle of annoying snobs (including John Leguizamo, Janet McTeer, and Judith Light). The Menu is tense, funny, terrifying, and mouthwatering all at once—eat up!

Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Action, drama

Zack Snyder left 2017’s Justice League to another director, who turned it into a colorful, quippy mess that didn’t impress critics or fans. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a four-hour reset of his own DC universe, a spectacularly indulgent but still entertaining dark superhero fable that does better by its characters. Without ZSJL, we might not have fully appreciated The Suicide Squad.

Malignant | Horror, thriller

Horror master James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious, Saw) strikes again with Malignant, a brand-new tale of psychological terror he says has more in common with pulpy Italian Giallo thrillers than traditional American shock flicks. Madison (Annabelle Wallis) is tormented by constant dreams of horrific murders, only to find out they’re real. Maybe don’t watch Malignant alone.

The Janes | Documentary

Sundance hit documentary The Janes looks at the underground Chicago network The Jane Collective, a group that secretly provided women with access to safe abortions before Roe v. Wade in the 1970s. Using safe houses, fronts, and code names to protect themselves, The Jane Collective operated covertly until seven women were arrested in a 1972 police raid. Unfortunately, The Janes is as relevant as ever right now.

More of the best movies on Max

• The Batman
• Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn
• Jurassic Park
• Last Night in Soho
• The Matrix

• Nightmare Alley
• Nobody
• Old
• Paddington 2
• The Suicide Squad

Best Studio Ghibli movies on Max

• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
• Howl’s Moving Castle
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Ponyo
• Castle in the Sky

• Princess Mononoke
• Spirited Away
• The Secret World of Arrietty
• The Cat Returns
• My Neighbor Totoro

Best Max Originals

• Doom Patrol
• The Flight Attendant
• Gossip Girl
• Harley Quinn
• I Hate Suzie

• Peacemaker
• Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin
• Our Flag Means Death
• Station Eleven
• Tokyo Vice

Best HBO series on Max

• A Black Lady Sketch Show
• Boardwalk Empire
• Lovecraft County
• Mare of Easttown
• Perry Mason

• Six Feet Under
• The Sopranos
• True Detective
• Veep
• We Own This City

Best documentaries on Max

• Allen v. Farrow
• Class Action Park
• The Cost of Winning
• Generation Hustle
• Heaven’s Gate

• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
• The Last Movie Stars
• Telemarketers
• The Vow
• The Way Down

Best reality TV shows on Max

• All That Glitters
• The Bachelor
• The Bachelorette
• Baketopia
• The Big Brunch

• Chillin’ Island
• Craftopia
• Haute Dog
• The Hype
• Sweet Life: Los Angeles

Best LGBTQ+ shows on Max

• Angels in America
• Equal
• Gentleman Jack
• It’s a Sin
• Legendary

• Our Flag Means Death
• Silent Valley
• Trigonometry
• We Are Who We Are
• Years and Years

Best kids’ shows on Max

• Apple & Onion
• Ben 10
• Craig of the Creek
• Dexter’s Laboratory
• Esme & Roy

• The Amazing World of Gumball
• Jellystone!
• We Baby Bears
• Sesame Street
• Steven Universe