20 What To Watch On Max
Explore our hand-picked selection of 20 titles. Ratings, reviews, and streaming options included.
If you're searching for what to watch on max, this curated listicle simplifies your choices. We've handpicked standout titles across drama, action, horror, music and thriller—like the raw intensity of The Pitt (2025), the star-studded A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026), and the whimsical Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! (2026). These top what to watch on max 2026 selections mix new releases with can't-miss favorites, so you get both critical darlings and crowd-pleasers. Below you'll find short, spoiler-free summaries, who each film or show is for, and quick notes on tone and runtime to help you decide what to watch on max right now. Consider this your practical guide to Max viewing, updated for the latest drops and quality picks.
Table of Contents
- The Pitt
- Sinners
- One Battle After Another
- The Smashing Machine
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
- Weapons
- Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
- The Alabama Solution
- Heated Rivalry
- Abbott Elementary
- Sorry, Baby
- Eddington
- 11.22.63
- Task
- Mad Men
- Industry
- Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
- Primal
- Greenland
- IT: Welcome to Derry
1. The Pitt
Year: 2025 | Rating: 8.9/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: drama
The staff of Pittsburgh's Trauma Medical Center work around the clock to save lives in an overcrowded and underfunded emergency department.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Damian Marcano, Amanda Marsalis, John Cameron, John Wells, Quyen Tran
2. Sinners
Year: 2025 | Rating: 7.5/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: action, drama, horror, music, thriller
Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
Available on: Amazon Prime Video, Max
Directed by: Ryan Coogler
3. One Battle After Another
Year: 2025 | Rating: 7.8/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: action, crime, drama, thriller
Washed-up revolutionary Bob exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her, father and daughter both battling the consequences of his past.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
4. The Smashing Machine
Year: 2025 | Rating: 6.4/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: action, biography, drama, history, sport
In the late 1990s, up-and-coming mixed martial artist Mark Kerr aspires to become the greatest fighter in the world. However, he must also battle his opioid dependence and a volatile relationship with his girlfriend Dawn.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Benny Safdie
5. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Year: 2026 | Rating: 8.3/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: action, adventure, drama, fantasy
A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros: a young, naive but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits await these improbable and incomparable friends.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Owen Harris, Sarah Adina Smith
6. Weapons
Year: 2025 | Rating: 7.5/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: horror, mystery
When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Zach Cregger
7. Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
Year: 2026 | Rating: 9.1/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: documentary
A two-part documentary on comedy legend Mel Brooks.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio
8. The Alabama Solution
Year: 2025 | Rating: 7.9/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: drama, documentary
Incarcerated men defy the odds to expose a cover-up in one of America’s deadliest prison systems.
Available on: Max
9. Heated Rivalry
Year: 2025 | Rating: 9/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: drama, romance, sport
Two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey are bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery. Over the next eight years, as they chase glory on the ice, they struggle to navigate their feelings for each other. Torn between the sport they live for and the love they can’t ignore, they must decide if there’s room in their fiercely competitive world for something as fragile – and powerful – as real love.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Jacob Tierney
10. Abbott Elementary
Year: 2021 | Rating: 8.2/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: comedy
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.
Available on: Hulu, Max
Directed by: Randall Einhorn, Jennifer Celotta, Jaime Eliezer Karas, Matt Sohn, Shahrzad Davani
11. Sorry, Baby
Year: 2025 | Rating: 7.2/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: comedy, drama
Agnes feels stuck. Unlike her best friend, Lydie, who’s moved to New York and is now expecting a baby, Agnes still lives in the New England house they once shared as graduate students, now working as a professor at her alma mater. A ‘bad thing’ happened to Agnes a few years ago and, since then, despite her best efforts, life hasn’t gotten back on track.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Eva Victor
12. Eddington
Year: 2025 | Rating: 6.6/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: comedy, drama, western
In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Ari Aster
13. 11.22.63
Year: 2016 | Rating: 8/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: drama, mystery, romance, sci-fi, thriller
An English teacher travels back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination, but discovers he is attached to the life he has made in a bygone era.
Available on: Netflix, Max
Directed by: James Strong, Frederick E.O. Toye, John David Coles, James Franco, James Kent
14. Task
Year: 2025 | Rating: 8/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: crime, drama
In the working-class suburbs of Philadelphia, an FBI agent heads a task force assembled to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspecting family man.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Jeremiah Zagar, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
15. Mad Men
Year: 2007 | Rating: 8.7/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: drama
Set in 1960-1970 New York, this sexy, stylized and provocative drama follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising.
Available on: AMC+, Max
Directed by: Phil Abraham, Michael Uppendahl, Jennifer Getzinger, Matthew Weiner, Scott Hornbacher
16. Industry
Year: 2020 | Rating: 7.5/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: drama
In the cutthroat world of international finance, a group of young graduates compete for a limited set of permanent positions at a top investment bank in London. The boundaries between colleague, friend, lover, and enemy soon blur as they immerse themselves in a company culture defined as much by sex, drugs and ego as it is by deals and dividends.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Isabella Eklöf, Ed Lilly, Tinge, Mickey Down, Konrad Kay
17. Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Year: 2025 | Rating: 7.3/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: documentary, short, family
On March 13, 2022, filmmaker Brent Renaud was killed by Russian soldiers, the first American journalist to die while reporting on the war in Ukraine. His younger brother and collaborator, Craig Renaud, recovered Brent’s body and his final recordings from Ukraine and brought them back to their childhood home in Arkansas. As Brent’s journey to his final resting place unfolds, the film chronicles the years he and his brother spent covering some of the world’s most dangerous conflicts.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud
18. Primal
Year: 2019 | Rating: 8.6/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: animation, action, adventure, drama, fantasy, horror
A caveman forms a bond with a dinosaur as they struggle to survive in a hostile world.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Genndy Tartakovsky
19. Greenland
Year: 2020 | Rating: 6.4/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: action, thriller
John Garrity, his estranged wife and their young son embark on a perilous journey to find sanctuary as a planet-killing comet hurtles toward Earth. Amid terrifying accounts of cities getting levelled, the Garritys experience the best and worst in humanity. As the countdown to the global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh
20. IT: Welcome to Derry
Year: 2025 | Rating: 8/10 | Type: Movie
Genres: fantasy, horror
In 1962, a couple with their son move to Derry, Maine just as a young boy disappears. With their arrival, very bad things begin to happen in the town.
Available on: Max
Directed by: Andrew Bernstein, Andy Muschietti, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour
Wrapping Up
From hard-hitting dramas and adrenaline-fueled action to spine-tingling horror, music specials and tense thrillers, this roundup gives you a clear sense of what to watch on max so you can choose by mood or critical acclaim. Each listing includes a quick quality note and reason to watch, letting you compare titles like Sinners (2025), Weapons (2025) and The Smashing Machine (2025) at a glance. We update this list regularly with fresh releases and rotating highlights, so bookmark it, share with friends, and check back for new recommendations. Ready to explore more? Scroll the full list below and check streaming availability on your device — we'll keep these picks current.
Last updated: January 25, 2026
Related topics: what to watch on max