time travel movie on hbo max

Follow Polygon online:

• Follow Polygon on Facebook
• Follow Polygon on Youtube
• Follow Polygon on Instagram

Site search

• Manor Lords
• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• FF7 Rebirth
• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• GTA 5 cheats
• PlayStation
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Magic: The Gathering
• Board Games
• All Tabletop
• All Entertainment
• What to Watch
• What to Play
• Buyer’s Guides
• Really Bad Chess
• All Puzzles

Filed under:

11 of the best time travel movies to watch on streaming

From hard sci-fi to buds in hot tubs

If you buy something from a Polygon link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement .

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: 11 of the best time travel movies to watch on streaming

Thirty years after their last time travel adventure, Bill and Ted are back in their most excellent journey yet. Bill and Ted Face the Music , starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in their iconic slacker-metalhead roles, is out in theaters and on VOD now.

As a genre, time-travel movies can encompass a lot of different styles. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a silly, fluffy time-jumping adventure, which stands in stark juxtaposition to the hard sci-fi 12 Monkeys or the melancholy, contemplative About Time . What they all have in common is time travel as a major plot point, whether the creators do their best to explain the science or just kind of hand wave. (A time travel movie is different from a time loop movie, though, which is why you won’t find Groundhog Day , Happy Death Day , or Palm Springs — all excellent films — on this list.)

Below, we’ve rounded up 11 of our favorite time travel narratives you can watch on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max right now. Party on, dudes.

If you can stomach a narrative about a viral pandemic knocking out most of humanity, Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys is a compelling adaptation of Chris Marker’s legendary short film, La Jetée (which you can stream on Criterion Channel ). The feature remake is mostly notable for its incredible performances — Bruce Willis! Christopher Plummer! An Oscar nomination for Brad Pitt! Willis stars as James Cole, one of the pandemic’s survivors, who’s sent back to 1996 to track down the origins of virus. He overshoots and ends up in 1990, where he’s involuntarily committed to a mental institution. Pitt plays his fellow inmate who, Cole discovers back in the future, may or may not be responsible for the virus.

As far as time travel movies go, 12 Monkeys is firmly in the grim, twist-y, hard sci-fi camp. If that’s your thing, it’s an excellent watch.

12 Monkeys is streaming on HBO Max .

All of the marketing around About Time made it seem like a fun, fluffy rom-com in which Domhnall Gleeson uses his magical time traveling abilities to woo Rachel McAdams. But master of the British rom-com, Richard Curtis ( Love Actually , Bridget Jones’ Diary , Knotting Hill , Four Weddings and a Funeral ), makes About Time a lot deeper. I won’t spoil the twist that throws a wrench into the time travel mechanics, but I’ll just say that it’s more about the anxieties of parenthood than getting a fairy tale ending.

About Time is streaming on Netflix .

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame satisfyingly wraps up its core characters arcs and made room for the next chapter while also balancing humor, emotional weight, and huge choreographed set pieces. It also features a surprisingly well executed time travel storyline! If you haven’t seen this one since last summer, dive back into its mind-bending middle act.

Avengers: Endgame is streaming on Disney Plus .

Back to the Future trilogy

The story of Marty McFly’s (Michael J. Fox) travels through time in a souped-up DeLorean, aided by his friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), is a classic for good reason. The first movie, in which Marty has to make sure his parents fall in love lest he be erased from existence, is always a hit, but it’s especially fun to revisit Back to the Future Part II just to see what people in 1989 thought 2015 would look like.

Back to the Future , Back to the Future Part II, and Back to the Future Part III are streaming on Netflix .

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was one of those movies that, if you grew up in the ’90s or early 2000s, you’d catch in bits and pieces because it aired constantly on cable. The format was perfect for that kind of disjointed viewing, since it mostly consists of silly scenes in which Bill and Ted get into historical hijinks strung together to form a tiny thread of narrative. But what Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure lacks in plot, it makes up for in heart. The core ethos of Bill and Ted is “Be excellent to each other,” a philosophy that the boys consistently embody. It’s just nice, okay ?

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is streaming on Starz .

Hot Tub Time Machine

If you’re the type of person who hears a title like Hot Tub Time Machine and thinks, “Ugh, that sounds stupid,” Hot Tub Time Machine is probably not for you. But if you’re the type of person who hears a title like Hot Tub Time Machine and thinks, “Hell yeah, that sounds stupid,” you’re gonna have a good time.

Hot Tub Time Machine is streaming on Hulu with Live TV .

If you only know Rian Johnson from Star Wars: The Last Jedi and/or Knives Out , it’s worth going back through his filmography before he helmed one of the biggest franchises in the world. Looper , his last film before The Last Jedi, stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as two different versions of the same man, a time-traveling assassin, known as a “looper,” named Joe. It’s both a compelling time travel narrative and a slick action movie with neat visual effects. In the wise words of Elijah Wood, long live Rian Johnson .

Looper is streaming on FuboTV .

Safety Not Guaranteed

Before he helmed the Jurassic World franchise, gave us the fascinating flop that is The Book of Henry , and was booted from Star Wars: Episode 9, Colin Trevorrow directed Safety Not Guaranteed. The indie comedy stars Mark Duplass as Kenneth, a paranoid, lonely guy who places a classified ad looking for a partner to join him on a time travel mission. He finds that partner in Darius (Aubrey Plaza) who, unbeknownst to him, is a newspaper intern working on a story about him. Duplass excels at playing these kind of weirdos who live on the border between sad and creepy, and it’s an energy that works well with Plaza’s disaffected schtick. Whether or not Kenneth actually built a working time machine is simultaneously the key to the story and also not really the point, and Trevorrow leaves us hanging until the very end.

Safety Not Guaranteed is streaming on Netflix .

Years before directing his breakout English-language feature Colossal with Anne Hathaway, Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo made this thriller about a man who uses a short-span time travel device to discover the identity of a masked attacker. Small-scale and twisty, Timecrimes revels in disorientation and has the dark comedic edge that has come to devine Vigalondo’s films. A whodunnit for the seasoned time-travel movie-watcher.

Timecrimes is streaming for free on Tubi TV with ads.

Hulu/Disney Plus bundle

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Disney is offering a bundle combining its three streaming services — Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus — for $12.99/month.

• $13 at Disney Plus

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

Sign up for the newsletter Patch Notes

A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon

Just one more thing!

Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

Anyone but You on Netflix, Monkey Man, and every new movie to watch at home this weekend

Our favorite starter deck for Disney Lorcana is available for its lowest price ever

Why can’t I build a plot in Manor Lords?

How do marketplaces work in Manor Lords?

Disney Lorcana introduces the rest of Encanto’s Madrigal family

What you need to know about biomes in Pokémon Go

Things you buy through our links may earn  Vox Media  a commission.

The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

It must say something, surely, about humans, how often time-travel movies are about returning to the past rather than jumping to the future. As Mark Duplass’s forlorn character says in Safety Not Guaranteed , “The mission has to do with regret.” With all the potential to explore the unknown world of the future, so often when our minds conspire to bend the rules of time it’s instead to rehash the old. It’s compelling to watch a character in a movie do what we cannot — right past wrongs or uncover the reason for or meaning behind the events in their lives, whether they be emotionally catastrophic or merely geopolitically motivated.

So absent is the future from the canon, in fact, that when it is involved, typically future dwellers are leaving their own time to come back to the present. Back to the Future Part II aside, it seems as if there’s something about going forward in time that just doesn’t track for humans. (Of course, you could argue that this is because the present-day concept of bidirectional time travel would infinitely multiply or change beyond recognition any future that may occur, but that’s a knot for another article.)

In any case, the time-travel stories deemed worthy of Hollywood budgets aren’t always straightforward in their mechanics. Some films on this list barely qualify as time-travel movies at all; others could hardly qualify as anything else. There are movies about trips through time but also ones about the bending and fracturing and muddying thereof; then there are those about, as Andy Samberg aptly puts it in Palm Springs , “one of those infinite time-loop situations you might have heard about.” There’s even a movie in which we get only 13 seconds’ worth of time travel, when it functions more like a joke whose punch line hits at the film’s climax.

What these films all do have in common is a fascination with changing the way time works. That being said, the list leaves out movies in larger, more extended franchises in which time meddling is a one-off dalliance thrown into a sequel with little by way of foreshadowing: think Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , Avengers: Endgame , and Men in Black III . (It also leaves off perhaps the Ur-time-travel movie, Primer , and the quite good Midnight in Paris because their directors don’t deserve the column inches.) We’re looking at self-contained stories using time mechanics from the start, with preference given to those that involve themselves more intently with the ins and outs of time travel; that ask questions about time, aging, memory and so forth; and that try to succeed at it in new and interesting ways. So let’s get to it.

25. Galaxy Quest (1999)

Does Galaxy Quest really count as a time-travel movie? Some compelling reasons argue that it doesn’t: Time travel isn’t a major factor in the plot, and the time traveling that does occur is, yes, only a 13-second jump. But its use of time travel is meaningful insofar as the movie itself is a loving spoof of Star Trek , which makes use of time travel in three films ( one of which made this list ), not to mention dozens of episodes across its various TV iterations. Tacking on time travel as a deus ex machina for the actors in a Star Trek– like show pressed into service as an actual space crew by an endangered alien race is the exact right amount of ribbing in a movie that’s as on point as it is hilarious.

Galaxy Quest is available to rent on Amazon .

24. Happy Death Day (2017)

Pick away at the surface of a time-loop movie and you find a horror movie. Most of the entries on this list are covered in enough feel-good spin to land as comedies, but Happy Death Day stares the horror of the time-loop phenomenon right in the face. (It’s also quite funny.) Reliving the same day over and over is an unimaginably potent form of psychological torture, and adding murder to the equation does little to dull that edge. The film follows a college-age protagonist struggling to escape from a masked slasher hell-bent on killing her again and again while she tries to solve the mystery of how she got stuck in a time loop.

Happy Death Day is available to rent on Amazon .

23. Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Seriously, this may be the only good movie in which the film’s whole focus is using a time machine to travel into the future. The fact that it’s a sequel is telling — the characters already traveled into the past in the first movie , and the filmmakers decided to save “traveling even further into the past“ for the third film in the trilogy. Still, Back to the Future Part II is a fun time that makes great use of sight gags and references, recasting scenes from the first film in the distant future year of 2015 with all its hoverboards and self-lacing Nikes.

Back to the Future Part II is available to rent on Amazon .

22. See You Yesterday (2019)

It’s a dirty little secret of time-travel movies that they tend to be, well, pretty white. Tenet ’s Protagonist aside, if Hollywood’s sending someone through time, they’re almost certainly not a Black person, and for obvious reasons: Most of post-contact North American history is deeply unfriendly to people of color, and the problems a person running around out of time and place is going to encounter are deeply compounded if they’ll likely be the target of racist abuse or violence — which makes See You Yesterday all the more compelling. Produced by Spike Lee and featuring one of filmdom’s most famous time travelers in a cameo role, it follows a Black teenage science prodigy who uses a time machine to try to save her brother from being killed by a police officer.

