If you’re an HBO Max subscriber, you might be tempted to unsubscribe. After all, with no new Euphoria and The Pitt episodes to look forward to, why keep it?
But the Warner Bros.-owned streamer is more just a platform for great shows – it has some pretty decent films as well, especially in June.
Using IMDb’s user-generated cumulative scores, Watch With Us has ranked the three best new HBO Max movies to watch this June.
From horror flicks like Undertone to the animated comedy Isle of Dogs, the streamer has a diverse slate of high-quality films that rivals what’s on Netflix and Prime Video.
3. ‘Undertone’ (2025)
IMDb rating: 6.0
Things go bump in the night at Evy’s (Nina Kiri) house, and she doesn’t like it all that much. She’s especially sensitive to strange sounds during the midnight hour because she’s in the middle of producing a creepy horror podcast about a real-life crime. A couple mysteriously vanished one night, and the only clues as to what happened to them are a collection of audio files they recorded before their disappearance. But as Evy goes through them one by one, she realizes everything they went through – every weird hallucination, every odd occurrence – she’s going through, too. What’s happening to Evy? And will she meet the same fate as the seemingly doomed couple she’s profiling?
Undertone is the kind of horror-thriller that rewards a patient audience. It’s such a slow-burn movie, it simmers rather than heats up, but it conjures a legitimately creepy atmosphere. Director Ian Tuason doesn’t bother offering too much detail about what’s going on because the things that scare us the most are the ones that have no explanation at all.
Undertone will stream on June 26.
2. ‘A History of Violence’ (2005)
IMDb rating: 7.4
When small-town everyman Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) takes down two killers while attempting to rob his diner, he’s hailed as a national hero by his peers and the national media. But all the attention places a spotlight on Tom’s past, and a secret he’s been hiding from his wife and two children – he’s not Tom Stall at all. He used to be someone who wasn’t so nice and heroic, and he has to face the sins of his past when several associates from his former life come calling for a visit – and retribution.
Directed by David Cronenberg, A History of Violence isn’t your typical action film. Yes, there are gangsters and shootouts, but it’s more of a meditation on violence and second chances. Can you really change who you are? That’s what Tom’s wife, Edie (Maria Bello), asks him and herself as she learns more about his former life. The movie doesn’t provide any easy answers; in fact, it tempts you with its own depictions of violence, and the audience’s need for bloodlust to satisfy our need for justice. You may be tempted to judge Tom for his past – and maybe present crimes – but the film doesn’t let you off the hook, either. Brutal and disturbing, A History of Violence topped many critics’ lists in 2005, and it remains an essential film to watch 21 years after its release.
1. ‘Isle of Dogs’ (2018)
IMDb rating: 7.8
In the near future, a violent strain of canine flu has crippled Japan, and all dogs are quarantined to the “Isle of Dogs,” Trash Island. One of the first dogs sent there is Spots Koboyashi (Liev Schrieber), the guard dog to a politician’s 12-year-old nephew, Atari Koboyashi (Koyu Rankin). Atari is determined to get his beloved pooch bag, so he hijacks a plane and travels to the island to rescue Spots. But with an island full of hostile dogs, Atari will have to convince them to help him on his quest to save Spots and bring him back home.
Following the success of the stop-motion animated film The Fantastic Mr. Fox, director Wes Anderson went back to the genre to craft another tale of brave animals banding together. In contrast to Fox’s bright colors and warm, familial atmosphere, Isle of Dogs is grayer, colder and a bit darker; while technically a kid’s film, there’s an opening cat decapitation and some lethal sushi that’s best not consumed. But it’s ultimately a charming comedy about good animals triumphing over bad humans, with an impressive vocal cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray and even Yoko Ono.
