Just like the last few monthly schedules, June’s huge offering of everything new on Max is just as exciting as the last. Normally Max tends to release more and more A24 films as part of a deal he signed last year, but this month the Oscar-winning films are 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 biopics, but they all received Oscars in different areas, whether acting, writing or visual effects.
With their major Oscar wins and positive critical acclaim, all four films have a strong chance of making our list of the best Max films. Below you’ll find the full description of our picks, a perfect way to start planning your summer movie nights.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Duration: 180 minutes
Age classification: R
Arrival at: June 18
Nolan’s biographical thriller swept the 2024 Academy Awards, winning seven Oscars, including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture. Cillian Murphy plays the lead role, J. Robert Oppenheimer, inventor of the atomic bomb. Over the course of the film’s events, we see every detail of Oppenheimer’s process of creating the nuclear weapons for World War II, from his early days as a physics student to July 16, 1945 – a day that changed the course of history.
Judy (2019)
Director: Rupert Gold
Duration: 118 minutes
Age classification: PG-13
Arrival at: June 26
In 2020, Renee Zellweger took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Hollywood icon Judy Garland. Set during the final 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 stay 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
Duration: 119 minutes
Age classification: R
Arrival at: 1 June
Regina King is the reason for this film’s Oscar recognition, taking away the 2019 Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Sharon Rivers. Based on the novel of the same name by James Baldwin, expectant mother Tish (Kiki Layne) lives peacefully with her fiancé Alonzo (Stephan James) in Harlem, New York, in the early 1970s. Their dream of having the perfect family is soon threatened when Alonzo is accused of 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: Guus Van Sant
Duration: 128 minutes
Age classification: R
Arrival at: 1 June
The third biopic in our list won Sean Penn the Oscar for Best Actor, and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Based on the inspiring true story of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk (Penn), the film follows Milk and his partner Scott Smith (James Franco) as they move to San Francisco from New York. Throughout the 1970s we see Milk making history as the country’s first gay man elected to public office, but not everyone is happy with this change.
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