Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming channel Max officially launches in Australia on March 31, bringing with it a host of unmissable shows and movies.
Previously, Foxtel’s Binge had exclusive rights to HBO content, but now that’s all changing and Max viewers will be able to binge series such as And Just Like That, House of the Dragon and True Detective. There will also be big-screen hits including Barbie, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, The Harry Potter franchise, The Lord of the Rings and the DC Universe to get stuck into.
If you want to sign up to one of the best streaming services, then a basic package with ads will cost you AU$7.99 a month for the first 12 months, if you sign up by April 30, 2025, while a premium plan starts at AU$17.99 a month. After that, regular pricing is AU$11.99 for the basic plan, AU$15.99 for standard and AU$21.99 for premium.
For those keen to start digging into some of the best Max shows and best Max movies, here are my five favourite HBO shows that you should start watching right away.
The Last Of Us
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Age rating: 15+
Length: 43-81 minutes
Director: Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin
Seasons: 1 (with the second season coming on April 14)
Based on the 2013 video game, post-apocalyptic thriller drama, The Last of Us is set 20 years after a parasitic fungal infection spread across the planet, turning humans into violent beings known as The Infected. It follows smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) who is hired to take 14-year-old orphan Ella (Bella Ramsey), who was born immune to the plague, across America to reach the rebel forces.
If tense action, high drama, gruesome monsters and hard-hitting emotional moments are your thing, then give this series a try – not least because The Last of Us season 2 will arrive on April 14 for those in Australia.
Succession
RT score: 95%
Age rating: 15+
Length: 60-70 minutes
Director: Mark Mylod
Seasons: 4
Succession is well worth a watch, if only to see Brian Cox at his brilliant, sweary best. Add to that fabulously unlikeable characters, brutal family dynamics and razor-sharp writing and it’s not one to miss.
The show follows Logan Roy (Brian Cox) the ageing owner of the global media firm Waystar RoyCo, and his adult children Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Siobhan (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin). As Logan’s health fails, it sparks a vicious power struggle between the Roy children and their many hangers-on as they battle to succeed him.
The White Lotus
RT score: 91%
Age rating: 15+
Length: 57 minutes
Director: Mike White
Seasons: 3
Emmy-winning satirical drama The White Lotus follows the guests and staff at high-end holiday resorts, with each series featuring a glamourous new location and a different cast.
The first season is set in Hawaii, while the second season is set in Italy and the latest series – The White Lotus season 3 – takes place in Thailand. The show also boasts stellar actors including Jennifer Coolidge, Theo James, Aimee Lou Wood and Tom Hollander.
It takes a deep dive into the lives of the privileged few and, be warned, you should always expect the unexpected!
Big Little Lies
RT score: 89%
Age rating: 15+
Length: 50-55 minutes
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Seasons: 2
Also taking a closer look at the lives of the rich and beautiful, Big Little Lies stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Zoë Kravitz, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep and Shailene Woodley.
Based on the bestselling novel by Liane Moriarty, it follows the upper-class mothers at a top school whose lives are rocked when a single mother moves to their idyllic town in Monterey, California. And when their perfect worlds start to unravel, things take a murderous turn.
House of the Dragon
RT score: 86%
Age rating: 15+
Length: 60-70 minutes
Director: Clare Kilner, Miguel Sapochnik, Greg Yaitanes, Geeta Vasant Patel, Alan Taylor, Andrij Parekh and Lori Peristere
Seasons: 2
If you loved Game of Thrones (and who didn’t?), then don’t miss the opportunity to find out why the Targaryen dynasty fell into a devastating decline.
Set approximately 172 years before GoT, which is also available to watch on Max, the prequel stars Emma D’Arcy and Tom Glynn-Carney as Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon II and focuses on the events that led to the civil war as the pair battled for control of the Iron Throne.
