There’s a ton of new movies coming to HBO Max this month, and while there are almost no original HBO films, there’s a plethora of classics.
The list of what’s coming to HBO Max this September has finally released, bringing with it a large range of movies both old and new. From movies old enough to still be filmed in black and white to movies released just this year, there’s a lot of new content coming to sort through.
There is only one new original movie premiere scheduled for this month so far, the documentary Escape From Kabul. HBO seems more interested in its TV programs in September as we push into the fall scheduling, when many of our favorite TV shows are set to return for their next seasons across all the popular platforms. You can check out some of the best movies that are coming to HBO Max this month here, and see if you’ll find an old or new favorite.
The new documentary Escape From Kabul is about a moment in August 2021 where the United States evacuated its military from Afghanistan and ended a nearly two decade war. Escape From Kabul was filmed during this withdrawal, capturing the ins and outs of everything that happened.
The Marines were sent to evacuate any American citizens there, as well as some Afghans who had helped the Allied Forces during their time there. They were initially given to the end of the month, but when the Taliban invaded the city that week, thousands of other Afghans rushed to the airport to seek escape as they feared what would happen next. Combining footage of the evacuations along with exclusive interviews with refugees, Marines, and even some Taliban fighters, this harrowing documentary isn’t something you’re going to want to miss.
The title tells no lies: Hot Tub Time Machine revolves around a time-traveling hot tub. A group of friends (a hilarious cast including the great John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, and Clark Duke) who are upset with their current lives reconnect when one of them, Lou, is hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning. In an attempt to cheer each other up, they decided to visit a Ski Resort where they enjoyed themselves in their youth.
After jumping into their room’s hot tub together and accidentally spilling an energy drink over the console, they wake up the next day and slowly discover they have traveled back in time, assuming their younger bodies. Now, if they need to try and reenact the events of what happened during their visit there or risk affecting history, but with their knowledge of the future, they have a hard time doing so. The film is written and directed by long-time Cusack collaborator Steve Pink, who brings the same charm he brought in the scripts for the great Cusack movies Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity.
Bandslam is about a group of high school friends forming a band together. Will has moved to a new school after his mom got a new job, and he is hoping to have a better experience here than he did at his previous school. He’s got a love of music that helps him make a few friends, and then he learns of the upcoming battle of the bands, the Bandslam. The winning band gets a recording contract. Excited, Will is ready to form a rock band together with his friends, but as their own feelings begin to get in the way as some romantic interest starts to bloom.
The drama Shadow Dancer is about Collette, a member of the Irish Republican Army, who is caught in a failed bombing on London. She’s given a choice: lose her young son as she spends the next 25 years in jail, or agree to become a spy for MI5. She takes the latter and begins to give MI5 information so that she can remain with her family.
Things begin to go wrong when it’s revealed Collette is being used as cover to hide another MI5 mole, and a member of the army grows suspicious that there is a mole in Collette’s family. With Collette’s life now in immediate danger, things begin to take a turn, and she has to figure out a way to survive. The wonderful cast of Shadow Dancer, including the charming Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, and Aidan Gillen, helps sell this immensely tense drama.
In the Fade is about a distraught woman, Katja, whose husband and son were killed by a nail bomb. The main suspects of the bombing are Neo-Nazis, one of whom Katja thinks she saw that day and insists that the police publish a sketch of her to have her arrested. She is devastated when her mother-in-law blames her supposedly bad parenting for the death of her son, and in this moment of weakness, begins to turn to drugs.
Though she is almost ready to die by suicide without them there, a voicemail from her lawyer saves her as he claims a Neo-Nazi couple has been arrested as suspects in the case. Now, she must go to court with them and try to prove that they are the ones that killed her family. The movie, directed by the brilliant Fatih Akin, won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, and features an incredible performance by Diane Kruger.
The apocalyptic drama Melancholia is a dark art film about depression directed by the controversial Lars Von Trier that follows two sisters on the eve of Earth's destruction. The first sister, Justine, is about to be married, having their reception on the grounds of the castle her sister Claire and her husband own. Though the event sounds promising, things go south rather quick. Justine’s divorced parents verbally abuse each other the whole time, and Justine’s job has promoted her, expecting her to work while she’s at the celebration.
In the end she ends up quitting her job and calling off her marriage, instead falling into depression. Claire lets her stay at their estate in an attempt to help, but news of an approaching planet that came from behind the sun changes things. Claire is scared of the possible end of the world, but Justine welcomes it, and together, they repair their previously strained relationship and watch as the world begins to fall apart around them in this masterpiece with an extremely impressive cast — Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander and Stellan Skarsgard, Kiefer Sutherland, Udo Kier, and John Hurt.
Based on two books written by Colin Clark, My Week with Marilyn is about the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl, during which Clark had escorted her around London. Clark was a recent graduate and aspiring filmmaker, so he hoped to get a job on Laurence Oliver’s next production. Despite the production manager telling him there were no more jobs, Clark waits for Oliver and manages to get a job on The Prince and the Showgirl.
One of his first tasks is with securing a place for the star, Marilyn Monroe, and her husband to stay, and he impresses Oliver by revealing he secured two houses, just in case the paparazzi found the first one as they did. While Marilyn is struggling to figure out her character, along with problems with her husband, it is Clark that finds and helps her, having slowly developed a crush on her that now quickly becomes something more. The movie earned many award nominations for the movie itself and the performances, including at the Golden Globes, Oscars, and BAFTAs.
Elvis is a new biographical movie about the titular rock and roll icon. Starting from the early years of his life and his fascination with comics and music, soon Elvis meets his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, at a Louisiana Hayride performance. His family is quickly lifted out of poverty, but his music and performances begin to spark controversy. The movie then continues to chronicle his drafting and time spent in the army overseas, and even mentions a few major events that happened during his lifetime, such as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. While he wants to write songs reflecting the political discourse in the country, Parker is strictly against it, and these tensions continue throughout Elvis’ career. The Baz Luhrmann film became a big success and has sparked renewed interest in biopics of classic actors.
Katelin McDougald is a writer who is also an avid fan of many things in the entertainment industry. Movies, TV shows, books, video games—you name it! Though she loves fantasy through and through, action and adventure, as well as mysteries, are among her favorites too!