9 Best Sci-Fi Movies on HBO Max Right Now (September 2026): ‘The Meg’ and More

When a research crew exploring the Marina Trench becomes trapped under the water by a mysterious and massive creature, only veteran diver Jonas (Jason Statham) and his team can save them. But when they venture to the damaged submersible, they realize the attacking creature isn’t anything they’ve ever seen before. It’s a prehistoric shock that no human has ever encountered before, and it’s about to reintroduce itself to the world by destroying everything and consuming everyone in the sea.

A big-budget B-movie, The Meg is sublime dumb fun. It understands that it has two things modern moviegoers crave: Jason Statham and a giant monster only CGI could bring to life. The result is a monster movie that’s silly and immensely enjoyable; even the obvious product placements for Chinese tourism are a hoot to clock. Statham’s acting is reduced to two modes: looking pissed off and bewildered at the ancient sea behemoth he has to somehow defeat. That’s about right for a picture like The Meg, which doesn’t need great acting or logic for its audience to enjoy.

The Earthrealm is under threat from Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), the corrupt ruler of Eternia. To save it, a group of warriors, including Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) and Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), must enter a no-holds-barred fighting tournament where the ultimate champion will decide the fate of their world. But Kahn’s team of fighters is formidable, and it will take a mix of brains, brawn and magic to defeat all of them and face Kahn and some surprise guests to save humanity.

Unlike the 2021 reboot, Mortal Kombat II gives what its fans actually want — a series of one-on-one battles featuring some of the franchise’s most beloved characters. Is it great cinema to see a series of fights between cartoonish characters grunt and fling CGI fireballs at each other? Nah, but no one expects a Mortal Kombat flick to be a great thing. It just needs to recreate what the video games established in the ‘90s: comically gross violence, over-the-top fatalities and a high-stakes storyline where the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Urban yucks it up as the vain actor Cage, who loves his fighting skills almost as much as his pretty-boy good looks, and the rest of the cast do a good job of filling out the 2D pixels of their video game characters.

In an alternate reality 1970s America, everyone is broke, and America is run by a military regime that will execute any citizen who breaks its rigid rules. There is a bright spot, of sorts; every year, the regime holds a contest, “The Long Walk,” where 50 teenage boys from 50 different states have to walk for miles without stopping. The upside is that the winner gets a cash prize and one of their wishes will be granted. The downside is that if you’re one of the losers, you’re dead. If anyone stands still or walks below 3 miles per hour, they’re shot.

Like most of the contestants, Pete (David Jonsson) entered the contest to earn money so his family can have a better life, but Raymond (Cooper Hoffman) is different. He wants revenge against the Major (Mark Hamill), who oversees the Long Walk, and who is rumored to be the illegitimate father of one or more of the contestants. As they walk across a devastated America, Pete and Ray quickly form a deep friendship, but how long can that last in a contest where only one of them can survive? 

The Long Walk is a classic “hard sci-fi” film that, with a few tweaks, could legitimately take place in the real world. Its alternate reality of a fascist America isn’t too far from our own, and the concept of a reality show where people betray each other for cash is already happening in 2026. (Ahem, I’m looking at you, The Traitors.) Based on a well-regarded Stephen King novel, the film tells a gripping story, even if the ending is a bit obvious. It’s worth watching, if only to see the talented Jonsson and Hoffman create a bromance that can only end in tragedy.

Mickey Barnes (Primetime‘s Robert Pattinson) is willing to do anything to go to space and be a part of a new colony world. Unfortunately for the title character of director Bong Joon Ho‘s Mickey 17, that usually means doing all of the dirty work of space travel. And that often results in Mickey’s death.

Although he suffers some horrible fates, Mickey’s never been happier after he’s continuously cloned and restored. Mickey may even find love with Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackie), one of the security agents on the mission. Everything’s turning up roses until one of Mickey’s clones returns after a seemingly fatal mission. Now, the two Mickeys will have to determine which of them should survive.

Mickey 17 is streaming on HBO Max.

At the beginning of the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy, the chimpanzee known as Caesar (Andy Serkis) still felt an affinity for humans. But he’s lost a lot of his love for humanity by the events of War for the Planet of the Apes. It’s hard to blame him, considering that humans killed his wife and oldest child.

As a final conflict looms between Caesar’s tribe and soldiers led by Colonel J. Wesley McCullough (Woody Harrelson), Caesar reluctantly becomes the guardian of a mute human girl named Nova (Amiah Miller). She doesn’t know it, but Nova may inadvertently hold the key to victory in this war.

War for the Planet of the Apes is streaming on HBO Max.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a post-apocalyptic story that’s a little light on sci-fi and very heavy on action. This prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road features Anya Taylor-Joy as a much younger Furiosa and depicts her first meeting with her future nemesis, Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme).

As much as Furiosa despises Joe, it’s nothing compared to the burning hatred she feels for Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), the warlord responsible for her abduction as a child and the murder of her mother. It may take years of her life, but Furiosa won’t stop until she gets her revenge.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is streaming on HBO Max.

The name of Fahrenheit 451 comes from the temperature at which books burn, and it was written by the late Ray Bradbury as a cautionary tale about a possible future. Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan leads this HBO original adaptation as Guy Montag, a fireman whose only job is to burn books.

A young woman named Clarisse McClellan (Sofia Boutella) changes Guy’s perspective and makes him want to save books from being burned. That’s not going to sit well with Guy’s boss, Captain John Beatty (Michael Shannon), and there are always consequences fro going up against the system.

Fahrenheit 451 is streaming on HBO Max.

The story of Companion‘s lead characters, Iris (Heretic‘s Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), could have been a charming rom-com — if it were real. Iris feels she has the perfect soulmate in Josh until she learns that she isn’t really his girlfriend. Instead, Iris is an AI-powered android programmed to believe she was in love with Josh.

Iris may not be a person, but she can still feel betrayal and anger. Josh used her, but he made some critical mistakes that left Iris with the ability to manipulate and enhance her own programming. For Iris, these self-improvements aren’t just an evolution of her very being; they’re essential to her survival.

Companion is streaming on HBO Max.

Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut) and Arthur C. Clarke‘s 2001: A Space Odyssey still feels ahead of its time nearly six decades after its release. The conflict between the A.I. known as HAL 9000 (Douglas Rain) and two astronauts, David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood), is especially prescient. The astronauts catch HAL in an error, and the AI becomes increasingly unhinged and paranoid about their intentions towards it.

The larger mission that David and Frank have embarked upon has implications for the past and future of humanity. An enigmatic alien monolith is broadcasting a signal to Jupiter. What awaits is one of the most mind-bending sequences ever put to film.

2001: A Space Odyssey is streaming on HBO Max.