Best History Movies on HBO Max in the US

1. 1
   Hidden Figures 2016

   Directed by Theodore Melfi · Streaming on HBO Max, Cinemax
   8.0

   8.1 · 11K votes
2. 2
   Night and Fog 1956

   Directed by Alain Resnais · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
   8.0

   8.3 · 594 votes
3. 3
   The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928

   Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer · Streaming on JustWatch TV Free, HBO Max, The Roku Channel
   7.8

   8.0 · 1.1K votes
4. 4
   Throne of Blood 1957

   Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
   7.8

   7.9 · 1K votes
5. 5
   Paris Is Burning 1991

   Directed by Jennie Livingston · Streaming on HBO Max, Shout! Factory TV, YouTube Free
   7.8

   8.0 · 574 votes
6. 6
   The Wind Rises 2013

   Directed by Hayao Miyazaki · Streaming on HBO Max
   7.8

   7.8 · 3.5K votes
7. 7
   The Battle of Algiers 1966

   Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo · Streaming on HBO Max, Kanopy, Shout! Factory TV
   7.8

   7.9 · 942 votes
8. 8
   Temple Grandin 2010

   Directed by Mick Jackson · Streaming on HBO Max
   7.7

   7.9 · 599 votes
9. 9
   Selena 1997

   Directed by Gregory Nava · Streaming on HBO Max, Tubi TV
   7.6

   7.7 · 1.3K votes
10. 10
    Pather Panchali 1955

    Directed by Satyajit Ray · Streaming on HBO Max, Kanopy, Criterion Channel
    7.6

    7.8 · 517 votes
11. 11
    The Last Emperor 1987

    Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel, Cinemax
    7.5

    7.6 · 2K votes
12. 12
    Battleship Potemkin 1925

    Directed by Sergei Eisenstein · Streaming on JustWatch TV Free, HBO Max, Brew
    7.5

    7.6 · 1.4K votes
13. 13
    Häxan 1922

    Directed by Benjamin Christensen · Streaming on JustWatch TV Free, HBO Max, Brew
    7.4

    7.6 · 465 votes
14. 14
    Les Misérables 2012

    Directed by Tom Hooper · Streaming on HBO Max
    7.3

    7.3 · 5.7K votes
15. 15
    For All Mankind 1989

    Directed by Al Reinert · Streaming on HBO Max, Cinemax
    7.2

    7.8 · 165 votes
16. 16
    Conspiracy 2001

    Directed by Frank Pierson · Streaming on HBO Max
    7.1

    7.3 · 511 votes
17. 17
    Inu-Oh 2022

    Directed by Masaaki Yuasa · Streaming on HBO Max
    7.0

    7.5 · 176 votes
18. 18
    Babette's Feast 1987

    Directed by Gabriel Axel · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel, TCM
    7.0

    7.2 · 460 votes
19. 19
    The Post 2017

    Directed by Steven Spielberg · Streaming on HBO Max, History Vault, Cinemax
    7.0

    7.0 · 5.1K votes
20. 20
    Ivan the Terrible, Part I 1944

    Directed by Sergei Eisenstein · Streaming on HBO Max, FlixFling
    7.0

    7.3 · 240 votes
21. 21
    Quo Vadis 1951

    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy · Streaming on HBO Max, Plex Channel, Tubi TV
    7.0

    7.1 · 477 votes
22. 22
    Europa Europa 1990

    Directed by Agnieszka Holland · Streaming on HBO Max
    7.0

    7.2 · 292 votes
23. 23
    Goodbye Christopher Robin 2017

    Directed by Simon Curtis · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.9

    7.0 · 924 votes
24. 24
    Chimes at Midnight 1965

    Directed by Orson Welles · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
    6.9

    7.2 · 256 votes
25. 25
    Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot 1958

    Directed by Sergei Eisenstein · Streaming on Kanopy, HBO Max
    6.9

    7.3 · 185 votes
26. 26
    You Don't Know Jack 2010

    Directed by Barry Levinson · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.9

    7.0 · 457 votes
27. 27
    The Tin Drum 1979

    Directed by Volker Schlöndorff · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.8

    7.0 · 565 votes
28. 28
    War and Peace, Part I: Andrei Bolkonsky 1966

    Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk · Streaming on Criterion Channel, HBO Max
    6.8

    7.6 · 85 votes
29. 29
    Christy 2025

    Directed by David Michôd · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.8