See You Yesterday is streaming on Netflix .

21. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

No offense to the Back to the Future franchise, but time travel never looks more fun on film than it does in the first Bill & Ted movie. It’s a concept that feels distinctly of a different era, so pure is its zaniness, that it’s hard to imagine anyone concocting it today. The titular duo, Californian high-school students in the ’80s, travel through the past looking for historical figures in order to ace a history project, then bring them all back to the present. High jinks ensue! We get Genghis Khan in a sporting-goods store and Mozart on an electric keyboard. What more could you want?

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is streaming on HBO Max .

20. Source Code (2011)

Time-travel-film aficionados know this won’t be Jake Gyllenhaal’s only stop on this list, but no matter. Source Code finds him repeating the same eight minutes over and over as he struggles to find the culprit in a train bombing — with each replay ending in his own death by explosion. For some reason, a romantic subplot is shoehorned into this, along with a bunch of frankly unnecessary technical mumbo-jumbo, but the core idea is a compelling mix of the time-loop movie and the train whodunit that Gyllenhaal is a perfect fit for.

Source Code is available to rent on Amazon .

19. 12 Monkeys (1995)

Some sort of law of nature dictates that every genuinely good idea and/or piece of true art has to at some point be turned into a Hollywood movie. Thank God La Jetée was adapted into something that can stand on its own feet artistically. 12 Monkeys may not retain its source material’s black-and-white look or stripped-down, static-image presentation, but it is a rollicking good time nonetheless. That’s in no small part due to director Terry Gilliam getting the best out of Bruce Willis and a young Brad Pitt, and recasting World War III as a planet-decimating virus. Which, like at least one other movie on this list , “speaks to the present moment,” or whatever.

12 Monkeys is available to rent on Amazon .

18. Run Lola Run (1998)

Unlike almost all of the other films on this list, the terms time travel and time machine don’t show up anywhere in Run Lola Run . Rather, it’s a sort of de facto time-loop scenario in which the protagonist tries repeatedly to pay a ransom to save her boyfriend’s life. In fact, if not for a few key details, it could easily be characterized (and often has been) as an alternate-endings movie rather than a time-travel film. But the fact that Lola seems to be learning from her past attempts with each successive one suggests that she is, indeed, using knowledge gained from previous loops to bring a satisfactory end to this situation.

Run Lola Run is available to rent on Amazon .

17. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

One of the most striking things about Groundhog Day is the mutability and replicability of its core conceit. Perhaps the best case in point is Edge of Tomorrow , sometimes known as Live. Die. Repeat. after its original tagline. It’s the kind of physically grueling movie only an actor as genuinely unhinged as Tom Cruise could pull off. A noncombatant thrust into a war against invading aliens, Cruise’s character finds himself reliving day one of combat over and over, slowly but surely refining his techniques in order to survive the extraterrestrial onslaught. Like the central twosome in the much less violent Palm Springs , he winds up with a partner in (war) crime, teaming up with the similarly time-trapped Emily Blunt, and the explanation for the replay glitch here is actually pretty satisfying.

Edge of Tomorrow is streaming on Fubo TV .

16. Star Trek (2009)

If you could create some sort of an advanced stat to measure controversy generated per unit of interesting filmmaking decisions, J.J. Abrams would have to be near the top in terms of his ability to rig up movie drama from almost nothing. This is a guy whose filmography is like Godzilla rip-off, Spielberg homage, safe reboot of cherished IP, repeat. Star Trek may be his best film, though, a sure-footed reinvention of a dorky sci-fi franchise that made it, well, cool. Somehow, the beauty of Spock and Kirk’s bromance being woven through chance encounters with future selves kind of … works?

Star Trek is available to rent on Amazon .

15. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

There’s a relative dearth of time travel in animated film, which perhaps is a function simply of the fact that it’s less impressive to stage in a world that’s already unreal. If you can Looney Tunes your way through physics, what’s so special about grabbing the flow of time and tying it into a bow? Still, the original Girl Who Leapt Through Time deserves mention here. It’s a beautiful story that interlaces the complexity of time leaping with the intensity of teenage emotion and the thorny process of growing up where the opportunity to redo things leads, over time, to growth — a less shitty Groundhog Day , in a way.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is available to rent on Amazon .

14. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

She may not be the most famous, decorated, or emulated actress of her generation, but Aubrey Plaza is someone whose personality spoke to the irony-soaked 2010s in a way that simply could not be denied. Her character on Parks and Recreation , April Ludgate, was, by all accounts, created specifically to channel Plaza’s real-life personality to the screen, and she plays essentially the same character in Safety Not Guaranteed . Here, she’s a sarcastic intern at a magazine working on a story about a would-be time traveler and using her feminine wiles to slowly gain his trust. The chemistry between Plaza and Mark Duplass is probably the film’s high point; the subplot about the FBI feels like it was clipped out of a bad X-Files episode.

Safety Not Guaranteed is streaming on Tubi .

13. La Jetée (1962)

At only a 28-minute run time, La Jetée is arguably too short to merit inclusion on this list. However, what it lacks in content (and in, well, moving images; it’s almost exclusively a collection of static black-and-white shots set to voice-over), it more than makes up for in inventiveness and influence, and it would be a travesty to leave it out in favor of more recent by-the-book fare. Tracing the tale of a man held prisoner in post-WWIII Paris being used in time-travel experiments as his captors seek to remedy the postapocalyptic state of the world, he’s sent into both the future and the past and ends up unraveling a lifelong personal mystery while he’s at it.

La Jetée is streaming on the Criterion Channel .

12. Planet of the Apes (1968)

Unlike the worse but more straightforwardly time-traveling Tim Burton remake, the relationship between the original Planet of the Apes and time travel is inexact — technically, the astronaut crew that lands on the titular planet does travel forward 2,000 years, but it’s not done via a time machine. The travel isn’t instantaneous: It literally does take them 2,000 years to get there; they’re just unconscious and on life support. Still, the way the film’s ending handles the iconic reveal is exactly in line with the best of the time-travel canon, the telescoping, mise en abyme feeling of the world shifting in front of your very eyes without your moving an inch.

Planet of the Apes is available to rent on Amazon .

11. Groundhog Day (1993)

The famous Bill Murray vehicle essentially invented the infinite-time-loop genre (and it’s hardly a movie that succeeds on the strength of its concept alone), but the idea at its core is so steeped in the casual misogyny of late-’80s and early-’90s cinema that it’s hard to watch today without cringing. Murray’s character employing what amounts to PUA-style techniques over and over and over in a desperate bid to fuck his hapless co-worker just doesn’t hit the way it did back then. If the story arc didn’t present a guy detoxifying himself of the worst aspects of masculinity in order to be worthy of a woman’s love as the primary way for a 20th-century white man to achieve full personhood, this would be much higher on the list.

Groundhog Day is streaming on Starz .

10. Predestination (2014)

This is probably the most complicated film on the list. Following a “temporal agent” (played by Ethan Hawke) who’s trying to prevent a bombing in 1970s New York, it’s based on a Robert A. Heinlein short story and features Shiv Roy herself, Sarah Snook, in a star-making turn as someone with a complicated backstory and a secret. Like the best sci-fi, the film’s premise raises all kinds of fascinating questions about the titular concept and throws in some interesting musings on sex, gender, and the self in the process.

Predestination is streaming on Tubi .

9. Looper (2012)

Wes Anderson gets a lot of flak for his overwrought twee visuals, but Rian Johnson has a knack for making movies that feel and function like dioramas even if they don’t look it. Narratively speaking, everything here is constructed just so — and there’s a certain beauty in that — but who ever had a profound experience of art by looking at a diorama? Looper was probably Johnson’s least precious pre– Star Wars film, which is nice because the temptation to drastically overmaneuver the mechanics of a time-travel story can lead to disaster. The tech used to Bruce Willis–ify Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s face is distracting, and the third act’s retreat from the postapocalyptic city of the future to the postapocalyptic corn farm of the future is a brave choice that the film struggles to land. Still, Johnson’s vision of a future in which organized crime runs time travel is compelling and well worth a watch.

Looper is streaming on Netflix .

8. Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko is a bit of a genre mash-up. Part high-school movie, part sci-fi flick, part bleak meditation on the soullessness of late-’80s America, it’s nevertheless a weirdly successful piece of filmmaking that makes fantastic use of a young Jake Gyllenhaal, a great supporting cast (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone, and Patrick Swayze among others), and an absolutely iconic haunting cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World.” Watching high schoolers navigate parallel universes, wormholes, and time travel is a dicey proposition, but director Richard Kelly makes it work, somehow.

Donnie Darko is streaming on HBO Max .

7. Back to the Future (1984)

While it’s clearly superior to the sequel (and leagues ahead of the final film in the trilogy), the original Back to the Future is a bit of a mess (John Mulaney was right , to be honest). Its racial and gender politics are cringey, and the incest subplot is weird (“It’s your cousin Marvin. Marvin Pornhub . You know that new plot element you’ve been looking for?”), but there’s a clear interest in time travel beyond its shimmering surface: the very real addressing of the “grandfather problem” in time travel via the slow disappearance of Marty from his family photo, the accidental invention of rock music, and a genuine curiosity about the nuts-and-bolts mechanics of time machines. Ahh, what the hell. It’s a romp.

Back to the Future is available to rent on Amazon .

6. Palm Springs (2020)

No offense to Gen-Xers and boomers, but the best time-loop movie of all time is Palm Springs . The film isn’t without its missteps, but it’s much more curious about life than Groundhog Day was through the eyes of Murray’s misanthrope. Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg‘s characters, stuck in the loop together, are a perfect comedic match, and their shared humanity makes for a beautiful arc. The film raises questions about what’s worth doing in life when nothing lasts and how to stay sane when every day is the same. Of course, as a sort of polar opposite of Tenet , it benefited from coming out during the pandemic by speaking, as it does, to the experience of lockdown.

Palm Springs is streaming on Hulu .

5. Tenet (2020)

Interstellar wasn’t enough for Chris Nolan, apparently. Tenet ’s legacy may end up being little more than that of the COVID action movie no one saw — a bloated thriller that Nolan fought to get into theaters and bar from home viewing reportedly to swell the size of his own pockets. It really did suffer from bad timing, though, because this is genuinely a quintessential big-screen popcorn movie whose absurdity is all the more palatable when it’s given the audiovisual bombast it deserves. Ambitious in scope as it traces a war on the past by the future (yes, you read that right), Tenet is as enamored of action tropes as it is in bucking them, and its investment in rendering visible the brain-bendingly knotty mechanics of moving through time is laudable, even when the movie itself remains opaque — as impenetrable as the future, as hazy as the past.

