Just like it’s last few monthly schedules, the sheer range of everything new on Max in June is just as thrilling as its previous. Usually, Max tends to bring more and more A24 movies to the service as part of a deal it signed last year, but for this month, it’s Oscar winning movies that are having their time in the spotlight.
Max was our streaming service of the year in 2023 for its incredible catalog and the addition of these four Oscar winners is further proof of that. Three of the four are biopics, because the Academy loves a biopic, but each one has been awarded Oscars in different areas, be that for acting performances, writing talents or visual effects.
With their big Oscar victories and positive critical praise, all four movies have secured a high chance of making it onto our list of the best Max movies. You can find full descriptions of our picks below, a perfect way to start planning your summer movie nights.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Running time: 180 minutes
Age rating: R
Arriving on: June 18
Nolan’s biographical thriller swept the 2024 Academy Awards, taking home seven Oscars including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture. Cillian Murphy stars as the lead, J. Robert Oppenheimer, inventor of the atomic bomb. Over the course of the film’s events, we see every detail of Oppenheimer’s process to creating the nuclear weapons for World War II from his early days as a physics student to July 16, 1945 – a day that altered the course of history.
Judy (2019)
Director: Rupert Goold
Running time: 118 minutes
Age rating: PG-13
Arriving on: June 26
In 2020, Renee Zellweger took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Hollywood icon Judy Garland. Set during the last months of Garland’s life, the biopic follows her as she travels to London to perform a series of sold out shows at the Talk of the Town club. During her time in London, she meets musician Mickey Deans, a man who will become her fifth and final husband.
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Director: Barry Jenkins
Running time: 119 minutes
Age rating: R
Arriving on: June 1
Regina King is the reason for this movie’s Oscar recognition, taking away the award for Best Supporting Actress in 2019 for her role as Sharon Rivers. Based on the novel of the same name by James Baldwin, mother-to-be Tish (Kiki Layne) lives peacefully with her fiancé Alonzo (Stephan James) in early 1970s Harlem, New York. Their dream of having the perfect family is soon threatened when Alonzo is framed for a crime he didn’t commit. With the support of friends and family, Tish fights to clear his name before their child is born.
Milk (2008)
Director: Gus Van Sant
Running time: 128 minutes
Age rating: R
Arriving on: June 1
The third biopic in our list won Sean Penn the Best Actor Oscar, and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Based on the inspiring true story of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk (Penn), the movie follows Milk and his partner Scott Smith (James Franco) on their move to San Francisco from New York. Throughout the ’70s, we see Milk make history as the nation’s first gay man to be elected into a public office, but not everyone is happy with this change.
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