The 33 Best Movies and Shows on HBO Max Right Now

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong once again roasts the super rich with his dark satire Mountainhead. Directed by Armstrong, the movie traps audiences with four billionaires—played by Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzmann, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef—as they hole up in a secluded snowy mansion as the world collapses over an AI-generated apocalypse.

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The Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, continued its reign on television last summer. After a promising first season, season 2 of the fantasy series dove headfirst into a fiery Targaryen civil war fought on the backs of dragons. Big budget? Check. Big drama? You bet.

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Though many have tried (and failed) before, The Last of Us is the best adaptation of a video game we’ve ever seen. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, it follows an unlikely duo as they make their way across America after a zombie-like apocalypse.

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After a strange murder occurs in Alaska, police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and state trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) must sift through a web of mysteries and ghostly aberrations to catch the killer. Driving the Internet wild with theories, Night Country updated the True Detective model with a fresh new direction.

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Breaking new ground in both documentary work and stand-up comedy, Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show is a bizarre mix of unfiltered behind-the-scenes moments and incredibly hard on-camera conversations. Whether it was best for Carmichael to explore his complicated relationships with friends, family, and former lovers in this way is up to the comedian. But as he told Esquire: “I think it’s me actually trying to heal things in my life.”

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The White Lotus is currently one of the hottest vacation spots for actors. Creator Mike White turned the fictional destination into a hilarious whodunnit anthology series, with guests including Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, and Michael Imperioli. Poking fun at the exclusive-resort lifestyle and butchering the one percent, The White Lotus has won fans over with witty writing and intriguing mystery.

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Shinichirō Watanabe strikes again. The creator of anime hits and cult classics like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Terror in Resonance is back with a propulsive sci-fi crime thriller, Lazarus. Set in the near future, the show follows a motley crew of freelance agents tasked with tracking down an elusive scientist whose breakthrough drug is actually a weapon that will soon kill all of its users around the world.

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Spinning off from James Gunn's 2021 movie The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker picks up with John Cena's lunkheaded antihero as he tries to actually fight for good, for once. Now that Gunn is overlord to the entire DC franchise, this irreverent action-comedy series has become even more important than anyone involved might have expected.

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Where The White Lotus mocks the lives of the modern-day elite, The Gilded Age harks back to the high society of 1882. The comedy series also features an excellent cast, with Nathan Lane, Louisa Jacobson, Carrie Coon, Cynthia Nixon, and Christine Baranski.

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A transcendental sci-fi with lush animation, Scavengers Reign bucks genre conventions to encourage its audience to slow down, look inward, and ponder the mysteries of an endless cosmos. This acclaimed 12-episode miniseries follows the survivors of a downed spaceship after they've crashed on an uncharted planet. Think Lost meets Carl Sagan's Cosmos.

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Banking has never included as much sex and drama as HBO’s Industry, a Euphoria-esque take on the stressful job of landing high-profile clients and trading stocks. Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington joined season 3 alongside Myha’la Herrold and Ken Leung.

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Ending its run in 2023 the comedy-drama about a media-conglomerate CEO—who must decide which of his three crazy kids should succeed him—took television by storm. Starring Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Alan Ruck, and Matthew Macfadyen, Succession was popular most likely for the same reason that so many new series revolve around the idea of family legacies. (And because it was just damn good TV.)

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Even 12 seasons in, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is still just as entertaining as ever. Taking 30-some minutes each week to discuss the latest global news, the investigative journalism from the former Daily Show correspondent’s staff is highly informative and incredibly funny.

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Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s debut novel of the same name, The Sympathizer stars Hoa Xuande as a North Vietnamese spy in the South Vietnamese army at the end of the Vietnam War. Tortured by several antagonists—who are all played by Robert Downey Jr.—Xuande led a poignant and surprisingly humorous story that sought to finally dramatize the war from a Vietnamese perspective.

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Starring SNL alum Bill Hader, Barry is the story of a hitman who wants to end his professional killing spree and become a Hollywood actor. As his past catches up with him, hilarious antics and insane decisions ensue.

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Produced by Josh and Benny Safdie, Telemarketers follows two former employees of a telemarketing firm as they expose the insidious tactics of an unchecked industry out to scam unsuspecting victims over the phone.

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Starring Kate Winslet and her dubious Philadelphia accent, Mare of Easttown is a crime drama about a detective who investigates the murder of a local sports hero. Though the miniseries was never intended to have a second season, a rumored spinoff set in Delco is reportedly in the works with Mark Ruffalo set to lead.

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A magnum opus by comedian Julio Torres, Fantasmas is a surrealist comedy miniseries about life in New York City and the ways in which the government restricts your access to basic everyday necessities. Torres pursues a document titled “proof of existence” and encounters unhelpful robots, brainwashed customer service reps, and tangents upon tangents featuring celebrity cameos.

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