Tenet is streaming on HBO Max .

4. The Terminator (1984)

A partner to Blade Runner in the mid-’80s invention of sci-fi noir, The Terminator is a stunning film in many ways, despite the third act’s now-iffy visual effects. While it’s not James Cameron’s debut, and it would go on to be bested by its sequel , it functions as an incredible showcase for an emerging young director who would exclusively make big stories for the rest of his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast as the relentless, unemotional killer cyborg sent back from the future to terminate the mother of the eventual resistance leader, and the film’s romantic subplot has just the perfect amount of time-travel-induced cheesiness for it to work.

The Terminator is streaming on Amazon Prime Video .

3. Interstellar (2014)

It’s not inaccurate to say Christopher Nolan is a director who’s more interested in scale and scope than in expressing the minutiae of the human experience in its purest form. But in Interstellar, a Nolan movie in its titular ambitions, there’s a core element of time travel wrought not as sci-fi fireworks but as a paean to the sheer force and will of the power of love. It both does and doesn’t work, depending on your capacity for cheese in space, but even besides that, Nolan’s use of time as story arc — the way Miller’s planet functions, in particular — is conceptually masterful in the best kind of time-travel-movie way.

Interstellar is streaming on Paramount+ .

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Whereas the franchise’s first movie spends more time on the question of time travel, in the second it takes a bit of a back seat to the action itself. It’s hard to fault director James Cameron for this decision; T2 remains one of the best action movies of the ’90s and — along with Jurassic Park and The Matrix — one of the decade’s best when for special effects. The groundbreaking T-1000 would honestly be enough to get this movie on the list; a tween John Connor grappling with questions of predestination and the fact that he is vicariously responsible for his own conception feel almost like icing on the time-travel cake. Much as in 12 Monkeys , time travel here is mistaken for delusion, as valiant Sarah Connor, in a Cassandra-esque nightmare, has to battle against the future only she knows is coming. Of course, Cassandra never had access to any firepower stored in underground desert arsenals.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is streaming on Netflix .

1. Arrival (2016)

It’s fair to wonder whether Arrival really is, in fact, a time-travel movie. The Ted Chiang short story it’s based on isn’t about time travel per se; rather, it’s an exploration of alternate forms of temporal understanding. The linguist protagonist, played by Amy Adams, doesn’t travel through time so much as come to experience it differently. Still, the plot ends up hinging on foreknowledge that she is granted not via visions but by actually experiencing her future simultaneously with her present and past. For our purposes, though, that’s time fuckery enough to merit inclusion, and boy howdy does the film deliver in overall quality. Partly, that’s simply a question of the source material. Chiang is arguably the most talented (and possibly the most decorated) American sci-fi writer of his generation. But the source story is not especially Hollywood friendly, and director Denis Villeneuve has adopted it lovingly, borrowing a plot device from another of Chiang’s stories, the more straightforwardly time-travel-based “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” in order to add some third-act blockbuster flavor. The result is a beautiful meditation on love, choice, and courage that packs art-film ethos into a genuine sci-fi blockbuster.

Arrival is streaming on Hulu and Paramount+ .

• vulture homepage lede
• timey-wimey
• vulture lists
• time travel
• vulture picks

Most Viewed Stories

• Cinematrix No. 45: April 26, 2024
• Walton Goggins Elevates It
• The Man Who Gossiped Too Much  
• The Royals Smeared Meghan Markle’s Jam
• Sophia Bush Makes Relationship With Ashlyn Harris Cover-Story Official
• American Horror Story: Delicate Recap: I’m the Auteur, Bitch
• Summer House Recap: Bursting Balloons

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel

  TV-14 | epic quests | 1 HR 23 MIN | 2010

Three social misfits are drawn into a wild time-travel adventure via the bathroom of their favorite local pub.

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Balance transfer cards
• Cash back cards
• Rewards cards
• Travel cards
• Online checking
• High-yield savings
• Money market
• Home equity loan
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Options pit
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via HBO Max

Ever wondered what would happen if you stumbled into a time travel conundrum over pints with your mates? That’s the quirky premise of the 2009 British sci-fi comedy Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel.

Here’s how you can watch and stream Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel via streaming services such as HBO Max.

Is Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel available to watch via streaming?

Yes, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel is available to watch via streaming on HBO Max.

The film follows Ray and Pete, two friends whose passion for science fiction might just land them on a real-life adventure. Along with their more skeptical buddy Toby, they encounter a mysterious woman named Cassie at their local pub. Cassie, it turns out, is from the future, and she throws their world into chaos by revealing a hidden truth: time travel exists, and it’s way messier than they imagined.

Instead of futuristic spaceships and dystopian futures, the film explores the mind-bending paradoxes of time travel, leaving you chuckling and pondering the consequences of messing with the past.

Helmed by Gareth Carrivick, the main cast of the movie includes Chris O’Dowd as Ray, Dean Lennox Kelly as Pete, Marc Wootton as Toby, and Anna Faris as Cassie.

Watch Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel streaming via HBO Max

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel i s available to watch on HBO Max. HBO Max is a streaming platform offering a vast library of TV shows, movies, and exclusive content. Backed by the powerhouse Warner Bros., it’s your one-stop shop for everything from blockbuster hits to binge-worthy series.

You can watch via Max, formerly known as HBO Max, by following these steps:

Go to HBOMax.com/subscribe

Click ‘Sign Up Now’

Choose your plan:

$9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (with ads)

$15.99 per month or $149.99 per year (ad-free)

$19.99 per month or $199.99 per year (ultimate ad-free)

Enter your personal information and password

Select ‘Create Account’

Max With Ads provides the service’s streaming library at a Full HD resolution, allowing users to stream on up to two supported devices at once. Max Ad-Free removes the service’s commercials and allows streaming on two devices at once in Full HD. It also allows for 30 downloads at a time to allow users to watch content offline. On the other hand, Max Ultimate Ad-Free allows users to stream on four devices at once in a 4K Ultra HD resolution and provides Dolby Atmos audio and 100 downloads.

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel synopsis is as follows:

“Follows three social outcasts — two geeks and a cynic — as they attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum in the middle of a British pub. Faris plays a girl from the future who sets the adventure in motion.”

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

How Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Forgets Its Roots

Why can’t Hollywood make a proper sequel to Ghostbusters? That was the only running through my brain following Frozen Empire…

Movies Jeff Ames 11 hours ago

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3 Adds 3 New Characters

Netflix has rounded out the cast for the upcoming third season of The Lincoln Lawyer. According to Deadline, Jon Tenney…

TV Ryan Louis Mantilla 12 hours ago

The Spiderwick Chronicles Trailer Previews Roku’s Coming-Of-Age Fantasy Series

The Roku Channel has shared the official Spiderwick Chronicles trailer for its upcoming series adaptation of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly…

TV Maggie Dela Paz 12 hours ago

The Night Agent Season 2 Reveals 3 Guest Stars

Netflix has added three guest stars for the upcoming second season of The Night Agent, joining returning series leads including…

The post Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via HBO Max appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More .

Recommended Stories

What is mortgage principal, and how do i pay it off.

Mortgage principal is the amount you owe on the money you borrowed from the lender, not including interest. Learn how mortgage principal affects your payments.

'Vampire facials' likely infected 3 women with HIV. Here's what health experts want you to know about these beauty treatments — and how to stay safe.

Vampire facials themselves may not be dangerous, but unsafe practices at unlicensed spas can lead to infections, experts say.

NFL Draft: Adonai Mitchell says he's 'kind of pissed' after slide to Colts in second round

Many people had the Texas WR as a first-round prospect.

Report: Amazon and NBA reach agreement on broadcast deal

Amazon Prime Video and the NBA are reportedly nearing an agreement that would make the streaming and retail giant a major platform for game telecasts.

Apple has reportedly resumed talks with OpenAI to build a chatbot for the iPhone

Apple has resumed talks with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, to build an AI-powered chatbot into the iPhone, according to a new report.

Toronto greets Shohei Ohtani with loud boos after free agency snafu, Ohtani responds with HR

Remember that day when everyone thought Ohtani was on a jet from Anaheim to Toronto? Blue Jays fans certainly do.

NFL Draft: Jim Harbaugh's Chargers get aggressive, trade up to take WR Ladd McConkey

Justin Herbert has a new receiver to work with.

NFL Draft: Bills start the 2nd round by finally taking a receiver, Keon Coleman

The Bills found a new target for Josh Allen.

How Rubrik’s IPO paid off big for Greylock VC Asheem Chandna

When Asheem Chandna drove up to Rubrik's office in Palo Alto on a Friday night in early 2015, he was looking forward to learning what the young company that had yet to build its product would show him. The Greylock partner wasn't disappointed. The company's CEO, Bipul Sinha, drew Rubrik's plan to revamp the data management and recovery market on a whiteboard.

This iconic, universally flattering Clinique lipstick sells out fast — grab it while it's a rare 20% off

It's been a staple since the 1980s thanks to its moisturizing formula and chameleon-like hue.

• Entertainment
• HBO’s <em>The Time Traveler’s Wife</em> Is a Multiverse of Badness

HBO’s The Time Traveler’s Wife Is a Multiverse of Badness

O ne day at work, a 28-year-old librarian meets the 20-year-old woman who will become his wife. The thing is, she already knows him—knows that they will fall in love, marry, spend many happy years together—because he is a time traveler. Ever since she was a little girl, an older version of the man has been periodically journeying back through the decades to spend time with her. So she already adores him. And now, he’s younger and more attractive than she’s ever known him to be. Unfortunately, because he’s just now meeting her, he has yet to experience the true love that eased his various youthful traumas and is still a total mess of a human being.

This is the premise of HBO’s latest epic drama, The Time Traveler’s Wife . If you find it extremely confusing as described above, that’s because it is indeed extremely confusing. If, however, the summary makes even a lick of sense to you, chances are you’ve already encountered the story of Clare and her time-traveling soulmate Henry, in the form of the megahit 2003 novel by Audrey Niffenegger or the major motion picture starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, from 2009. The plot has always been absurd. But after nearly two decades and one widely seen, remarkably bad adaptation, it has also aged poorly and grown redundant. It would, at this point, take a truly inspired interpretation to make a Time Traveler’s Wife series work. Sadly, this ain’t it.

It’s not hard to see why this particular adaptation, premiering May 15, might have sounded like a good idea. The show is helmed by Steven Moffat , who’s been a successful steward of time-travel series Doctor Who and, with Sherlock , Arthur Conan Doyle ’s iconic detective. Aspects of Niffenegger’s narrative have become easier for audiences to wrap their minds around. Multiverses , metaverses , time travel , and sundry other scientifically questionable riffs on quantum mechanics are currently trending in Hollywood. Multiple timelines are now practically a requirement for TV dramas. Rose Leslie , a.k.a. Game of Thrones fan favorite Ygritte, plays the feisty Clare. Casting Divergent alum Theo James as Henry might draw in some viewers who were too young for The Time Traveler’s Wife in the aughts. Plus, you can show butts on HBO—which helps when one of your leads is a heartthrob who hurtles through time naked.

