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Sci-fi on HBO Max: the best movies

24 sci-fi films available on HBO Max today, ranked by audience rating, most recommended first. Updated September 25, 2026

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse leads with 8,3 out of 10, ahead of A Clockwork Orange (8,2). Ratings range from 7,3 to 8,3. The oldest, A Trip to the Moon, goes back to 1902. 5 films came out since 2021.

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What to know before choosing

Science fiction is read by its date. It is not a genre about the future but about the era that produced it: the fears of 1975 are not those of 2015, and a well-rated science fiction film has almost always named an anxiety before anyone else did. It is also the genre with the widest gap between audience rating and actual ageing — cross this list with the decades and the effect is striking.

HBO Max carries two catalogs with nothing in common: the Warner library, very wide and very old, and the in-house productions, few and much noticed. A by-genre list almost always leans to the Warner side, which gives an unusually spread-out distribution across decades. It is one of the rare catalogs where looking for a 1970s film genuinely makes sense.

Frequently asked questions

How were these 24 films chosen?

They come from the TMDB catalog, filtered on audience rating and on a minimum number of votes — without that second filter, a film rated 9 out of 10 by eleven people would outrank a classic. No place is for sale: no platform, distributor or studio can enter this list other than by being well rated.

Which film in this list is rated highest?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), with 8,3 out of 10 from 9,289 audience votes.

Are these films really available on HBO Max in the US?

Yes, as of the day the page was built. Availability comes from TMDB and JustWatch for the catalog in the US, and the list is rebuilt daily. Streaming catalogs move constantly: a title can leave between two passes, which is why the page carries its date.

Are there any recent releases in this selection?

5 of the 24 films came out since 2021. The rest are older, which is expected: a film needs a few years to gather enough votes to be judged at all.

Do I need an account?

No. Taro eira is free, asks for no account and no subscription, and the two-or-three-question flow works without installing anything.

See also

How this list is built

Films come from the TMDB catalog, filtered on audience rating and vote count, then cross-checked against real availability in the country. No paid placement, no partnerships. How we choose the films.

Find my film in 2 questions

Film data and posters: TMDB. This app uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.