Top 10 Movies To Watch This Week on HBO Max | July 20-26, 2025

So you’re stuck in scrolling purgatory again, huh? Endlessly thumbing through HBO Max, hoping something jumps out. We’ve been there. That’s why we pulled together the Top 10 Movies you would actually want to watch this week—no fluff, no filler. Whether you’re into thrillers, rom-coms, or indie gems, there’s something worth hitting play on. Here’s your movie cheat sheet for July 20-26, 2025—because your time is too valuable for another “meh” movie night.

1. A Minecraft Movie (2025)

Yes, it’s real. Yes, it’s ridiculous. And yes—it actually works.

A Minecraft Movie drops four outcast kids into the Overworld, where everything is square, the laws of physics are on vacation, and Jason Momoa plays an epic version of Steve. Together, they fight monsters, craft their way out of chaos, and try to make it back to the real world in one pixelated piece.

Director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) brings his trademark weirdness, while Jack Black, Emma Myers, and Jennifer Coolidge round out a voice cast that’s somehow both unhinged and totally perfect. The visuals? Gloriously blocky. The plot? Just enough heart under all the lava and loot boxes.

It’s The LEGO Movie meets Jumanji with creepers—and if that sounds like a lot, well… it is. In the best way.

2. Sinners (2025)

Blood runs deep—and so does the trauma.

In Sinners, twin brothers return home hoping to start over, only to find that the real horror isn’t what they left behind—it’s what’s been waiting for them. Michael B. Jordan and breakout star Miles Caton go all in as men torn between redemption and a supernatural reckoning buried in their town’s bones. And when the sun sets? The vampires come out to collect.

Directed by Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Creed), this one doesn’t hold back. It’s rich with Southern Gothic atmosphere, layered performances, and more than a few haunting musical sequences. Hailee Steinfeld and Delroy Lindo bring emotional weight, while the cinematography drenches every frame in mood.

It’s Let the Right One In meets Lovecraft Country, with a twist of Coogler-style pathos—and yeah, it hits hard.

3. Wicked (2024)

Before there was Dorothy, there was drama.

Wicked reimagines Oz through the eyes of two unlikely friends: Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), born with green skin and zero chill, and Glinda (Ariana Grande), sparkling her way through life’s popularity contest. As their paths diverge, fate—and a lot of flying monkeys—turns them into legends.

Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) directs the Broadway juggernaut with stunning scope, and the cast? Stacked. We’re talking Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, and Jonathan Bailey stealing hearts in every scene he’s in. The songs are as big as the set pieces, and the emotions cut deep.

Whether you know every lyric already or you’re just here for the costumes and chaos, this is fantasy done right—with heart, humor, and a whole lot of magic.

4. First Man (2018)

Space has never felt so… quiet.

First Man takes us behind the helmet of Neil Armstrong, not as a national hero, but as a haunted man trying to hold it together. Ryan Gosling plays him with a kind of bottled-up intensity that simmers all the way to the moon. Claire Foy matches him beat for beat as Janet Armstrong, the wife holding down the fort on Earth.

Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash) trades musical numbers for lunar dust, crafting a slow-burn character study that’s more about the man than the mission. But when the Saturn V launches? You feel it. Rattling sound design, claustrophobic cockpits, and that final moon landing shot—it’s goosebumps stuff.

It’s not your typical space flick. It’s something quieter, more intimate. And honestly? That’s what makes it soar.

5. The Thicket (2024)

Grit, blood, and a whole lot of Texas dirt.

The Thicket throws you into a lawless no-man’s land where one kid’s desperate search for his kidnapped sister turns into a full-blown western odyssey. Peter Dinklage leads a ragtag crew—think drunken grave-digger, streetwise sex worker, reluctant bounty hunter—as they track down the notorious Cut Throat Bill (Juliette Lewis at her most feral).

Directed by Elliott Lester (Nightingale), it’s raw, grimy, and surprisingly emotional. The pacing builds like a campfire story that keeps getting darker, and the performances are rough-edged in the best way. It’s not afraid to get weird—or violent.

If True Grit and Bone Tomahawk had a messy, morally grey baby, it’d look a lot like this.

6. Final Destination (2000)

Death doesn’t take no for an answer.

