Late last year, A24 signed a multiyear deal with Warner Bros. Discovery—the main takeaway from which is that Max subscribers now have easy access to some of the award-winning film company’s biggest titles. While A24's offerings aren’t all sci-fi, horror, or fantasy, many do fit that description. Here are 10 to get you started, all streaming now on Max.
Ari Aster’s divisive 2023 release Beau Is Afraid is not currently part of Max’s A24 selection, but his other two releases are. First, there’s Midsommar, about a young woman (Florence Pugh) whose Scandinavian jaunt turns into a Wicker Man-esque nightmare—though her relationship troubles might actually be a source of greater horror. Watch on Max.
And, of course, there’s Aster’s Hereditary, featuring an absolutely searing performance by Toni Collette as a mother whose carefully ordered life begins to crumble thanks to some very disturbing family secrets... and a significant dose of sinister magic. Watch on Max.
New to Max this month is this 2023 brain-mangler from writer-director Kristoffer Borgli, who’s now firmly ensconced on our “we’ll watch anything he puts out next” list. Dream Scenario stars Nicolas Cage as an average schlub who starts popping up in the dreams of his family, acquaintances, and random strangers—and from that uniquely weird premise, takes twists and turns you absolutely will not anticipate. Watch on Max.
Newly minted Oscar winner Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) co-wrote and directed this eerie yet poignant 2013 tale of an alluring alien (Scarlett Johansson) who prowls Scotland, feeding on male victims and exploring what it means to be human. Watch on Max.
Alex Garland’s much-anticipated Civil War is out next month; in the meantime, revisit his 2015 release, which io9 hailed at the time as proof that “science fiction movies can be smart AND kick your ass.” Also: Oscar Isaac dancing. Watch on Max.
These days, Yorgos Lanthimos is hailed as the creator of highly original, unabashedly out-there movies that have a tendency to win a lot of Oscars, particularly for their leading actresses. But back in 2015, the Greek filmmaker made his English-language debut with this quirky, dystopian tale of strictly enforced romantic rules and animal transformations. Watch on Max.
Anya Taylor-Joy will soon spit fire and gasoline in George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga—but she’s been astonishing audiences since her 2015 breakthrough in Robert Eggers’ unsettling examination of a Puritan family struggling to survive even before supernatural forces start creeping in. Watch on Max.
If you’d told anyone back in 2016 that the directors of this surreal comedy about a rotting corpse that is surprisingly alive would sweep the Oscars with their next film—you might get a dead-eyed stare. Maybe a fart or two. While Swiss Army Man was seen as more of an intriguing oddity when it was released, it’s since earned its rightful place as a cult classic. Watch on Max.
Dev Patel’s about to make his directorial debut with action-packed revenge tale Monkey Man—but his versatile talents come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following him since 2008's Slumdog Millionaire. This 2021 epic, a riff on 14th century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight from David Lowery (A Ghost Story, Pete’s Dragon), proves “stylized medieval fantasy” is also well within Patel’s range. Watch on Max.
Last year’s horror triumph Evil Dead Rise didn’t just come out of nowhere—it came from, uh, The Hole in the Ground, the unsettling changeling tale that helped bring its Irish writer-director, Lee Cronin, to Sam Raimi’s attention. Watch on Max.