Along with May flowers, April brings plenty of new movies to Max. This month’s list of new on Max movies is filled with big hits and classic films, from mega franchises like “Harry Potter” to foreign action thrillers like “Infernal Affairs.” But what we’re interested in is the highest-rated new additions.
With so many new movies hitting Max in April 2024, we’re rounding up the ones with a 90% or higher score on Rotten Tomatoes to help you narrow down what to watch on your next movie night. While a high rating on the review aggregate site doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you’ll love the film, it is a useful indicator that a majority of critics consider a movie worthy of making your watchlist.
The highest-rated new to Max movies span a range of genres, from documentaries to Oscar-winning dramas. However, something they all share in common is the stamp of approval from people who evaluate movies for a living. That’s more than enough reason to stream these five movies now.
‘The Zone of Interest’ (2023)
After taking home two Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, including Best International Feature Film and Best Sound, “The Zone of Interest” finally landed on Max this month. Horrific yet undeniably brilliant, “The Zone of Interest” is a poignant WWII historical drama starring Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss and Sandra Hüller as his wife Hedwig. The film revolves around this German couple building their perfect picket fence life in the literal shadow of the Auschwitz concentration camp, which Rudolf runs.
While this movie doesn’t shy away from the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany against the Jewish people, it’s more like background noise than the main focus. The real horror comes from observing the mundane normalcy the family is able to carve out amid it all, as they see their place in the Holocaust as simply a means to a better life.
Genre: History/Drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Stream it on Max
‘McQueen’ (2018)
“McQueen” takes a look at the legacy of Lee A McQueen, the eccentric, anti-establishment fashion designer better known as Alexander McQueen. This mesmerizing documentary follows McQueen’s life from his early days as a tailor to rising through the ranks at Givenchy and eventually launching and overseeing his eponymous line.
By combining home videos of the designer goofing off in the studio with footage of his shows and talking head interviews with some of his closest colleagues, “McQueen” manages to capture the impact he had on both the people around him and the fashion industry as a whole. While at the same time not shying away from the controversy, overwork, and drug-fueled stretches that ultimately drove McQueen to suicide in 2010.
Genre: Documentary
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%
Stream it on Max
‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ (2011)
Watching all the Harry Potter movies in order has never been easier with all eight landing on Max this month. And the highest rated among them (on Rotten Tomatoes, at least) is the big finale, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”
The franchise follows Harry, Hermione and Ron’s adventures at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and “Deathly Hallows: Part 2” sees the trio face off against the greatest evil the wizarding world has ever known. After the friends track down and destroy all the Horcruxes that keep Lord Voldemort immortal, Harry and Voldemort meet at Hogwarts Castle for an epic showdown where the forces of darkness may finally meet their match.
Genre: Fantasy/adventure
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Stream it on Max
‘The Social Network’ (2010)
Frequently hailed as a seminal work of the 21st century thus far, “The Social Network” is a biographical drama detailing the inception of Facebook and the subsequent fallout between two of its co-founders, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).
Directed by “Fight Club’s” David Fincher, the movie opens at Harvard University in 2003 and traces the journey of how the two sophomores created a website from their dorm room that became the de facto social network for millions of people throughout the 2010s. Using a unique, non-linear structure that weaves together multiple timelines, “The Social Network” explores the dangers of mixing business with friendship and underscores just how cutthroat the creation of what would become the world’s largest social media platform really was.
Genre: Biopic
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Stream it on Max
‘Lost In Translation’ (2003)
In 2003, Sofia Coppola (daughter of the revered director Francis Ford Coppola) followed up her critically acclaimed directorial debut, “The Virgin Suicides,” with what many consider to be one of the best romantic dramas ever made.
A mix of comedy and melancholy, “Lost in Translation” is credited for a resurgence in Bill Murray’s career and marked the breakout of Scarlett Johansson from teen to adult roles. The film follows Bob (Murray), an aging movie star who has resorted to television ads to keep his career afloat. While back in Tokyo to promote Suntory Whisky, he meets Charlotte (Johansson), a newlywed accompanying her celebrity photographer husband on a work trip who’s already disenchanted about her marriage. While Bob and Charlotte both feel lost in the world, they strike up a friendship that turns deep and meaningful.
Genre: Romantic comedy/drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Stream it on Max