Many of those on-paper pros have, in practice, turned out to be cons. Yes, non-chronological storytelling is hot right now. Shows like Shining Girls , Russian Doll , and Undone (to name three that have kicked off new seasons in the past month alone) are doing sophisticated, imaginative things with time travel. But The Time Traveler’s Wife is not that. For newcomers to the Niffeneggerverse, the conceit is that due to a vague, incurable “genetic defect,” Henry spontaneously vanishes from the present and re-materializes at some point in the past. Or, much less frequently, the future. The rules of his condition seem designed to offer maximum authorial flexibility. How much significance is there to the timing of when Henry travels and where he ends up? Some, except for when there’s none. How often does he travel? Hard to say. Does he ever travel outside his own lifetime? Occasionally. Would a real person with such an affliction manage to escape getting found out and becoming a public spectacle? No way. Do matters of free will and fatalism ever get addressed in a satisfying way? Oh, absolutely not. Do Mobius-strip, chicken-vs.-egg type impossibilities emerge around the fact that younger Clare met older Henry 14 years before 28-year-old Henry met 20-year-old Clare? So many!

These aren’t the only reasons to feel ambivalent about a relationship that revolves around the supposedly romantic idea that he becomes her treasured confidant when she’s still a kid, while her love gives him something to live for as a nihilistic young adult whose habit of showing up at random places and times in his birthday suit has led him to a lifetime of injuries, arrests and sundry criminal behavior in the name of survival. But a man over 30 essentially raising his future wife, from age 6, to be his perfect partner has even more uncomfortable connotations now than it would have in 2003. The show addresses this in only the most hilariously cursory way: the term “ grooming ” surfaces and is left to hang in the air, an item checked off the update to-do list.

The sense that Henry and Clare’s romance might not be something to root for only exacerbates the series’ many tonal inconsistencies. This Time Traveler’s Wife often dabbles in self-aware humor—maybe to preempt nitpicking of the time-travel mechanics, and maybe in hopes of avoiding the tear-jerking excesses of the movie. But the transitions between dark drama and light comedy, sci-fi and romance, wistfulness and raunch can play more like non sequiturs. It’s silly, if never exactly what I’d call funny, that there are sometimes dozens of different-aged Henrys beaming in to the same significant moment in time. Are we supposed to laugh or cry, though, during the scene where they all converge on the most tragic event of his childhood?

The show lacks momentum, partially because its neglect to establish a fixed, forward-moving “present” creates the sense of drifting unmoored through the decades. If you put aside the grooming issue, there’s just not much that’s distinctive about the characters; Clare is brassy, Henry brooding. Both leads do a fine job on their own (though Leslie strains to convey the gravitas of older age in scenes from Clare’s gray-haired years), and both represent an improvement over McAdams and Bana, who came off as even more generic. Unfortunately, though, they don’t generate much of a spark together. If any one element could have made a decent show based on such a ludicrous premise—one unfurled largely through pretentious voiceovers and predictable twists—it would have been the chemistry between the two actors.

In the absence of even that kernel of enjoyment, all The Time Traveler’s Wife has to offer is an extended, painfully literal allegory for the bromide that true love transcends time. Maybe it’s fitting that this cliché predated the birth of any viewer by centuries and will in all likelihood survive us, too. But I’m still too lost in the whole love-inception boondoggle to say for sure.

More Must-Reads From TIME

• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
• Coco Gauff Is Playing for Herself Now
• Scenes From Pro-Palestinian Encampments Across U.S. Universities
• 6 Compliments That Land Every Time
• If You're Dating Right Now , You're Brave: Column
• The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet
• Fallout Is a Brilliant Model for the Future of Video Game Adaptations
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

The 20 Best Time Travel Movies to Stream Right Now (That Aren’t ‘Back to the Future’)

Ask anyone about the best time travel movies of all time and, nine times out of ten, they’ll instantly mention the 1985 classic, Back the Future . And with good reason. Considered one of the best films ever made, this sci-fi flick paved the way for countless other time travel films that followed. But as much as we do enjoy following Marty McFly’s adventures with Doc, there are other great time travel flicks that deserve our attention, from Somewhere in Time to The Butterfly Effect .

Whether you’re looking for new titles that explore different time travel theories or you’re just in the mood for a good fantasy, here are 20 other stellar time travel films you can stream right now.

This Fantasy Adventure Series Quickly Jumped to the #1 Spot on Netflix

1. ‘tenet’ (2020)

John David Washington stars as a skilled CIA agent who can manipulate time in this fast-paced sci-fi thriller. Throughout the film, we follow the agent as he attempts to protect the world from future threats that want to destroy it. The film was directed by Christopher Nolan, best known for Memento and Inception , so prepare to be wowed.

2. ‘déjà Vu’ (2006)

As if we needed any more proof that talent runs in the Washington family, Denzel Washington gives a noteworthy performance in this action film, which follows an ATF agent who travels back in time to stop a domestic terrorist attack and save the woman he loves. Sit back and prepare to be amazed, thanks in no small part to other stellar performances from Paula Patton, Val Kilmer, Erika Alexander and Elle Fanning.

3. ‘will You Be There?’ (2016)

This South Korean fantasy revolves around a surgeon who doesn't have much time left to live because of his deteriorating health. His dying wish? To be able to see his true love, who passed away 30 years ago. Fortunately for him, he receives 10 pills that allows him to travel back in time.

4. ‘24’ (2016)

When Sethuraman (Suriya), a brilliant scientist, invents a watch that allows people to time travel, his evil twin brother wastes no time in trying to get his hands on it. When it falls into the hands of Sethuraman’s son, Mani (Suriya), he has no choice but to go up against his devious uncle. Expect a whole lot of action sequences (and a few musical numbers too!).

5. ‘interstellar’ (2014)

To be fair, this one feels more like a sci-fi space movie, but it does have some time travel elements and viewers will be blown away by the thrilling scenes and thought-provoking plot. Set in the year 2067, where humanity is struggling to survive, Interstellar tells the story of a group of volunteers who travel through a wormhole near Saturn, hoping to find a safer world in a distant galaxy. The star-studded cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon.

6. ‘12 Monkeys’ (1995)

Nearly four decades after a deadly virus gets released, destroying nearly all of humankind, James Cole (Bruce Willis), a criminal from the future, is chosen to travel back in time and help scientists create a cure. Inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film, La Jetée , the movie also stars Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt and Christopher Plummer.

7. ‘your Name’ (2016)

Yes, anime time travel films are definitely worth your while if you're really into this concept. Your Name (also called Kimi no na wa ) is about two teenagers in Japan who discover that they're connected to one another in the most bizarre way. We won’t spoil it by giving too many details away, but if you need more reason to watch: It currently holds a perfect five-star rating from more that 15,000 viewers on Amazon Prime.

8. 'donnie Darko’ (2001)

Fair warning, you'll probably never look at rabbits the same way after you see this. The cult classic follows a troubled, sleepwalking teenager who barely escapes a jet engine crashing into his room. But after the accident, he has several visions of a creepy, giant rabbit who claims to be from the future and reveals that the world will end soon.

9. ‘the Call’ (2020)

Psychological thriller meets time travel in this haunting South Korean film, which centers on two women from completely different time periods who connect through a single phone call.

10. ‘41’ (2012)

In this remixed version of The Butterfly Effect , a man stumbles upon a hole in the ground that takes him back to the previous day. Not many are familiar with this low-budget indie film, but it’s a fun watch for anyone who genuinely enjoys exploring time travel theories.

11. ‘mirage’ (2018)

In this two-hour feature, Vera Roy (Adriana Ugarte) manages to save the life of a boy 25 years in the past, but she winds up losing her daughter in the process. Can she get her child back?

12. ‘somewhere In Time’ (1980)

It's smart, it's charming and it's required viewing for literally anyone who enjoys a passionate romance. Christopher Reeve plays Richard Collier, a writer who’s so smitten by a vintage photo that he travels back in time (through self-hypnosis!) to meet the woman in it. Unfortunately for him, striking up a romance isn’t as easy with her manager around.

13. ‘don't Let Go’ (2019)

OK, so this is technically more of a murder mystery, but it weaves in the time travel concept so well. Selma star David Oyelowo plays Detective Jack Radcliff, who's stunned to receive a call from his murdered niece, Ashley (Storm Reid). Will this mysterious new connection help him figure out who murdered her?

14. ‘timecrimes’ (2007)

A testament to how messy and complicated time travel can be, Timecrimes follows a middle-aged man named Héctor (Karra Elejalde), who accidentally travels back an hour in time while trying to escape an attacker.

15. ‘about Time’ (2013)

When Tim discovers that the men in his family share a special gift—the ability to time travel— he decides to use the ability to his advantage by going back in time and getting the girl of his dreams. This comedy will have you cackling all the way through.

16. ‘the Infinite Man’ (2014)

Josh McConville is Dean, a clever scientist who tries to relive a romantic weekend with his girlfriend, Lana (Hannah Marshall). When Lana's ex-boyfriend shows up and ruins the mood, Dean attempts to fix this by going back in time, but things don’t go according to plan...

17. ‘the Butterfly Effect’ (2004)

The Butterfly Effect brilliantly explores the concept where the smallest change can trigger a series of events and lead to much bigger consequences. Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher), who experienced a number of blackouts throughout his childhood, realizes that he can travel back in time by revisiting those same moments. Naturally, he tries to fix everything that went wrong, but this plan backfires.

18. ‘the Girl Who Leapt Through Time’ (2006)

Inspired by Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel of the same name, the film follows a high school girl who uses her newfound ability to time travel for her own gain. But when she sees the negative impact that this has on those around her, she's determined to make things right. Not only is it filled with lovable characters, but it also tackles themes like bullying, friendship and self-awareness.

19. ‘primer’ (2004)

Although this film was made on a small budget (just $7,000), Primer is one of the smartest and most thought-provoking time travel films you’ll ever see. Two engineers, Aaron (Shane Carruth) and Abe (David Sullivan), accidentally invent a time machine, causing them to experiment with a technology that allows humans to time travel. However, it’s only a matter of time before they realize the consequences of their actions.

20. ‘the Time Machine’ (1960)

Based on H. G. Wells's novella of the same title, this Oscar-winning film follows George Wells (Rod Taylor), an inventor who builds a time machine and journeys hundreds of years into the future. Definitely a must-watch for any time-travel fanatic.

