From frights to delights
Find something new to watch this weekend with our curated list of the best new movies streaming on Max, which offers a little something for everyone. The streamer formerly known as HBO Max has one of the best libraries in the entire streaming world, and in February saw a number of noteworthy titles added to the platform. We’ve got swoon-worthy romantic dramas, slasher films, bona fide classics and a very fresh new release all ready to make your movie night.
Check out our picks for the best new movies on Max in February 2024 below.
This romantic drama will break your heart and put it back together again. Written by Nick Hornby (“High Fidelity” and “About a Boy”) and directed by John Crowley (“Boy A”), the film begins in 1951 and follows a young Irish woman played by Saoirse Ronan who’s preparing to immigrate to New York for a better life. After making the trek, she meets and falls in love with a young Italian-American boy (played by Emory Cohen). But when she’s unexpectedly called back to Ireland, where she finds herself drawn to a local man (played by Domhnall Gleeson). With her heart in two places at once, she must decide what kind of life she wants to lead – and where to lead it. This film is warm and sweet, and it will make you cry. – Adam Chitwood
The “Friday the 13th” remake is good, actually! This 2009 redo hails from the same team behind the 2003 update of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and takes the basic premise of the horror franchise but puts a new spin on it. In truth the best part about this film is the extended cold open – no spoilers but it does not go where you think it’s going. A charming cast is rounded out by Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker and Amanda Righetti. – Adam Chitwood
If existential dread is your bag, “A Ghost Story” is one of the more unique entries in the “ghost movie” genre in the last decade. This original indie from writer/director David Lowery stars Casey Affleck as a man who dies and becomes a ghost, destined to haunt the small Texas home he shared with his wife for all time. It’s a decidedly lo-fi affair — Affleck and other ghost characters appear wearing sheets with their eye holes cut out, and Lowery presents the film in 1:3 aspect ratio. But it’s also a tremendously moving piece of work that builds to a climax that packs an emotional wallop. – Adam Chitwood
“Priscilla” got lost in the end of the year crush, perhaps dinged by the more widely scene “Elvis” last year. And that’s a shame. Because it is a really special movie. Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, the film charts Priscilla Presley’s (Cailee Spaney) life as it relates to Elvis (Jacob Elordi) – how he came into her life, how he made her parents feel and, ultimately, how he wound up controlling her. In fact, he kept her at Graceland so much that the movie at times feels like a prison escape picture – how is she going to make it out alive and by what methods? (The final, unbroken take, too good to ruin here, says it all.) Tellingly, the Elvis estate didn’t let them film at Graceland or use any of his music, but that actually adds to the movie’s power, instead of taking that power away. Plus it’s way cooler to watch Priscilla Presley get her hair done to a Dan Deacon song. Coppola’s career has been littered with women who have felt trapped by privilege, whether it’s Scarlett Johansson in a glitzy Japanese hotel or Marie Antoinette lazing around the palace. Priscilla is another one of those women. Nobody could have brought her story to life better than Coppola. And nobody could have played her as well as Spaeny. – Drew Taylor
One of the best films ever made, if not the best film ever made, is “Citizen Kane.” You’ve heard the hype, but if you somehow haven’t seen it, give this one a spin. Orson Welles was just 26 years old when this stunning debut was released, which finds Welles directing and starring in the sweeping story of a publishing magnate whose final words – “Rosebud” – send the media into a tailspin to figure out what it means. This one pairs nicely with David Fincher’s “Mank,” which tells the story of the man who co-wrote “Citizen Kane” and is streaming on Netflix. – Adam Chitwood
“The LEGO Movie” is a miracle. This 2014 animated film from filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller surprises at every turn as it works as a simple story of a LEGO brick man who discovers there’s more to the world he lives in, but also as a commentary on materialism, capitalism and the very act of creating art. Wildly inventive and laugh-out-loud hilarious, this one delivers whether you’ve seen it zero or a hundred times. – Adam Chitwood
Ring in the impending spring with “Midsommar,” one of the brightest and most colorful horror movies ever made. Ari Aster’s 2019 film that became an A24 favorite stars Florence Pugh as a young woman grieving the death of her sister and parents who invites herself on a trip to a midsummer festival at a commune with her boyfriend and his friends. But what starts as a curious and lovely trip into a tight-knit community soon turns into a nightmare as the rituals planned for this particular festival aren’t all fun and games. Pugh is incredible and Aster proves to be a master at tone as he keeps a visually restrained approach that makes the horrors all the more horrifying. – Adam Chitwood
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