Despite only just being released on streaming, John Crowley’s romantic drama We Live in Time (2024) has shot to the top of Max’s most-watched movie list, solidifying its place among the best Max movies. But it’s not the only A24 drama available to stream on Max, and if you’ve already managed to catch We Live in Time, allow me to point you towards these seven A24 movies with over 91% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics.
Since We Live in Time packs all the emotions, I felt it’s only appropriate that I give you a range of new Max movies that reflect everything A24 has to offer – whether that’s a coming-of-age story, a crime drama thriller, or a genre-blending Best Picture winner with elements of comedy and sci-fi.
There’s a reason why movie lovers gravitate towards A24 features, and it’s not just because they’re widely available across the best streaming services, but because they touch upon relatable themes relevant to the human experience – even if the main character is, say, souring through the multiverse sporting hotdogs for fingers (you’ll have to watch Everything Everywhere All At Once to get what I mean there).
A Different Man (2024)
RT Score: 93%
Age rating: R
Length: 112 minutes
Director: Aaron Schimberg
Similarly to We Live in Time, Schimberg’s dark comedy was released just year and has already proved itself to be worthy of a place among the best Max movies. One of Max’s perks is that you don’t have to worry about missing new theatrical releases, as within a few months they’re likely to end up on Max where you can stream that at your heart’s desire.
Leading man Sebastian Stan stars as Edward, an aspiring actor who is diagnosed with a skin condition called neurofibromatosis. When he learns that his condition could disfigure his face, he decides to undergo a big medical procedure to prevent any signs of disfigurement. Following the surgery, he now has his ideal appearance, but it soon becomes a hinderance to his career projection when he’s unsuccessful of landing a role he was destined to play. As a result, his obsession with getting back what he’s lost manifests itself. As well as starring in Ali Abbasi’s biopic The Apprentice (2024), Sebastian Stan has had a busy year indeed.
Lady Bird (2017)
RT Score: 99%
Age rating: R
Length: 94 minutes
Director: Greta Gerwig
As far as the perfect coming-of-age story goes, the standard consists of different things. It has to make you laugh, it has to make you cry, and it must avoid cliché. With that said, Lady Bird ticks all the boxes – hence it’s near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score.
In the role that landed her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, Saoirse Ronan is a rebellious teenager who has given herself the name ‘Lady Bird’. Stuck in the confines of her Catholic school, graduation is nearing meaning that her escape out of her hometown of Sacramento, California is imminent – and she has her mind focussed on the light at the end of the tunnel. In the last few months of high school, we see her navigating her first romances and balancing her complicated relationship with her mother all the while learning from her mistakes and evolving into a mature young woman.
The Farewell (2019)
RT Score: 97%
Age rating: PG
Length: 100 minutes
Director: Lulu Wang
If you’re like me and you like to test your emotional limits from time to time, then perhaps you should add The Farewell next in your queue of Max drama movies. Usually I’m used to seeing Awkwafina in unserious, more comedic roles, so this departure is interesting to say the least.
Chinese-American woman Billi (Awkwafina) is informed of her grandmother’s terminal illness, and now that she has weeks left to live, Billi returns to the family home in China for one last gathering. There’s only one person however that’s unaware of the seriousness of the illness – her grandmother herself. To keep things under wraps, the family hosts a fake wedding so that the whole family can be there to say their goodbyes.
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
RT Score: 94%
Age rating: R
Length: 132 minutes
Directors: Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
After sweeping Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Pitcure at the 2023 Oscars, Everything Everywhere All At Once has proved itself to be a modern cinema classic and the gold standard for an A24 drama. That aside, it’s an emotionally powerful movie that packs a balance of comedy and sci-fi elements.
When Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), a Chinese-American immigrant, is approached by the IRS she embarks on a journey beyond her wildest dreams. Unlocking a unique power to traverse through parallel universes, she’s sent on a whirlwind journey coming face-to-face with alternate versions of herself and witnessing the lives she could have led.
The Zone of Interest (2023)
RT Score: 93%
Age rating: PG-13
Length: 105 minutes
Director: Johnathan Glazer
This is the part where my list takes a bit of a turn, as from here on, the titles sit on the more dark and unsettling side of A24’s catalog of dramas. Kicking it off is Johnathan Glazer’s war drama The Zone of Interest, which made waves in 2023 as one of the stand-out releases of the year.
Named after the area surrounding the Auschwitz concentration camp, Glazer’s drama is loosely based on the novel by Martin Amis and follows Nazi commandment Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel). Residing in the perimeter outside of the concentration camp, Höss balances his role with trying to maintain a harmonious family life with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller).
This spine-chilling picture is more than a movie, showing a juxtaposition between the ways of everyday life that existed while the horrors of the Holocaust were so casually executed.
The Lighthouse (2017)
RT Score: 90%
Age rating: PG-13
Length: 110 minutes
Director: Robert Eggers
Before Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu (2024), he was already dabbling in different areas of folklore with his movies The Witch (2015) and The Northman (2022). With The Lighthouse, Eggers fused psychological drama with his knack for folk stories, taking inspiration from an old tale of a lighthouse accident in Wales in the 1800s.
On the coast of New England Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) starts a four-week shift as a lighthouse keeper alongside Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe), a former sailor. As the two settle into their roles in the isolated lighthouse, their sanity starts to decay and quickly they believe their strange hallucinations to be a matter of reality.
Good Time (2017)
RT Score: 91%
Age rating: R
Length: 101 minutes
Director: Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie
The final A24 drama I’m recommending is an engaging crime drama with thriller elements, and because I’m an admirer of his, here’s another Robert Pattinson feature for you. I know you won’t be disappointed.
Criminal Connie Nikas (Pattinson) and his disabled younger brother Nick (Benny Safdie) are caught at the hands of the police when their plan to rob a bank is botched, landing Nick in police custody. To free his younger, vulnerable brother from the law Connie sets out on the run from the police on a dangerous journey through the darkest sides of New York City’s criminal world.
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rowan.davies@futurenet.com (Rowan Davies)
