As we near the end of another month, that means it's time for more great movies to leave Max. Like many of the best streaming services, Max is constantly adding new shows and movies to its library. But that also means it's out with the old and in with the new, as the saying goes, so there are several great movies you need to watch right now before they're gone from Max in a matter of days. At least for the foreseeable future, that is.
This month, the best Max movies leaving the service include Stanley Kubrick's masterful war drama "Full Metal Jacket." We also goodbye to the cult classic horror flick "Jennifer's Body," the Beatles-inspired musical "Across the Universe," and great children's movies like "Coraline" and the OG "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." Read on to see the five best movies you need to watch before they leave Max in March 2024.
For more streaming recommendations, be sure to check out our round-up of the best new movies to stream this week on Netflix, Peacock, and more.
'Full Metal Jacket' (1987)
A lot of notable directors made Vietnam War movies. But with "Full Metal Jacket," Stanley Kubrick brought his distinct visual style, meticulous attention to detail, and uncompromising approach to filmmaking to create a harsh yet spellbindingly cinematic vision of war.
The film can be neatly split into two segments. The first follows Private Joker (Matthew Modine), as he tries to guide his struggling fellow recruit Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio) through grueling basic training under the eye of their harsh drill sergeant (Lee Ermey). Later, the narrative shifts as Joker and his friends are shipped off to the frontline, and must cope with the harsh realities of combat and the brutality of 1968's Tet Offensive.
Watch on Max by March 31
'Across the Universe' (2007)
"Across the Universe" is one of the trippiest things to come out of the movie-musical boom of the aughts and early 2010s. It's a bold vision to be sure, combining cutting-edge visual techniques (well ... for the time, at least), psychedelic set pieces, and the Beatles songbook. And for a film that is this packed with musical numbers, it still manages to squeeze in a full-bodied plot as well.
Hit songs from The Beatles and the Vietnam War form the backdrop for a star-crossed romance between Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), an upper-class American girl, and a young British worker named Jude (Jim Sturgess) who heads to the U.S. to search for his father. After a lukewarm reunion, Jude ends up befriending a couple of carefree college students who show him around New York City, but their relationship is threatened by the social upheaval that accompanies the Vietnam War.
Watch on Max by March 31
'Coraline' (2009)
Based on Neil Gaiman's terrifying children's novel of the same name, "Coraline" perfectly captures the joys and horrors of being a kid. This inventive and fantastical stop-motion animation film also sees the return of "Nightmare Before Christmas" director Henry Selick.
The titular protagonist is an imaginative little girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) who is bored out of her mind in her family's new home. When her neighbors give her a doll that leads her to a secret door, she discovers an alternate world that mirrors her own — only better. At first, Coraline is delighted by her Other Mother and parallel family and friends. But when they offer to let her stay there forever on the condition that she have buttons sewn over her eyes, Coraline is horrified and must escape to return to her real home.
Watch on Max by March 31
'Jennifer's Body' (2009)
While panned by critics when it first came out, "Jennifer's Body" has since developed a cult following — especially after its streaming debut introduced the feminist horror comedy to a new generation.
Megan Fox stars as Jennifer, a high school cheerleader who starts behaving strangely one day, much to the concern of her wallflower best friend, Anita (Amanda Seyfried). As it turns out, she's been possessed by a demon and now enjoys feasting on the flesh and blood of her male classmates. It's up to Anita to put a stop to her rampage, then escape from a correctional facility to go after the satan-worshipping rock band responsible for the horrible transformation to begin with.
Watch on Max by March 31
'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' (1971)
Call me an old fogie, but when it comes to the famous chocolatier, I'll take Gene Wilder over Johnny Depp or Timothée Chalamet any day. Like "Coraline," the original "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" walks the line between whimsical and terrifying.
Just as in Roald Dahl's classic children's novel of the same name, the story follows the young Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) who, along with four other children, find golden tickets hidden in Wonka Bars to win a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory. Led by the enigmatic Wonka himself (Wilder), the group embarks on a surreal journey through his factory. But as the tour progresses, each child is tested in their response to Wonka's fantastical inventions, and one by one they're faced with the consequences of their choices.
Watch on Max by March 31