In Final Destination, a teenager has a vision of a plane explosion, freaks out, and saves a handful of classmates before takeoff. Sounds like a win, right? Nope. Now Death is pissed, and it’s picking them off one by one—in increasingly absurd, Rube Goldberg-style kills that made this franchise a horror legend.

This first entry is still the tightest: eerie setups, that paranoia-soaked early-2000s vibe, and a cast that includes Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, and a very memorable Seann William Scott. Plus, Tony Todd shows up and basically confirms Death is a real character—and he’s petty.

It’s the kind of movie where you start side-eyeing your shampoo bottle and toaster after watching. And honestly? It’s still a blast.

7. The Northman (2022)

Revenge. Fire. Wolves. Screaming into the sky. You know the vibe.

The Northman is brutal in all the best ways. Alexander Skarsgård goes full berserker as Amleth, a Viking prince hellbent on avenging his father’s murder. The journey? Bloody. The energy? Operatic. The vibes? Mythic and unhinged.

Directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse), this isn’t your average sword-swinger. It’s hallucinatory, symbolic, and staged like a fever dream powered by testosterone and Norse mythology. Nicole Kidman is shockingly complex as Amleth’s mother, and Anya Taylor-Joy brings an ethereal edge that cuts through all the mud and blood.

If Gladiator and Valhalla Rising had a terrifying Nordic baby, this would be it. You might not understand every scene—but you’ll feel every swing of the axe.

8. My Spy: The Eternal City (2024)

Dave Bautista is back in action—and yes, the kid is still smarter than him.

My Spy: The Eternal City sends JJ and his now-teen sidekick Sophie to Rome to stop a nuclear plot targeting the Vatican. It’s got car chases through cobblestone streets, tuxedoed punch-outs, and a surprisingly emotional father-daughter-ish core.

Kristen Schaal, Ken Jeong, and Anna Faris add comedy chaos, while Chloe Coleman continues to be the franchise’s secret weapon. The tone balances spy thrills with family-friendly hijinks, and somehow, it all works. It’s basically Mission: Impossible Jr., with more hugs and fewer casualties.

Is it ridiculous? Completely. But it’s self-aware, fast-paced, and—admit it—kind of charming.

9. Man of Steel (2013)

Before the Snyderverse imploded, this is where it began.

Man of Steel reintroduces Superman as a brooding outsider trying to make sense of his powers—and his purpose. Henry Cavill plays it straight (and ripped), Michael Shannon goes full rage-monster as General Zod, and Zack Snyder drenches the whole thing in operatic slo-mo and cosmic stakes.

This isn’t the Boy Scout Superman of old. It’s moodier. Messier. There’s destruction. There’s dad speeches. There’s Russell Crowe hologramming all over the place. Love it or hate it, it made Superman feel like a god caught between worlds.

If you’re into mythic scale and serious capes, it still delivers. Just maybe skip the last 20 minutes if you don’t like watching skyscrapers explode.

10. Upgrade (2018)

Low-key one of the best sci-fi thrillers of the last decade. No lie.

In Upgrade, Grey (Logan Marshall-Green) loses his wife and ends up paralyzed—until a mysterious tech bro implants him with an AI chip called STEM. Suddenly he’s walking again… and fighting like John Wick on cheat mode. But the AI has its own ideas, and things get wild, fast.

Director Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man) crafts a sharp, stylish cyberpunk revenge story on a shoestring budget, with camera work so slick it feels like a video game possessed by a demon. Every fight scene is inventive, brutal, and weirdly funny.

It’s Venom meets Black Mirror with way more personality—and a final twist that hits like a gut punch.

And That’s a Wrap

There you go—ten HBO Max picks that don’t play it safe. You’ve got pixelated chaos (Minecraft), blood-soaked vengeance (The Northman, Sinners), and green-skinned musical drama (Wicked) that’ll have you humming for days. Whether you’re in the mood for sci-fi body horror (Upgrade), a doomed plane ride (Final Destination), or Dave Bautista cracking spy jokes in Rome (My Spy), this week’s lineup seriously delivers.

There’s heart (First Man), grit (The Thicket), gods in capes (Man of Steel), and one gloriously cursed toaster (Final Destination, again—watch your appliances). Some will make you think. Others will just make you cheer when someone gets power-punched across a room.

Either way, HBO Max is loaded. So clear the queue and hit play—you’ve got stories to binge.