The 50 Best Movies on HBO Max

Associate Editor, News and Entertainment

Oh no! This title currently isn’t available to watch in your country.

Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Frequently asked questions about time travel (hbo).

: Three social misfits are drawn into a wild time-travel adventure via the bathroom of their favorite local pub.

You May Also Like

His Dark Materials (HBO)

Barbie Feature Commentary (HBO)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (HBO)

Tenet (HBO)

The Change-Up (HBO)

Men in Black 2 (HBO)

Edge of Tomorrow (HBO)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (HBO)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2004) (HBO)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (HBO)

The Matrix (HBO)

17 Again (HBO)

Comedy, Fantasy & Sci-Fi, Epic Quests, Classic Comedy

Release Year

About this movie.

Three social misfits are drawn into a wild time-travel adventure via the bathroom of their favorite local pub.

Cast and Crew

Starring: Chris O'Dowd , Dean Lennox Kelly , Marc Wootton , Anna Faris

Find Iconic Entertainment for Every Mood

1 hr 22 min

fantasy-sci-fi

Frequently asked questions about time travel (hbo): .

Three social misfits are drawn into a wild time-travel adventure via the bathroom of their favorite local pub.

Unlimited streaming. Cancel anytime.

€4.99 /month, save €19.98 with a yearly subscription.*, €59.88 *  €39.90 /year.

* €19.98 saving based on the yearly price paid upfront, compared to €59.88 which is the monthly price of €4.99 over 12 months.

Pay Monthly

Cancel anytime., €39.90 /year, save €19.98*, you may also like.

Making of The Last of Us (HBO)

His Dark Materials (HBO)

Doom Patrol (HBO)

House of the Dragon (HBO)

Warning: This Drug May Kill You (HBO)

All the Way (HBO)

Capturing Mary (HBO)

Southern Rites (HBO)

One Nation Under Stress (HBO)

Rosie O'Donnell: A Heartfelt Stand Up (HBO)

How to Screw It All Up (Cómo mandarlo todo a la mierda) (HBO)

Zack Snyder's Justice League (HBO)

Frequently asked questions about time travel (hbo).

original, fantasy-sci-fi

Release Year

Rating information, about this movie.

Hanging at a local pub, Ray, Pete and Toby meet a lovely young woman who claims to be a time traveler from the future. As she spins her wild tale, the skeptical Pete stumbles into a time portal--in the pub's toilet--and sets off a wild adventure that results in a comedic crisis of mistaken identities, close calls, romance and anarchy--with the future of mankind at stake.

Cast and Crew

Starring: Chris O'Dowd , Dean Lennox Kelly , Marc Wootton , Anna Faris

Get Even More With HBO Max

All of HBO plus blockbuster movies, epic originals, and addictive series.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

• Backchannel
• Newsletters
• WIRED Insider
• WIRED Consulting

Jennifer M. Wood WIRED Staff

The 25 Best Movies on Max (aka HBO Max) Right Now

As the birthplace of prestige TV shows like  The Sopranos and  The Wire , HBO—and, by extension,  Max (aka the streamer formerly known as HBO Max )—is best known for its impressive lineup of original series. The network has also been upping the ante with feature-length content that is the stuff of Oscar dreams. However, because Max is not (yet) a production powerhouse like, say, Netflix, hundreds of great movies come and go each month. So if you see something you want to watch, don’t let it linger in your queue for too long.

Below is a list of some of our favorite films streaming on Max—from iconic Westerns to recent Oscar nominees you’ll see near the top of any Best Movies of the Year list. If you decide you’re in more of a TV mood, head over to our picks for the  best shows on Max . If you’re looking for even more recommendations, check out our lists of the  best movies on Netflix , the  best movies on Amazon Prime , and the  best movies on Disney+ .

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more .

The Zone of Interest

In 1943, Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) was the commandant of Auschwitz who spent his days playing god with the lives of the concentration camp’s innocent prisoners. But what happened when Höss went home? That’s the reality Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar-winning film examines, and the answer is: Not much. Höss lives right next door to the camp, in the so-called Zone of Interest, with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and their five children. Within those four walls, they strive to build a dream life for their family—while the sound of gunshots, incoming trains, and furnaces being lit are just a part of daily life. Yes, it’s every bit as brutal—and necessary—as it sounds.

Natalie Portman gave what might very well end up being the defining performance of her career in this dark dance drama from Darren Aronofsky. Nina Sayers (Portman) is a dancer with the New York City Ballet whose entire life has been dedicated to her art, in large part due to her overprotective mother (Barbara Hershey), who was also a ballerina and pushes her daughter to have the career she wanted for herself. Nina’s life is turned upside down when she lands the lead in a new production of Swan Lake , only to realize that she’ll be splitting the part with the free-spirited Lily (Mila Kunis) who quickly becomes both the only friend Nina has ever really had and her most bitter rival. Soon, she descends into a dizzying madness that is reflected in Aronofsky’s directorial choices, which make the audience feel every bit of her emotions.

Back in 2020, we named Good Time as one of the most underrated movies of the past 20 years , and absolutely still stand by that claim. Fortunately, as Robert Pattinson and the Safdie Brothers have continued to establish themselves as some of the most interesting actors (Pattinson and Benny Safdie) and directors (Benny again and his brother Josh) working today, more people have discovered the film, and even more will, now that it’s on Max. Connie Nikas (Pattinson) is a small-time criminal who is always looking for his next big score, and typically employs his developmentally disabled brother Nick (Safdie) as his partner. When a bank robbery goes wrong and Nick is nabbed by the police, Connie must fight for their survival. Much like Uncut Gems , which would later come to define the Safdies’ style, Good Time is a fast-moving, visceral crime thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat as Connie works to reunite with his brother, whatever the cost.

Timothée Chalamet stars as Willy Wonka in this perfectly entertaining origin story of Roald Dahl’s quirky chocolatier, directed by Paddington ’s Paul King. While it doesn’t hit the same as Mel Stuart’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory —really, who could match Gene Wilder’s somersaulting candy maker?—it also far surpasses Tim Burton’s fairly needless 2005 remake.

Dream Scenario

Like Forrest Gump’s famed box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get from a Nicolas Cage performance. But he’s a one-of-a-kind actor whose roles tend to fall into one of two categories: totally transcendent, or scenery-chewing at its most voracious. Dream Scenario is very much the former, and has been heralded as one of the Oscar-winning actor’s best performances by some critics. Rightfully so. Cage stars as Paul Matthews, an unassuming biology professor who suddenly begins appearing in strangers’ dreams and achieves viral fame as a result of it. Like any good Cage performance, this one is multifaceted and examines the downside of sudden fame and what it really costs.

The Green Knight

Writer-director David Lowery ( Pete’s Dragon , Peter Pan & Wendy ) is a master of reimagining well-trodden material in ways that feel inventive and wholly new. That’s exactly what he did with this award-winning fantasy-adventure that sees Dev Patel in the role of Arthurian hero. Sir Gawain (Patel) is the nephew of King Arthur who has spent his life sheltered by his own privilege and decides it’s time to change that. So when the opportunity comes for Gawain to prove himself as a warrior befitting of his seat at the Round Table, he takes it—despite being woefully unprepared for the challenges that will come his way.

Dicks: The Musical

A24—the studio known for its edgy, award-winning indies like Moonlight and Ex Machina (which are both streaming on Max)—takes a dive into the musical genre with this adaptation of the off-Broadway hit Fucking Identical Twins (and you thought Dicks: The Musical was a raunchy title). Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp cowrote and costar in this over-the-top musical as two coworkers who discover that they’re long-lost twin brothers, and they attempt to Parent Trap their parents (played by Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally). Megan Thee Stallion plays their boss. Anyone offended by an f-bomb—or dozens of them—might want to give this one a skip.

Greta Gerwig is a master of breathing new life into old properties (see: Little Women ). With Barbie , she has ignited a revolution. Barbie (Margot Robbie) is living her best life in Barbieland—until one day, when her perfectly plastic world, and heels, suddenly begin to collapse. To get her fabulous life back, Barbie must travel to the real world—well, Los Angeles—to determine who or what is causing her existential crisis. The film has grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide, meaning you likely may have already seen it. But even if you did, it’s absolutely worth a second watch—if only to lament its many Oscar snubs.

Frances McDormand won her first of four (and counting) Oscars for her role as Marge Gunderson, the extremely pregnant and no-nonsense chief of police in Brainerd, Minnesota. When a mysterious crime scene puts Marge on the trail of a car salesman (William H. Macy) with a terrible plan for getting his hands on a boatload of cash, it also puts Marge in the crosshairs of a couple of career thieves (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) with little regard for human life. As is often the case in any Coen brothers movie, there’s a perfectly balanced mix of very bad things and very funny moments, which somehow makes seeing a murderer attempt to dispose of a body in a wood chipper a laugh-out-loud moment.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Sergio Leone is the undisputed master of spaghetti Westerns, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is his masterpiece. A mysterious stranger (Clint Eastwood) decides to partner up with a Mexican outlaw (Eli Wallach), but their kinship is not what it seems. With its clever twists, superb acting, and unforgettable score by Ennio Morricone, the film is a classic for a very good reason.

Eastern Promises

Come for David Cronenberg’s iconic style, stay for Viggo Mortensen’s naked ass-kicking. Nikolai (Mortensen) is a strongman for one of the most ruthless crime families in London. But when a well-meaning midwife (Naomi Watts) comes around, asking questions about the death of a woman who may or may not be connected to Nikolai’s employers, he finds himself at a crossroads. The film is more action-packed than a typical Cronenberg film, which tend to lean toward the side of “bizarre,” and is all the more compelling because of it.

From Total Recall to Showgirls and back to Basic Instinct , director Paul Verhoeven has a track record almost unmatched in modern cinema. RoboCop , his dystopian take on law enforcement, is proof. Set in a bleak vision of Detroit overrun with crime, it follows a cop (Peter Weller) who gets fatally wounded and turned into, yes, a robot cop, who you might think is good at fighting crime, but of course is not. Some of the visual effects may look a little beat up now, but in 1987, they looked like the future. Also, if RoboCop leaves you wanting more, the film’s two sequels and 2014 reboot—none of which, sadly, were directed by Verhoeven—are also available on Max.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

In reality, a great many of the Star Trek films are now on Max, but it’s Wrath of Khan that you need to watch before it leaves the streaming service. The movie that gave a kick in the teeth to the whole franchise and paved the way for Star Trek: The Next Generation , it’s the one held up as the Trek film. J. J. Abrams tried rebooting this one with Star Trek Into Darkness but ultimately couldn’t beat the original.

Jodorowsky’s Dune

For years, Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky tried to make an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic Dune . He intended for H. R. Giger to do character designs, and Pink Floyd to make the soundtrack. He wanted Salvador Dalí to play a role. He had an outline for the film, at one point, that would have come in at around 14 hours. As you might imagine, this movie ultimately never came to pass, but director Frank Pavich’s documentary about Jodorowsky’s efforts is a masterpiece all its own.

