A24 has become known as a distributor that carefully curates its film selections, often releasing unique and thought-provoking films that tend to take more risks than movies from the larger movie studios. Because of this, the indie production company has put out a lot of fantastic horror films throughout the years, some of them even heralded as the best of all time.
Luckily for fans of A24's horror movies, Max is home to several right now. Here are seven of our favorites currently streaming on the service.
X (2022)
- Director/Writer: Ti West
- Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, & Scott Mescudi
One of the best and most exciting slashers of the past decade, X is a bona fide classic in the making from filmmaker Ti West. The start of an original horror trilogy featuring several up-and-coming stars like Jenna Ortega and Mia Goth. But in truth this is Goth’s movie.
This is the start of Maxine Minx’s journey and eventual evolution into a star. In the year 1979, Maxine and a group of friends rent a house in rural Texas to shoot an adult film, unaware that the couple they’re renting from are psychopathic murderers. Particularly Pearl, who is also played by Goth and makes for a chilling and fascinating villain.
MaXXXine (2024)
- Director/Writer: Ti West
- Cast: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, & Kevin Bacon
Following up on X is MaXXXine, the conclusion to the X trilogy and Maxine’s story. Set six years after the 2022 slasher, MaXXXine follows its titular character to Los Angeles. It’s the 1980s now and Maxine has finally begun making a name for herself in Hollywood.
She lands a starring role in a horror movie and seems to be on the up-and-up, until someone starts viciously murdering her friends. The detectives think there could be a connection between Maxine, the killer, and the Texas farmstead massacre that took place years before. I also recommend watching the second movie in the X trilogy, prequel film Pearl, but it isn’t available on Max at the moment (try Netflix).
The Front Room (2024)
- Directors/Writers: Max & Sam Eggers
- Cast: Brandy, Andrew Burnap, Neal Huff, & Kathryn Hunter
You’ve never had mother-in-law problems like this the ones faced by Belinda (Brandy) in this movie, that I can almost guarantee. I had mixed feelings on The Front Room overall, but it’s worth watching at least once just to appreciate the bonkers, scenery-chewing performance from Kathryn Hunter as evil mother-in-law Solange.
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Recently widowed, Solange bullies and gaslights her way back into her son’s life. Belinda convinces her husband to give Solange a chance despite the fact she abused him as a kid. Once she’s made herself at home, it becomes clear that Solange has plans for the couple and intends to get her way no matter what.
The Lighthouse (2019)
- Director: Robert Eggers
- Writers: Robert & Max Eggers
- Cast: Willem Dafoe & Robert Pattinson
Nosferatu fans must check out this older Robert Eggers film starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as lighthouse keepers who slowly descend into madness. Like his recent vampire film, The Lighthouse is also a period-accurate horror story set in the 19th century.
But this story is more intimate and oftentimes claustrophobic, leading to a tense story about two men trying to stay sane while stuck on a remote island all alone. Pattinson and Dafoe are excellent in their roles, bringing a great deal of subtext that continues to be fun to parse even years after the film debuted.
Heretic (2024)
- Directors/Writers: Scott Beck & Bryan Woods
- Cast: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, & Chloe East
This addition is cheating in the slightest as Heretic isn't streaming now, but it will be added soon, on March 7! Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher portray a pair of Mormon missionaries sent to recruit a potential convert and provide him with information on the church. The convert in question is the creepy and reclusive Mr. Reed, played by Hugh Grant in one of his creepiest and most villainous roles yet.
Mr. Reed has ulterior motives for inviting the girls to his home. By the time the missionaries realize that Mr. Reed's intentions might not be as altruistic as he initially presents, it's too late. They must then find a way to survive his increasingly strange house of horrors and tests.
I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
- Director/Writer: Jane Schoenbrun
- Cast: Justice Smith, Jack Haven, Helena Howard, Lindsey Jordan, Conner O'Malley, Emma Portner, Ian Foreman, Fred Durst, & Danielle Deadwyler
Outcast teenagers Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Jack Haven) bond over their shared love of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-esque television show called The Pink Opaque, often using it as an escape from the very real traumas they face every day.
Then, one day, Maddy disappears. Years later, she returns and tells Owen that everything happening in The Pink Opaque is real and that she and Owen might share a deeper connection to the show's protagonists than they ever could have imagined. A beautiful and tragic horror film from filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow is the second in the filmmaker's "Screen Trilogy." We're All Going to the World's Fair is also streaming on Max.