May is finally here, which means all those who hate the hot summer have a good enough reason to stay indoors and enjoy HBO Max’s new slate of movies and television shows hitting the platform in the new month. While waiting on a new episode of Barry to drop each Sunday or for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to release this week, dive into some horror classics or a miniseries about a cynical and broken system.
Here are the best movies and TV shows to watch this weekend on HBO Max, including the third season of Snowpiercer and the nostalgic Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Snowpiercer Season 3 Continues the Long Train Ride
TNT’s third season of Snowpiercer has dropped on HBO Max this weekend after its bittersweet ending that aired earlier this month. Based on Bong Joon-ho’s 2013 film of the same name and the 1982 French graphic novel, Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Snowpiercer Season 3 continues the story of passengers on a train constantly circling the globe of a new Snowball Earth. Snowpiercer‘s themes of classicism and social injustice have created a dynamic and inviting discussion reminiscent of the 2013-2016 era of dystopian storytelling.
Season 3 is chock-full of love triangles, LGBTQ romances, and redeemable acts of once irredeemable characters. While some are debating whether the series should end after its fourth season, Season 3 perfectly sets up the story to be continued on the never-ending train ride of civil wars and betrayals.
Don’t Watch The Blair Witch Project in the Dark
Better known for reviving the found-footage technique that sparked a trend with Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield, The Blair Witch Project is now available on HBO Max to stream. During its initial release in 1999, the creatives behind the film were so dedicated to marketing it as a documentary put together from lost footage that they created faux police reports and missing person flyers of the actors, which IMDb even got behind.
The Blair Witch Project follows three film students, Heather, Mike and Josh, who are producing a documentary about the legendary Blair Witch. Even without the use of special effects or fantastical monsters that make up the majority of horror films today, The Blair Witch Project is an effectively scary film just based on the thought of three students getting lost in the woods with the unknown just on their heels.
We Own This City Is a Hard Reality to Face
We Own This City is one of the best new shows in April, with Jon Bernthal leading this brutal hit of a show. The Wire writers David Simon and George Pelecanos return to Baltimore once again to tell the true story of Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force crumbling from its own corruption. In many ways, We Own This City feels like a story in the universe of The Wire, with similar thematic points and punches that are so gut-wrenching to witness.
The glue that holds this show together is Bernthal, who is known for playing shifty characters such as Frank Castle/Punisher or Shane Walsh from The Walking Dead but brings an illuminating duality to his morally-conflicted character. Bernthal’s Sgt. Wayne Jenkins is so easy to root against, but the character himself is convinced he’s the good guy in the situation. With only one episode under the show’s wing, We Own This City has already kept a sense of danger and corruption alive that most shows struggle to light in a matter of seasons.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower Is Both Heartbreaking and Heartwarming
On Sunday, May 1, HBO Max subscribers will be welcomed to dozens of new movies on the platform, with endless possibilities. Among the best is The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which was a staple of Tumblr-era coming-of-age films from 2012 to 2015, when The Fault in Our Stars was still making people cry. Back when The Perks of Being a Wallflower was released, it was everyone’s obsession because it was Emma Watson’s next stand-out role after Harry Potter, and Logan Lerman was making his mark as the first live-action Percy Jackson.
Starring Lerman, Watson, and Ezra Miller (before they were making some pretty regrettable and public mistakes), The Perks of Being a Wallflower is based on the novel of the same name written by Stephen Chbosky — who also directed and wrote the film in a spectacular manner. The film touches on sensitive subjects of post-traumatic stress disorder and isolation but also counter-acts as a feel-good comfort movie about friendship and innocent love. Plus, Paul Rudd supports the cast as a high school English teacher, and a Paul Rudd inclusion makes every movie or show even better.
Made for Love Season 2 Questions What Love Truly Is
Made for Love is on the weirder side of HBO Max’s selection of television shows, but it’s so undeniably odd that it can’t be ignored. Made for Love is based on the novel of the same name by Alissa Nutting and stars Cristin Milioti as Hazel Green, the wife of billionaire tech CEO Byron Gogol (Billy Magnussen). After being confined to a virtual reality complex known as the Hub — which she and Byron have lived in since the first night they met — she escapes but is being tracked by her husband through what he calls a “Made for Love” chip in her brain, notifying him of all her emotions, whereabouts and senses.
The series also features a flashback in each episode depicting Hazel’s life before her escape, either in the Hub or before she met Byron. Through these flashbacks and the present story, viewers learn more about Byron’s quirks and inventions that make the show all the stranger. Though it’s deeply disturbing to watch Byron’s obsession unfold as Hazel understands the danger she is forced into, it’s an addictive and charismatic must-watch.
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