HBO Max has plans to welcome a massive lineup of A24 movies to its streaming platform this Fall. Why is that such a big deal? Because A24, especially in the last few years, has become a kind of cinematic haven for directors, storytellers, and actors hoping to make interesting, thought-provoking, highly-watchable movies that don’t take place in a comic book multiverse.
Now, not all of the studio’s standouts have made their way to HBO Max yet — here’s looking at you Minari, Zola, The Green Knight, and Men — but enough are calling the streamer home that we thought a binge-watching guide might be in order. We’ve sifted through the dozens of A24 films headed for HBO Max to single out the handful you should watch first.
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Ex Machina (2014)
Run Time: 108 min | IMDb: 7.7/10
Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller breathed new life into the tired A.I. trope when it landed in theaters years ago. The film focuses on a naïve young programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) who’s selected amongst a pool of applicants to evaluate a new A.I. lifeform. The poor kid is whisked away to a remote villa to spend time with the eerily-human-looking robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander), and her eccentric, often cruel creator Nathan (Oscar Isaac), a genius with an ego to match his talent. The film takes some twists you don’t expect, and Isaac gives cinema one of its greatest dance sequences, in case you needed more reason to watch.
Obvious Child
Run Time: 84 min | IMDb: 6.8/10
Jenny Slate remains an underrated stand-up comedian, but she proved herself a capable leading lady in Gillian Robespierre’s indie rom-com, Obvious Child. Slate plays Donna, a young hopeful trying to make it in the world of stand-up. She frequents a few undergrounds around New York City, honing her set while disappointing her successful academic mother by phoning it in at a used bookstore in Brooklyn for her regular 9-5. She has a brief and promising love affair with Max (Jake Lacy) before facing a dilemma: an unplanned pregnancy. There aren’t many films that can tackle the sensitive topic of abortion with dignity, grace, and a ton of poop jokes, so you’ll want to check this one out.
Under The Skin
Run Time: 108 min | IMDb: 6.3/10
Scarlett Johansson stars in this sci-fi thriller about an other-worldly woman with a dark agenda. The film sees Johansson using her sex appeal to lure unsuspecting men to their watery doom while beginning to contemplate her own existence with every new partner she seduces. It’s a subtle reverse of rape culture, with themes of race and immigration mixed in, but if all of that goes over your head, you’ll at least enjoy seeing Johansson off a bunch of frat bros who more than deserve it.
Amy
Run Time: 128 min | IMDb: 7.8/10
Amy Winehouse was one of the most talented singers of a generation and her rise to fame was as meteoric as her eventual fall. This doc, which explores the ins and outs of her family life, her relationships, and her music career, pulls archival footage taken by those closest to her, interviewing people that knew her best and chronicling her struggle with drugs and alcohol, a fight that she ultimately lost her life to.
Room
Run Time: 118 min | IMDb: 8.2/10
Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay star in this gripping drama about a mother and son held hostage for nearly a decade. The film, based on a work of fiction, pulls elements from real-life trauma cases as it follows a woman named Joy (Larson) and her son Jack (Tremblay) who exist in a singular room, cut off from the outside world. The two plot an escape, are eventually rescued, and must cope with the effects of their harrowing ordeal while adjusting to life outside of the room. Larson is deserving of every award she won for this thing, and her chemistry with Tremblay will have you grabbing for tissues throughout the film.
Enemy
Run Time: 91 min | IMDb: 6.9/10
Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this complete mindf*ck from director Denis Villeneuve about a man who goes in search of his doppelganger after spotting him in a movie and uncovering sinister secrets about himself in the process. Gyllenhaal plays both Adam, a quiet professor, and Anthony, an outspoken actor, who eventually meet and disrupt each other’s lives, but whether both men exist or whether they’re just figments of the same man’s consciousness is up to you to figure out.
A Most Violent Year
Run Time: 125 min | IMDb: 7/10
Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac play a husband/wife duo caught up in the criminal underground in this darkly-lit drama. Isaac plays Abel Morales, an immigrant and aspiring business owner who finds himself the target of ruthless competitors when he takes steps to secure a facility to transport oil throughout the boroughs. Chastain plays his wife Anna, a shrewd businesswoman in her own right who comes from a mobster family. The two fights against a determined D.A. and corrupt criminals in order to secure the money they need to purchase the land, but in doing so, they become the enemy they’ve been fighting against. It’s a heavy, morose kind of film, filled with violence and shady back-door dealings, but Chastain and Isaac bring a bit of brilliance to it all.
Slow West
Run Time: 84 min | IMDb: 6.9/10
Kodi Smit-McPhee plays a young Scottish man who travels from his home country to the dry, bleeding heart of the American West to find the woman he loves. Along the way, he meets a band of outlaws looking to collect the bounty on his intended’s head and a thuggish, slow-drawling Michael Fassbender who acts as his reluctant chaperone. It’s a fun, inventive take on the classic Western adventure, and it doesn’t hurt that the cinematography is gorgeous.
Life After Beth (2014)
Run Time: 89 min | IMDb: 5.6/10
Aubrey Plaza and Dane DeHaan star in this horror comedy about a guy named Zach mourning the loss of his girlfriend, only to discover she’s come back to life. Plaza stars as Beth, the dead girl revived, who begins exhibiting strange behavior, eventually going into full-blown zombie mode while her devoted boyfriend Zach (DeHaan) tries to manage her mood swings and her pesky craving for human flesh. John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon play Beth’s parents, who hilariously try to cover up their daughter’s current undead state, and though things go off the rails in the final third, watching Plaza play a moody, angst-ridden walking corpse is one hell of a good time, even if it does give you nightmares.
Mississippi Grind (2015)
Run Time: 108 min | IMDb: 6.4/10
Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn star in this road trip drama about a pair of down-on-their-luck gamblers making their way to New Orleans. Reynolds plays Curtis, the younger of the two who’s developed a system to manage his gambling habits. The key, Curtis says, is to not care about winning. Gerry (Mendelsohn) on the other hand is deep into his addiction, out of money, and unable to quit. The two team up, traveling down the Mississippi river, betting all they have on horse races and roulette tables before their wild ways catch up with them. It’s a film steeped in the South and there’s plenty to admire about the scenery, but it’s also a film that does a decent job of tackling addiction without making it feel trite and overdone.