    7.1 · 242 votes
30. 30
    The Man Who Invented Christmas 2017

    Directed by Bharat Nalluri · Streaming on HBO Max, Kanopy, Hoopla
    6.8

    6.8 · 892 votes
31. 31
    The Trial of Joan of Arc 1963

    Directed by Robert Bresson · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
    6.8

    7.2 · 157 votes
32. 32
    Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island 1956

    Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel, IndieFlix
    6.8

    7.2 · 144 votes
33. 33
    War and Peace, Part III: The Year 1812 1967

    Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.8

    7.6 · 68 votes
34. 34
    Game Change 2012

    Directed by Jay Roach · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.7

    6.9 · 352 votes
35. 35
    Breaker Morant 1980

    Directed by Bruce Beresford · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Kanopy
    6.7

    7.1 · 164 votes
36. 36
    Too Big to Fail 2011

    Directed by Curtis Hanson · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.7

    6.9 · 280 votes
37. 37
    Battle of the Sexes 2017

    Directed by Jonathan Dayton · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.7

    6.7 · 2K votes
38. 38
    An Angel at My Table 1990

    Directed by Jane Campion · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.7

    7.0 · 195 votes
39. 39
    The Tuskegee Airmen 1995

    Directed by Robert Markowitz · Streaming on HBO Max, History Vault
    6.7

    7.1 · 139 votes
40. 40
    Bad Education 2019

    Directed by Cory Finley · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.7

    6.7 · 811 votes
41. 41
    Richard III 1955

    Directed by Laurence Olivier · Streaming on HBO Max, Kanopy
    6.7

    7.2 · 99 votes
42. 42
    War and Peace, Part IV: Pierre Bezukhov 1967

    Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.7

    7.5 · 62 votes
43. 43
    61* 2001

    Directed by Billy Crystal · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.6

    7.0 · 153 votes
44. 44
    The Four Feathers 1939

    Directed by Zoltan Korda · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel, Darkroom
    6.6

    7.1 · 108 votes
45. 45
    Judy 2019

    Directed by Rupert Goold · Streaming on HBO Max, Cinemax
    6.6

    6.7 · 1.3K votes
46. 46
    Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. 1951

    Directed by Raoul Walsh · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.6

    7.0 · 150 votes
47. 47
    Dumb Money 2023

    Directed by Craig Gillespie · Streaming on Hulu, fuboTV, HBO Max
    6.6

    6.7 · 879 votes
48. 48
    The Flowers of St. Francis 1950

    Directed by Roberto Rossellini · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
    6.6

    7.1 · 101 votes
49. 49
    Confirmation 2016

    Directed by Rick Famuyiwa · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.6

    6.9 · 161 votes
50. 50
    That Hamilton Woman 1941

    Directed by Alexander Korda · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
    6.6

    7.1 · 96 votes

Smart score = (votes × rating + 82 × 6.03) ÷ (votes + 82): the TMDB rating, pulled toward the catalog average as if every film had 82 extra average votes. Streaming data by JustWatch.

1. 1
   Sometimes in April 2005

   Directed by Raoul Peck · Streaming on HBO Max
   6.6

   7.1 · 92 votes
2. 2
   War and Peace, Part II: Natasha Rostova 1966

   Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk · Streaming on HBO Max
   6.6

   7.2 · 75 votes
3. 3
   Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words 2015

   Directed by Stig Björkman · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
   6.5

   7.1 · 70 votes
4. 4
   Madame Curie 1943

   Directed by Mervyn LeRoy · Streaming on HBO Max, Philo
   6.5

   7.2 · 52 votes
5. 5
   Henry V 1944

   Directed by Laurence Olivier · Streaming on HBO Max, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV
   6.5

   6.7 · 140 votes
6. 6
   The 47 Ronin 1941

   Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi · Streaming on HBO Max, Philo, Fandor
   6.5

   6.9 · 79 votes
7. 7
   Overlord 1975

   Directed by Stuart Cooper · Streaming on HBO Max
   6.4

   6.8 · 94 votes
8. 8
   And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself 2003

   Directed by Bruce Beresford · Streaming on HBO Max
   6.4

   6.7 · 104 votes
9. 9
   The War Room 1993

   Directed by Chris Hegedus · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
   6.4

   6.8 · 72 votes
10. 10
    The Commandant's Shadow 2024

    Directed by Daniela Völker · Streaming on HBO Max
    6.4

    7.2 · 31 votes