If you’re looking for new movies to watch on HBO Max, you’ve come to the right place. The WarnerMedia streaming service has quickly become one of the best streaming services around, largely thanks to its robust library of great movies and shows, and the whole “new releases in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day” thing. HBO Max is a great streamer to fire up if you’re looking for a brand new blockbuster, a solid 90s thriller, or even a classic film from the 40s or 50s, so each month’s list of new arrivals is certainly something to be excited about.

To that end, we’ve gone through all the new releases hitting HBO Max in May and curated a list of the best new movies on HBO Max this month. Of note, the big new release this month is the Angelina Jolie thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead, which premieres on HBO Max and in theaters on May 14th, but we have not seen the film yet and thus cannot yet vouch for its quality. But it certainly looks good!

With that said, here are the best new movies on HBO Max to watch this month.

RELATED: The Best Movies on HBO Max Right Now

Tenet

John David Washington in Tenet
Image via Warner Bros.

Director/Writer: Christopher Nolan

Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, and Kenneth Branagh

Perhaps Christopher Nolan’s most divisive film, Tenet is also a tremendous spectacle to behold. So whether you end up loving it or are just confused, the act of actually watching Tenet is a pretty jaw-dropping experience. The movie is basically a spy thriller, but told through the prism of Nolan’s penchant for time-twisting theatrics. John David Washington is the main character (whose name we never learn), and we follow him as he works to stop a bad man (Kenneth Branagh) from ending the world. The twist? The ability to invert time exists and is used to both the hero’s advantages and disadvantages, and this leads to some incredible set pieces in which the main character is moving forwards in time but his surroundings are moving backwards. You, uh, may want to bookmark our ending explainer to read after you watch this one.

Dumb and Dumber

Dumb and Dumber
Image via New Line Cinema

Directors: Peter and Bobby Farrelly

Writers: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, and Bennett Yellin

Cast: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Karen Duffy, Mike Starr, Charles Rocket, and Teri Garr

Dumb and Dumber is one of the funniest movies ever made. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels star as a pair of fools who decide to return a lost briefcase to a woman Carrey drove to the airport, all the way in Aspen. Along the way, they get mistaken for criminal masterminds as the briefcase actually contains ransom money for the woman’s husband. That’s it. That’s the plot. Dumb and Dumber succeeds largely because of the buffoonery of Carrey and Daniels, who deliver a pair of go-for-broke performances that catapulted the movie into iconic status almost immediately. This one holds up if you’re looking to laugh yourself silly.

Magic Mike

Magic Mike Channing Tatum
Image via Warner Bros.

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Writer: Reid Carolin

Cast: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Matt Bomer, Olivia Munn, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey

While the prospect of a male stripper movie based on the real-life story of Channing Tatum sounds like a recipe for disaster, in the hands of a master filmmaker like Steven Soderbergh, it’s a work of art. Magic Mike is immensely entertaining offering up some truly dazzling set pieces, but it’s also incredibly funny and genuinely poignant. While Soderbergh certainly has an eye on giving folks a good time, at heart Magic Mike is a film about chasing the American Dream. It’s surprisingly dark in places, and Tatum is actually pretty terrific in the lead role here, offering up some of the complexity that has turned him into a truly talented actor. And, of course, there’s Matthew McConaughey in the first puzzle piece of his McConaissance, giving an Oscar-worthy turn as the charismatic Dallas, owner of the film’s central male strip club. Don’t let the subject matter fool you: Magic Mike is a true film for cinephiles.

Jackie Brown

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Image via Miramax

Director/Writer: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Pam Grier, Robert Forster, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, and Chris Tucker

Jackie Brown is the closest Quentin Tarantino has ever come to making a straight “Oscar drama,” and even then it’s very specifically a Tarantino film. Adapting Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch was a surprising choice for Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction follow-up, but Jackie Brown is one of the most character-rich films QT has ever made. Pam Grier stars as a flight attendant who gets wrapped up in a money smuggling scheme, tangling with gangsters, the ATF, and the FBI alike. But at heart, Jackie Brown is a love story between Grier and Robert Forster, and the film shows a refreshingly softer side to Tarantino. It’s the kind of film Tarantino really only made once (although there’s a wistfulness to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), which makes Jackie Brown all the sweeter. And in fact, it’s lowkey one of Tarantino’s best movies.

The Immigrant

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Image via The Weinstein Company

Director: James Gray

Writers: James Gray and Richard Menello

Cast: Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner

If you’re in the mood for a serious auteur-driven drama that’s also a little underrated, may I humbly suggest The Immigrant. Directed by James Gray, the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Lost City of Z and Ad Astra, the 2014 drama premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews and takes place in 1921 New York City. Marion Cotillard plays a Polish immigrant who arrives on Ellis Island with her sister, but is quickly separated when her sister is quarantined because of her lung disease. Cotillard’s character escaped deportation when she’s rescued by a Jewish gentleman, played by Joaquin Phoenix, with whom she strikes up a romance – only to then also become an object of affection for Phoenix’s brother, an illusionist played by Jeremy Renner. This sounds like a lot but it’s really just a rich, character-centric story about immigrants and 1920s America, with some truly stunning cinematography by Darius Khondji and one of the best final shots in recent film history.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

willy-wonka-chocolate-factory-social-featured

Director: Mel Stuart

Writer: Roald Dahl

Cast: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, and Roy Kinnear

Not to be confused with the 2000s Tim Burton adaptation (which is very bad), the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a seminal film for people of a certain generation. Any kid who’s ever dreamed of being inside a colorful, fantastical candy factory will get a sense of wish-fulfillment from this Roald Dahl adaptation, and yet the film also has a slightly sinister undertone that makes it that much more memorable. The story follows a reclusive candy factory owner who comes out of hiding and opens his factory up to a small group of contest winners, which includes a young impoverished boy named Charlie Bucket. The filmmaking is vibrant and otherworldly, packed with catchy songs and scrumptious production design, but it’s Gene Wilder’s performance as the titular Willy Wonka that really seals the deal here. It’s equal parts mania, bewilderment, and compassion – a curious cocktail of personalities that is enormously compelling.

The Personal History of David Copperfield

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Image via 20th Century Studios

Director: Armando Iannuci

Writers: Simon Blackwell and Armando Iannucci

Cast: Dev Patel, Aneurin Barnard, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Whishaw

The filmmaker behind In the Loop and The Death of Stalin (as well as HBO’s Veep) takes on less mean-spirited fare with an adaptation of Charles Dickinson’s David Copperfield led by Dev Patel. The movie, titled The Personal History of David Copperfield, arrives on HBO and HBO Max on May 15th and charts the character’s life from birth to present day, and the trials and tribulations therein. The comedy is front and center here, but again with a bit of a softer tone. The supporting cast is also absolutely stellar.

KEEP READING: Here's Everything New to HBO and HBO Max in May 2021