As summer movie season winds down, HBO Max has a new crop of movies coming in to keep at-home film watchers satisfied. This includes one of Anne Hathaway’s many 2026 projects, a masterful horror movie from Zach Cregger and the precursor to one of September’s most anticipated releases.
Here are the seven best new movies on HBO Max in August.
“Barbarian”
Zach Cregger — have you heard of him? The writer/director made waves last year with his critically acclaimed film “Weapons” (a film for which Amy Madigan won best supporting actress at the Oscars), pretty much instantly anointing him as a new king of horror. With “Resident Evil” (which looks sick) on the way in September, it seems like he might be on that mountaintop for some time to come.
Maybe “Barbarian” didn’t show the full scope of what Cregger was capable of as a filmmaker, but it certainly announced him as one to watch in the horror space. This clever, funny, disturbing and scary horror flick from 2022 is one of the genre’s best entries this decade, an absolutely killer movie to watch with a crowd. If you or someone you know has somehow managed to avoid spoilers for this one, turn it on ASAP and get ready for a wild ride.
“Mother Mary”
It’s the year of Anne Hathaway.
Between “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” “The Odyssey,” “The End of Oak Street” (in theaters this August) and “Verity,” Hathaway came back in a big (Hatha)way in 2026, dominating the screen in some of the year’s biggest films. The already-released “Mother Mary” is no doubt the smallest movie of this bunch (a $20 million David Lowery feature distributed by A24), but it’s certainly no slump on Hathaway’s 2026 resume. If “The Odyssey” hype has you wanting more, be sure to check out this psychological pop star drama.
“Normal”
We already learned in “Nobody” that Bob Odenkirk can be a pretty effective action hero. But Ben Wheatley’s “Normal” (penned by “Nobody” and “John Wick” scribe Derek Kolstad) takes this to the next level in a clever, over-the-top crime flick about a new sheriff who comes into conflict with the dirty secrets of his small town. It’s got the goods.
“Orphan”
“Orphan” is a classic of the “If you haven’t been spoiled, go watch this immediately” list, so much so that I hesitate to share much more. Jaume Collet-Serra’s 2009 horror flick, written by David Leslie Johnson with a story by Alex Mace, is a delightful, mean-spirited movie about a family who adopts a nine-year-old girl and gets more than they bargained for. It’s a total blast with an excellent reveal.
“Practical Magic”
This September, the Owens sisters will finally return to theaters in “Practical Magic 2,” a sequel to Griffin Dunne’s 1998 hit starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sister witches cursed to a loveless life. If you haven’t seen it — or even if it’s just been a minute — now is the perfect time to revisit this cult classic before Susanne Bier’s long-awaited follow-up.
“Sicario”
Denis Villeneuve returns to theaters later this year with “Dune: Part Three,” the finale in his thus far astonishing sci-fi trilogy. Shortly before the director decided to spend the better part of a decade of his career on Arrakis, he released “Sicario,” one of the most intense and engaging thrillers of the 2010s. The film features a trio of exceptional leading performances from Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and a stand-out Benicio del Toro, who delivers some of the best work of his career.
“The Strangers: Prey at Night”
First of all, if any horror fanatics didn’t see 2026’s “Primate,” they owe it to themselves to check out that grisly fun creature feature. “Primate” director Johannes Roberts has a few such horror flicks under his belt, including 2018’s “The Strangers: Prey at Night.” It’s not often that a horror sequel surpasses the original, but this film is scary and stylish, with one Lewis Pullman-led pool sequence that makes it worth the watch alone.
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