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life

Albert Brooks is a comedian’s comedian. Though he might be best known as the filmmaker behind such celebrated comedies as Defending Your Life , Lost in America , Real Life , and Mother , he’s also a brilliant actor (with an Oscar nomination to prove it). Brooks’ longtime pal Rob Reiner directs this charming documentary, which documents Brooks’ one-of-a-kind talent, with a stunning lineup of A-listers—including David Letterman, Steven Spielberg, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Chris Rock, Larry David, and Ben Stiller—all ready to sing his praises.

Frank Herbert’s Dune is one of those iconic novels that several directors have attempted to bring to the screen and ended up abandoning. Nearly 40 years before Denis Villeneuve won six Oscars for his 2021 adaptation of the classic sci-fi novel (which is also streaming on Max—and you should absolutely watch it ), David Lynch gave it a go—and the results weren’t as admired at the time . But Lynch’s Dune has experienced a bit of a critical reappraisal in recent years, particularly for what we now know to be its very Lynchian style. (Back then, it just seemed strange and surreal.) The film, which is set in the year 10191, sees the fate of the planet Arrakis—and its supply of melange, a unique spice and the most valuable substance in the universe—in the hands of young Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), the untested son of a powerful duke.

You’d be forgiven for thinking a lot of the Fast & Furious movies start to run together. Car chase, fistfight, street race, big booms, Corona, “family”—the end. But this one is special. For starters, it’s the one where the gang parachutes a bunch of souped-up cars out of the back of a cargo plane. For another, it marks Paul Walker’s final appearance in a Fast movie. (He died in a car accident in 2013.) It’s a bittersweet film, and also one of the franchise’s best.

Four directors have attempted to mine Stephen King’s debut novel for cinematic inspiration, which ultimately seems pointless after Brian De Palma’s 1976 original. Nearly 50 years after its debut, the film still manages to scare the pants off audiences. Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a shy, sheltered, and, yeah, kinda weird teen who is a favorite target of her high school’s clique of mean girls. When one of said mean girls (Nancy Allen) is barred from attending her own senior prom because of her behavior, she and her boyfriend make a plan to get revenge on poor ol’ Carrie. But Carrie has the last laugh when, after being doused by a bucket full of pig’s blood, she shows a gymnasium full of prom-goers why her “Creepy Carrie” nickname is well earned. The film also features an ending that can still make audiences quite literally jump out of their seats.

Pulp Fiction

If you're a movie buff, chances are you've already seen Quentin Tarantino's seminal Pulp Fiction . But, if you're a movie buff, you're also probably the kind of person who likes to revisit it often. But be warned: If you think this might inspire you to indulge in a Tarantino marathon, you're out of luck. It's one of the only Tarantino flicks on Max. (This depends a lot on whether you count the director's appearance in From Dusk Till Dawn .) Still, enjoy your time with Jules and Vincent (and Honey Bunny and the gimp and Marsellus Wallace and Butch) while you can.

Avatar: The Way of Water

James Cameron’s  Avatar  sequel felt like a movie centuries in the making. In reality, just over a dozen years passed between the original 2009 movie and last year’s  The Way of Water . That timeline adds up: The second in a scheduled series of five films takes place 16 years after the events of the original and catches up with Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana)—now married with children, and still blue. Though the movie didn’t seem to make as loud a splash as its predecessor, it managed to wipe Cameron’s own  Titanic  out of the water—plus all the Star Wars movies—to become the third-highest-grossing movie of all time (with  Avatar in the top spot, followed by Avengers: Endgame ).

In 2017, an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election was leaked anonymously. One year later, former NSA translator Reality Winner (yes, that’s her real name) was sentenced to more than five years in prison for the crime—the longest sentence ever received by a government whistleblower. HBO’s reigning muse, Sydney Sweeney ( Euphoria ,  The White Lotus ), shines in this gripping true story, which plays out mostly in real time as the FBI knocks on the 25-year-old’s door and spends more than an hour questioning her.

Even if you don’t care about awards, the fact that  Parasite is the first—and still only—non-English-language movie to win a Best Picture Oscar should tell you something about the universality of its themes. The Kims, a family struggling to make ends meet, set their scheming sights on the Parks, a well-to-do family with plenty of problems of their own, but also plenty of money to muffle their dysfunction. At least for a time. Just when you think you know how class warfare is playing out in this black comedy, it changes course to reach an unexpected conclusion. As always, Bong Joon-ho knows just how to lead his audience down one path, only to open a trapdoor into another.

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Finding success in one’s lifetime might seem like the dream of every artist, but Nan Goldin has bigger ambitions. Though she’s a photographer by trade, she’s an activist by calling and has long used her camera to capture painfully intimate moments of America in crisis, including extensive work focused on the HIV/AIDS and opioid epidemics. But  All the Beauty and the Bloodshed  reveals the artist in conflict: Should she allow her work to be showcased in one of the prominent museums or galleries that have received endowments from the Sackler family—the Big Pharma family that many blame for America’s opioid crisis? It’s a moving portrait of an artist willing to risk it all for her beliefs.

The Dark Knight

First things first: All three of Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies are currently on Max, and binge-watching all of them in a row is certainly one way to spend an evening. But if you’re opting to watch just one, the second film in the series is the one to beat. Though Christian Bale’s Caped Crusader gets top billing, it’s Heath Ledger’s now-iconic performance as the Joker that makes  The Dark Knight  the most compulsively watchable Batman movie (even beyond Nolan’s entries). Though Ledger tragically passed away six months before the film’s release, he posthumously won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his villainous turn, in which he managed to find the perfect balance between dark humor and outright insanity.

Ari Aster made a splash—and one memorable splat—with his directorial debut, which took psychological horror to new heights. Annie Graham (Toni Collette) is a miniature artist living a seemingly contented life with her psychiatrist husband (Gabriel Byrne) and their two teenagers, Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro). But any sense of normalcy disappears almost immediately following the death of Annie’s mom, with whom she had a challenging relationship. Is Annie crazy? Is her husband a terrible shrink? Is Peter a terrible person? Why does Charlie make that clicking noise? What’s that in the back seat of the car? These are all valid questions that are answered by Aster, whose deft directorial style has made him an instant Hollywood icon. Aster’s follow-up film, 2019’s equally disturbing Midsommar , is also available to stream.

Louryn Strampe

Aarian Marshall

You Might Also Like …

In your inbox: Will Knight's Fast Forward explores advances in AI

Hackers found a way to open 3 million hotel keycard locks

A couple decided to decarbonize their home. Here's what happened

A deepfake nude generator reveals a chilling look at its victims

Are you noise sensitive? Here's how to turn the volume down a little

Jennifer M. Wood

Angela Watercutter

Family travel with a toddler

9 Best Travel Shows and Movies on HBO Max

So you want to watch something travel related and not leave your house? Have a subscription to HBO Max? Here are a few suggestions on the best travel shows and movies on HBO Max so you won’t have to waste time scrolling and looking through the titles at home. We are not able to travel full time, so in our free hours after work, we tend to watch or read a lot of travel related books. Here’s our list. 

NOTE : Some of these shows may not be available on HBO Max when you read this article. As of publishing, these shows were still available. Will update the post as necessary if we still have HBO Max and happen to check if  

Other couch potato travel related posts: 

• Czech It Out (TV show set in the Czech Republic) 
• White Lotus (TV show set in Hawaii and Italy)

The Flight Attendant (TV show about a flight attendant)

Anthony bourdain: parts unknown (multiple locations), death on the nile (movie set in egypt), whitechapel (tv series set in london) , the gilded age (tv series set in new york) , see our other posts about new york: .

• TV Shows or Films that Inspire Travel on HBO Max 

The Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Series (Wizarding World)

• Game of Thrones 

Bonus #2: Travel shows previously on HBO Max

Stanley tucci: searching for italy , travel shows on hbo max, share this:.

• Travel shows on Amazon Prime 
• The best travel books to fuel your wanderlust 
• How to read more books every year

Czech It Out ( TV show set in the Czech Republic ) 

Spoken in Czech, a plus for our little Slovak family , with English subtitles. The 8 part TV series follows a Czech foodie slash actor and his daughter, as they go around the Czech Republic. This series makes it even more relatable for us since the stars of the show can only visit towns and cities on a limited time, which means they are not traveling full time. 

For those of us who work full time , have children ,  and travel part time, we want to show the world that this type of travel is indeed doable. We tend to have the comfort of having a home base, a steady income stream coming in, and a routine for our kid whenever he’s not traveling. 

Lukas, the host, is showing the foodie side of the Czech Republic as well as activities, sights, and other interesting areas in the cities and towns that he visits. Of course he does this while he is with his teenage daughter. A bit different than traveling with a toddler, but traveling with children is definitely very rewarding. 

This is one of our favorite travel shows, and we’re lucky that it is available on HBO Max.   

White Lotus ( TV show set in Hawaii and Italy )

A purely fictional TV series, the White Lotus is an ensemble show based in a high end resort in Hawaii. The series was filmed at the Four Seasons Maui at Wailea, so all the exterior shots you see on screen are based on an actual hotel. 

The story revolves around the guests and the employees of the White Lotus, with the start of the first episode opening to a death that happened in the hotel, with you trying to figure out who could have died. The series is coming back for another season, set in Italy, filming at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace. It is an absolutely beautiful hotel, so we can’t wait to see what the second season has on offer. Jennifer Coolidge will be back and is reprising her character in season 2. 

As the name of the TV series suggests, the main character is a flight attendant, so there is no shortage of international and domestic airport, hotel, and even sights throughout the show’s episodes. The first season is mostly a thriller and a mystery, as the main character is dragged into the brutal murder of one of her business class passengers after she sleeps with him in Bangkok. 

The first season is based on a book of the same name, The Flight Attendant, by Chris Bohjalian. Some parts of the first season feel a bit stretched and slow, with some plot holes here and there. Not sure what season 2 has in offer since the entire death of Alex Sokolov is the main arc of the book and the first season, but we’re hopeful season 2 will still show lots of travel! 

HBO seems to be the main distributor of any CNN originals, so Parts Unknown is available to stream on HBO Max. Anthony Bourdain is not your usual travel guide, but he does show a different side to a city or a place based on his connections with the locals and for food. 

Some of the episodes should have a trigger warning, so for those who can be a bit squeamish or get triggered by animal slaughter (which is shown in some of the episodes), please watch the show with someone. It would help if there was a warning before every episode for those who are sensitive, but there’s none. 

Nevertheless, if you still want to travel and “try” the different cuisines of the world without leaving the comfort of your home,  the TV series is definitely worth watching. As they say – you can live vicariously through others! 

