HBO Max: 10 of the best films to stream this week – CNET [CNET]

July 6, 2021 Thomas Giboney technology

shiva-baby-online-05 — Shiva Baby stars Dianna Agron and more.

Utopia

This week on HBO Max, you can catch Shiva Baby (2021), the debut film from Emma Seligman telling a fresh story about a young bisexual Jewish woman who attends a shiva with her family. The anxiety-inducing stetup, with a score not unlike that of a horror film, is bolstered by a stellar ensemble cast, including Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon and Dianna Agron. Catch Shiva Baby on Wednesday.

On Thursday, you can see controversial horror thriller The Hunt (2020), a social satire that doesn’t quite hit the mark, but offers enough action thrills to keep you entertained midweek. Last week saw the arrival of No Sudden Move, a crime thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh. Featuring a cast of big hitters in Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Amy Seimetz, Jon Hamm and Matt Damon, the ’50s-set drama follows criminals hired to pull off a seemingly simple job that spirals out of control.

Thanks to WarnerMedia’s simultaneous theatrical and streaming release plan, major 2021 releases have hit HBO Max, including musical In the Heights and horror film The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. If none of those take your fancy, HBO Max has loads of classics from the Criterion Collection and a small collection of quality originals, which you can peruse below.

Drama

Unpregnant (2020)

See at HBO Max

Charm City Kings (2020)

See at HBO Max

Superhero

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Fan of the ’80s? Including that filmmaking style? The sequel to Wonder Woman leans hard into its inspirations, which will either take you back to pleasingly simple versions of adventure and heroism, or really annoy you with a nonsensical plot and slow pace. Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince hasn’t moved on from Steve Trevor’s (Chris Pine) death, working at the Smithsonian where an ancient artefact kicks off a world of trouble and forces her to make a few hard decisions. Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal are new additions to the cast. Colorful, lightweight escapism.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)

See at HBO Max

Thriller

Tenet (2020)

Warner Bros.

If ever there was a movie that improves with multiple rewatches, it’s Tenet. Thanks to its release on HBO Max, you can now understand the plot that goes with its spectacular visuals. John David Washington stars as the Protagonist, whose name is a subtle hint to his James Bond mission to prevent a world-destroying attack — from the future. The Protagonist learns to manipulate the flow of time with the help of Robert Pattinson’s debonair Neil. Possibly the most Christopher Nolan of Christopher Nolan movies, Tenet is as entertaining as it is cerebral.