If you’re a fan of mysteries and know of Agatha Christie, the story is one of a few set in a different country! The movie is amazing – showing lots of famous Egyptian temples and making you feel like you are on a river cruise along the Nile. However, there’s murder that happens on board, so another challenge is figuring out who the murderer is before the end of the movie! 

The book is better than the movie, but the movie has the added plus of actually taking you to places visually! Hercule Poirot’s accent is also fun to listen to! 

An oldie but goodie TV show. The first season follows a series of murders that happened in London where the murderer seems to be imitating the infamous Jack the Ripper, but in the late 2000s.

I personally love the cut scenes where they show various buildings around London and even say streets and squares that are relevant to the story. 

There are 4 seasons of Whitechapel, with only 3 episodes each. Each episode is only around 45 minutes so they are easy to digest and binge. 

An HBO original, written by Julian Fellowes, the mastermind behind Downton Abbey. The story follows a nouveau riche family in New York, based on the Vanderbilt family as they navigate around the old rich society that dominated the city. 

Even though this is a period piece, some of the places they visit in New York still stand. The buildings are still there but instead of one family living in a house the size of a city block, has been divided into condos or apartments instead. Central Park is still there and welcoming people from various places as it stands proud in the middle of the city. 

• 3 Day New York City Itinerary (52 WW)
• A budget trip to New York City

TV Shows or Films that Inspire Travel on HBO Max  

Fans of these shows make it a point to visit filming sites, and we do have to admit some of their locations are breathtaking, having been to a few of them. Here are the TV shows or the films that inspire travel available on HBO Max. 

Who doesn’t love the Harry Potter franchise? If you end up going to the UK, people end up booking Harry Potter location tours, which includes Leavesden Studios, where there’s a permanent exhibition at the Universal Lot. Within London, there are plenty of Potter places you can visit, from Leadenhall Market, Platform 9 ¾ in King’s Cross, the Millennium Bridge, Tottenham Court Road, and St Paul’s Cathedral. These are just some of the places you can visit, and our post is not a comprehensive guide to the locations – those are just a quick Google away! 

Make a trip to the various cities and towns that they shot on location and you’ll see the beauty of the UK as well as imagining yourself in the wizarding world of Harry Potter itself. Make it a part of your bucket list to visit locations if you want – anything to get you out of the chair and experience the sights yourself! 

Also, the books are amazing, and when compared with the movies, they are mostly true to the book. However, the Fantastic Beast series does not have an accompanying book series, and mostly rely on the movies to tell the story. 

However, if you do go to the Wizarding World in Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, you can experience the set yourself and get corresponding merchandise as well! 

Check out our Orlando posts here:

• An Orlando New Years Weekend Getaway
• Orlando’s Chocolate Kingdom (Review)

Game of Thrones  

Game of Thrones is a bit different where the cast seem to have shot in different countries. From the old city of Dubrovnik in Croatia, to an island off the Basque region of Spain called Gaztelugatxe, to the Dark Hedges in Ireland, there’s plenty to see and explore if you watch the TV series. 

Aside from looking at the locations, the TV show is highly entertaining with lots of plot twists, action, and drama. There are a lot of character’s to remember though! 

There is a book series that was the premise of the TV series, so if you are a reader and like more detail on the world, then pick them up too! 

Stanley Tucci travels to Italy to try and show the unique food that’s available in various regions of Italy. Along the way, he shows how the food has been sourced, unique places, and everything Italian in particular. The host is Italian-American, so he definitely knows what he’s talking about. 

We’ve been drooling at the food and street scenes he had in Italy, it was making us so jealous and miss travel even more. A majority of the episodes had been filmed during the pandemic, so it was kind of great to compare what it was like pre-pandemic on 2 episodes vs post pandemic. Sadly, they took this out of HBO Max, but added it to the list in case it does go back. 

And there you have it, some travel shows on HBO Max. While this list is not as comprehensive, we hope it may have helped you in your armchair travel and inspired you to visit the sights that these shows were showcasing. 

For you have any other shows that you feel we should add to the list? Feel free to list them in the comments below and we will check them out. We will include them if we feel they are entertaining and informative enough to inspire travel through the show! 

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

You May Also Like

Six Best Travel Shows on Amazon Prime (2021)

I watch concerts alone – here’s why you should do it too

11 Best Travel Youtube Channels

Leave a reply cancel reply.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

HBO Max Schedule April 22-28 2024: New TV Shows & Movies Being Added

By Abdul Azim Naushad

HBO Max ‘s new TV and movie releases for April 22-28, 2024 include Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One and The Losers.

On Monday, April 22, HBO Max subscribers can tune in to the platform to check out Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One, an animated superhero film that is based on the popular DC Comics storyline “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and also the first part of a trilogy of films that are scheduled to be released in 2024. The film boasts a stellar voice cast that includes Jensen Ackles, Darren Criss, Matt Bomer, Meg Donnelly, and Stana Katic, among others.

Then on Tuesday, April 23, viewers can catch The Losers on HBO Max. This film is based on the Vertigo comic book series of the same name and features the talents of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, and Chris Evans in the lead roles.

Finally, on Friday, April 26, We’re Here Season 4 hits HBO Max. This reality series documents drag queens traveling across the United States to recruit small-town residents to participate in one-night-only drag shows.

New HBO Max releases for April 22-28, 2024

Below are all the new TV shows and movies being added to HBO Max from April 22-28, 2024.

• 90 Day Fiancé: Love in Paradise, Season 4 (TLC)
• The Green Planet (BBC)
• Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One (2024)
• Restoration Road with Clint Harp, Season 5 (Magnolia)
• Ugliest House in America, Season 5 (HGTV)
• Farmhouse Fixer, Season 3 (HGTV)
• The Losers (2010)
• Roadkill Garage, Season 9 (Motortrend)
• Vegas: The Story of Sin City (CNN)
• Caught! (Discovery Channel)
• United States of Scandal with Jake Trapper (CNN)
• We’re Here, Season 4 Original (HBO Original)
• Love & Marriage: D.C. (OWN)

Below are more streaming release schedules aside from HBO Max. Also, here are the best documentaries you can stream on the platform .

STARZ May 2024 Schedule: New TV Shows & Movies Lineup

Amazon prime video may 2024 schedule: new tv shows & movies lineup, hbo max may 2024 schedule: new tv shows & movies lineup, paramount plus schedule april 22-28 2024: new tv shows & movies being added, peacock schedule april 22-28 2024: new tv shows & movies being added.

Abdul Naushad is a Contributing SEO Writer for ComingSoon. A Mass Comm graduate from Symbiosis University with a specialization in Audio-Visual communication, he finds himself rooting for Spider-Man or Batman in every battle. When he's not writing about SEO content, Abdul can be seen watching movies, aimlessly browsing YouTube and playing single player, story-driven video games.

Share article

Exclusive Duchess Images Preview Neil Marshall Gangster Movie Starring Charlotte Kirk, Distribution Set

Happy Death Day 3 Update Given by Jessica Rothe

Spacey Unmasked: Max Acquires U.S. Rights to Kevin Spacey Documentary

Marvel and dc.

X-Men ’97 Creator Reveals Which Story Arc Should Fans Revisit Before Episode 8

Deadpool & Wolverine Director Says No MCU Knowledge Is Needed for Sequel

Sam Raimi: Tobey Maguire Spider-Man 4 Would Focus on ‘Personal Growth’

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two Streaming Release Date Rumors

HBO Max April 2024 Schedule: New TV Shows & Movies Lineup

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 2 Digital, 4K, & Blu-Ray Release Date Set

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 1 Streaming Release Date Rumors

• Services & Software

HBO Max Is Now Max: New Movies and TV Shows You Can Watch Right Now

HBO Max has rebranded as Max in the US. Here are its brand-new titles for launch day.

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is a prequel to the movies.

HBO Max is now officially Max , the revamped streaming service that merges HBO Max and Discovery Plus' libraries. Today, new movies and shows premiere on the service, including a SmartLess docuseries and a family-friendly Gremlins cartoon. ( Shazam! Fury of the Gods  isn't totally new, but it's included in the list below, too.)

Here's more about what just hit Max on launch day and what's coming in the future. If you stick with the service long enough, you'll eventually catch a new Harry Potter series and Game of Thrones spin-off. Max streams Warner Bros., HBO, Max Originals, DC, HGTV, Food Network, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more.

What hit Max on May 23

• SmartLess: On the Road : Docuseries that follows actors and friends Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes during the North American tour of their popular podcast.
• Bama Rush : Documentary about sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama.
• Shazam! Fury of the Gods : Sequel to Shazam!, continuing the story of Billy Batson, a teen with an adult superhero alter ego.
• Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai : An animated family series set before the live-action films.
• Clone High : Reboot of the 2002 animated series Clone High. 
• How to Create a Sex Scandal: A  docuseries that tells of how "brainwashing, manipulation and disturbing acts caused a small local community in Mineola, Texas, to unravel."
• What Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel : An unscripted series in which Deschanel debunks myths about food.

Also coming to Max relatively close to launch are Magnolia Network series Silos Baking Competition (May 28), ID docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace (May 29),  Sarah Silverman 's comedy special (May 27), HBO documentary  Being Mary Tyler Moore  (May 26) and  Reality, an HBO film starring Sydney Sweeney (May 29).

More coming to Max in the future

Everything we learned when warner bros. discovery unveiled max in april.

Max is the streaming home of HBO, so it isn't leaving  Game of Thrones  behind. WBD revealed that HBO has  ordered a new Game of Thrones prequel series , A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight. The series will be set 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones, when "two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros ... a young, naive but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg," according to its description. 

"Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends," the log line says. 

Harry Potter  fans will be able to get invested in a new, multi-season show on Max. Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max content, said, "Over the course of the next decade … we will once again enter the wondrous world of Harry Potter as a multi-season live action series for the first time." The  Max original series  will adapt the first seven Harry Potter books and star new actors.

A first look at The Penguin and more:

• WBD shared a first look trailer for  previously announced series  The Penguin, starring Colin Farrell in his role from Matt Reeves' film The Batman. The spin-off will consist of eight episodes and premiere in 2024.
• A drama series  set In The Conjuring universe  is in development.
• A comedy series  derived from The Big Bang Theory  is in development. 
• Previously announced comedy series How to Be a Bookie is coming to Max. It'll  reportedly reunite  Charlie Sheen and Chuck Lorre.
• More things already on our radar: DC shows  Creature Commandos , Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns and Paradise Lost. Drama series  Welcome to Derry , a prequel to 2017's It and 2019's It Chapter Two, debuts in 2024. 
• Several projects that were initially developed for Discovery Plus will now be Max originals, according to Bloys. They include Shaun White: The Last Run and  Downey's Dream Cars , featuring Robert Downey Jr.
• Fixer Upper: The Hotel , a new installment in the Fixer Upper franchise, will hit Max in November.  Watch a new trailer  with Chip and Joanna Gaines.
• The Flash  hits theaters in June and Max in the fall.
• Love and Translation , a fresh dating series from the producers of 90 Day Fiance, hits Max in winter 2023.
• Food competition series  Ciao House , which premiered on Food Network, will be on Max.
• Survive the Raft , a reality show from Discovery Channel, hits Max in July. 
• Lost Women of Highway 20 will hit Max in 2023. The true crime series features Octavia Spencer. 
• Rick and Morty: The Anime  will debut on Max along with Adult Swim in 2023.

Same faces, different places. Rick and Morty: The Anime is coming this year to Max and @adultswim . #StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/GLs6mgH4lB — HBO Max (@hbomax) April 12, 2023

• Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge , a doll-themed home renovation competition series, hits Max this summer. 
• Tiny Toons Looniversity, a reboot of Tiny Toon Adventures, is coming to Max this fall.
• A  Peter and the Wolf  animated short film, featuring artwork based on original illustrations by Bono, is coming to Max in 2023.
• HBO series  True Detective: Night Country  released a new trailer. It's coming in 2023 and stars Jodie Foster.
• A trailer for HBO limited series  The Regime  dropped. The show debuts in 2024 and features Kate Winslet.
• HBO limited series  The Sympathizer  also got a new trailer. It's coming in 2024 and is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name.

Services and Software Guides

• Best iPhone VPN
• Best Free VPN
• Best Android VPN
• Best Mac VPN
• Best Mobile VPN
• Best VPN for Firestick
• Best VPN for Windows
• Fastest VPN
• Best Cheap VPN
• Best Password Manager
• Best Antivirus
• Best Identity Theft Protection
• Best LastPass Alternative
• Best Live TV Streaming Service
• Best Streaming Service
• Best Free TV Streaming Service
• Best Music Streaming Services
• Best Web Hosting
• Best Minecraft Server Hosting
• Best Website Builder
• Best Dating Sites
• Best Language Learning Apps
• Best Weather App
• Best Stargazing Apps
• Best Cloud Storage
• Best Resume Writing Services
• New Coverage on Operating Systems
• Hostinger Coupon Codes
• HR&R Block Coupons
• ShutterStock Coupon Codes
• FedEx Office Coupons
• Coursera Coupons
• Autodesk Coupons
• Codeacademy Coupon Codes
• iolo Techologies Coupons
• Norton Coupon Codes

You need to watch the most mysterious time-travel movie on HBO Max ASAP

What if Jack the Ripper traveled through time into the 1970s?

Some movies are hard to pitch to people who haven’t seen them, but not this 1979 sci-fi adventure. As a matter of fact, this movie has one of the most ludicrous but exciting plots of any film that you’ll likely come across.

Based on the novel of the same name by Karl Alexander, the movie follows a famous sci-fi author H.G. Wells as he travels in time to the 1970s searching for Jack the Ripper . The Victorian-era serial murderer used Wells’ time machine to escape justice at the start of the film. Pitting one of the greatest literary minds of all time against one of history’s most notorious (and mysterious) serial murderers, the film offers up a time-bending, cinematic cat-and-mouse game the likes of which you’ve truly never seen before.

To put it simply: Time After Time is one of the most underrated and charming sci-fi films of the 20th century but has, unfortunately, primarily fallen from the public consciousness in recent decades. Thankfully, it’s available to stream now on HBO Max. Here’s why you need to carve out some time for it ASAP.

One of the greatest joys of watching Time After Time is seeing how the film nimbly and (for the most part) successfully manages to mix elements from multiple different genres.

The film’s opening sequence, which shows us one of Jack the Ripper’s murders through the villain’s actual POV, feels like it belongs in a gothic horror or slasher film. Meanwhile, the rest of the first act feels like it was pulled straight from an actual H.G. Wells or Jules Verne novel, as the film’s version of Wells (played by Malcolm McDowell) unveils his newly-built personal time machine to a gathering of his friends.

When the mysterious Jack the Ripper steals Wells’ time machine, both Wells and Jack end up in the 1970s. From there, Time After Time adopts the structure and tone of a fish-out-of-water comedy before attempting to blend all of its different genre elements. Thanks to the presence of Mary Steenburgen’s Amy, a bank teller who takes a liking to McDowell’s Wells, the film even dips its toes into being a romantic comedy.

Tonally, that’s a lot for Time After Time to try and juggle. The fact that the film largely succeeds at doing so is a credit to its performers, all of whom help sell its various moments of darkness, romance, and comedy. Mary Steenburgen, in particular, is as charming as ever here, while David Warner brings a delightful bit of sinister depravity to the film with his memorably hammy turn as Jack the Ripper.

Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen in Time After Time .

Visually, Time After Time isn’t the most arresting or sophisticated of films, with director Nicholas Meyer (better known for directing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ) keeping everything relatively dry and simple. The film’s opening POV sequence lands with that much more of an impact for this very reason, with its stylized construction standing far apart from the straightforward way that the rest of Time After Time is directed.

But what makes Time After Time genuinely shine is its story, with Meyer showing the same acute level of understanding of the sci-fi genre that he later demonstrated again in his Star Trek outings. It’s just as much a fun sci-fi romp as it is a tribute to Wells as both a writer and philosopher while honoring his beliefs and challenging some of them simultaneously.

Time After Time’s charms extend far beyond its memorable central premise. Although, it’s hard to deny how fun it is to see fictional versions of H.G. Wells and Jack the Ripper chase each other around late ‘70s San Francisco. When it comes to winning elevator pitches, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Time After Time is available to stream now on HBO Max .

This article was originally published on Oct. 6, 2021

• Science Fiction

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

'Conan O'Brien Must Go' is side-splitting evidence of life beyond late night TV

Eric Deggans

Conan O'Brien dresses as a Viking in Norway. Conaco/Max hide caption

Conan O'Brien dresses as a Viking in Norway.

To be honest, when I first heard Conan O'Brien was ending his TV talk show in 2021, I assumed news that he might turn to variety shows and online programs to continue his career was some combination of face-saving and wishful thinking.

But after watching the four episodes of his new Max series Conan O'Brien Must Go , it's now obvious — even to a thickheaded critic like me — that leaving late night TV really was liberating for O'Brien. He's leveraged his unique sensibility into several different podcasts, a deal with Sirius XM , specials featuring other stand-up comics and now this travel series for Max — which resembles jokey specials he did for cable channel TBS back in the day.

And as the late night TV genre crumbles under sagging viewership and the decline of traditional media, O'Brien's renaissance also provides an example for the future — where fertile comedy minds and talented performers can spread their work over a much larger canvas.

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Is conan o'brien the best 'hot ones' guest ever discuss., learning a lesson from 'hot ones'.

O'Brien already made a splash recently with his brilliantly maniacal appearance on the interview-while-eating-hot-wings show Hot Ones , slobbering over hot sauces while claiming, as he was checked over by a fake doctor, that "I'm fine! I'm perfectly f*****g fine!"

This is the place where O'Brien shines — he's called it "this strange phantom intersection between smart and stupid" — and it's on full, freakish, super silly display in every episode of Conan O'Brien Must Go .

The conceit of the show is pretty simple. O'Brien heads overseas to visit average folks in Norway, Argentina, Thailand and Ireland who had once Zoomed in to speak with him on the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan . Sometimes the visits seem like a surprise — he catches one aspiring Norwegian rapper in shorts and Crocs after popping up on his doorstep — and others seem a bit more planned, including his visit to a radio show with about four listeners in Buenos Aires.

Each episode begins with a solemn monologue which sounds like it is delivered by the film world's most eccentric voice, German filmmaker and actor Werner Herzog (he's not credited in the show and when asked, a publicist at Max shared a quote from O'Brien: "I can neither confirm nor deny the voice in question.")

The torturous accent by "Herzog" makes every line sound absurdly hilarious, describing O'Brien as "the defiler ... with dull, tiny eyes ... the eyes of a crudely painted doll ... he scavenges in distant lands, uninvited, fueled by a bottomless hunger for recognition and the occasional selfie."

Now that's smart. And oh so stupid.

A funhouse mirror version of a travel show

O'Brien performs onstage with a fan in Norway Conaco/Max hide caption

O'Brien performs onstage with a fan in Norway

Fans of O'Brien's Conan Without Borders specials on TBS already know what his style is when he tackles a travel show — throwing himself into outrageous reactions and situations while working his quirky brand of improvised conversations with hapless bystanders.

In the Max series Conan O'Brien Must Go , that includes O'Brien offering screechy vocals onstage during a performance of a Norwegian emo/rap band. Or asking provocative questions of a couple therapist/sex expert. Or getting beat up in a "fight" with a 10-year-old boy in a bar.

It's all an excuse for O'Brien to unleash his energetic wit, taste for silly absurdity and skill at drawing laughs from sympathetic — if often befuddled — strangers. Whether you enjoy this special will depend on how you feel about O'Brien's style, which can feel a bit like the world's best class clown doing everything possible to make you crack a smile.

(Rent a family in Norway so they can say goodbye when he gets on a SeaCraft? Check. Get local artists to paint a mural of O'Brien, a soccer star and The Pope on the side of a building in Argentina? Double check.)

'Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend' Is A Joke Name For A Podcast — Sort Of

But what amazes in a larger sense is how O'Brien has turned his sensibility into a comedy brand to fuel work on many different platforms. And, at age 60, with more than 30 years as a comedy star, he's been released from the shackles of any genre to shine wherever he chooses — whether it's an episode of Hot Ones or a streaming service which sometimes looks like a collision between True Detective and 90 Day Fiancé .

Leaving late night TV as late night left him

I'm old enough that I started covering TV not long after O'Brien made his first move from the shadows of life as a comedy writer – he worked on Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons — to succeed David Letterman in 1993 as host of NBC's show Late Night (now hosted by Seth Meyers). Back then, NBC gave O'Brien years to figure out the show, honing his smartly serious comedy in a way that would inspire then-teenage fans like Seth Rogen and Bill Hader .

O'Brien left NBC after a disastrous deal where the network tried to make him host of its venerated late night program The Tonight Show and also keep its former host Jay Leno at the network. He moved to a late night show on TBS in 2010, but even then, there was a sense that his creativity was a bit hemmed in by the format.

After 28 Quirky Years, Conan O'Brien Is Leaving Late Night

By the time he left his TBS show Conan for good, it seemed O'Brien was already caught in a trend which would hobble other late night shows — as young viewers consumed his content online and ratings on cable dropped.

Now, with a podcast and digital media company worth many millions and growing status as a TV comedy legend still willing to do almost anything for a laugh, O'Brien is proving there is a successful life beyond late night.

Particularly, if you have the talent to play the fool while leaving little doubt you're also the smartest person in the room.