June’s upcoming lineup is making it really hard not to get ahead of myself, what with House of the Dragon‘s third season on the way. Not to mention a pile of tantalizing new documentaries, including the male supermodel extravaganza Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, an Earth, Wind & Fire doc, and more.
But let’s pump the brakes for one more weekend, with this sensational collection of new-and-not HBO Max docs. With the conclusive episode of The Yogurt Shop Murders surprising everyone last week, I’ve included two Top 10 Investigation Discovery true-crime docuseries for those looking for more. But as a palate cleanser, I’ve also included a stranger-than-fiction movie about a three-wheeled car and the fascinating woman behind it.
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Evil Lives Here: My Child the Killer
Parents share the terror and heartbreak of their troubled children
The season one finale of this nail-biting Investigation Discovery spinoff of its long-running Evil Lives Here series aired on May 26, and now all eight episodes are available to binge as many or as few as you can handle. Evil Lives Here: My Child the Killer is not for the faint of heart, as its episodes follow several parents who have watched their children grow into killers.
With each episode focusing on a different family and case, the series uses intimate and emotional first-person interviews with the mothers and fathers of the kids, and pulls police records, archival and home video, and uses reenactments to tell each story. One story follows mother Dawn Haas as she retrospectively shares the concerns she had over her son Justyn’s rage as a kid. Later, the 21-year-old would intentionally run down and kill a 75-year-old man with no remorse.
My Child the Killer is a fascinating and dark peek around the corner at the parents’ perspective and the signs that pointed to something more sinister on the horizon.
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The Lady and the Dale
A three-wheeled car and the woman behind it
The HBO documentary mini-series The Lady and the Dale may be from 2021, but it’s only become more relevant over the years for its story of transgender misrepresentation, and how it serves as a historical blueprint for tech scammers like Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes. But straight-up, it’s a critically-acclaimed (100% RT score) series with a story so wild you’ll binge all four episodes.
Quiz
HBO Max movies and shows
Trivia challenge
From Westeros to the ER — how well do you know HBO Max’s biggest hits and most talked-about originals?
DramaComedyFantasyMoviesCharacters
In The Pitt, what type of medical facility serves as the primary setting for the series?
Correct! The Pitt is set in a Pittsburgh hospital emergency room and follows the staff through a single grueling 15-hour shift. The show stars Noah Wyle and was created as a spiritual successor to the classic ER.
Not quite. The Pitt takes place in a Pittsburgh hospital emergency room, not a surgery wing or clinic. The show unfolds in real time over one intense 15-hour shift, giving it a grounded, unrelenting pace.
In Hacks, what is the profession of Deborah Vance, the character played by Jean Smart?
Correct! Deborah Vance is a legendary Las Vegas stand-up comedian who reluctantly teams up with a young, struggling comedy writer named Ava. Jean Smart’s performance earned her widespread critical acclaim and multiple Emmy Awards.
Not quite. Deborah Vance is a veteran stand-up comedian — a Las Vegas legend who is forced to collaborate with a younger comedy writer to reinvent her act. Jean Smart won Emmy Awards for the role.
House of the Dragon is a prequel to Game of Thrones — approximately how many years before the events of Game of Thrones does it take place?
Correct! House of the Dragon is set roughly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. It depicts the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, a catastrophic conflict over succession to the Iron Throne.
Not quite. House of the Dragon is set approximately 200 years before Game of Thrones, not 50 or 100 years. The series is based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood and covers the Targaryen dynasty at the height of its power.
In the 2025 horror film Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, what supernatural threat do twin brothers face in the Deep South?
Correct! Sinners features vampires as the central supernatural threat. Ryan Coogler’s film stars Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as the twin brothers, and blends horror with themes of race, music, and history in 1930s Mississippi.
Not quite. The supernatural menace in Sinners is vampires. Director Ryan Coogler crafted the film as a genre-bending horror story set in 1930s Mississippi, starring Michael B. Jordan as twin brothers caught in a terrifying night of violence.
Weapons, the 2025 horror anthology film on Max, was written and directed by which filmmaker?
Correct! Weapons was written and directed by Zach Cregger, who previously broke out with the acclaimed horror film Barbarian in 2022. The anthology follows multiple interconnected stories tied together by a disturbing central mystery.
Not quite. Weapons was directed by Zach Cregger, best known for directing Barbarian. Cregger has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting voices in modern horror, and Weapons continued that momentum on Max.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight is another Game of Thrones prequel series — which character does it primarily follow?
Correct! The series centers on Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight, and his young squire Egg — who is secretly the young prince Aegon Targaryen. The story is based on George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas.
Not quite. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms follows Ser Duncan the Tall, a wandering hedge knight, alongside his squire Egg. The show is adapted from George R.R. Martin’s beloved Dunk and Egg novellas set a century before Game of Thrones.
One Battle After Another, the 2025 Max limited series, is based on a novel by which author?
Correct! One Battle After Another is adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland. The series marks a rare screen adaptation of Pynchon’s notoriously complex work, and generated significant buzz for its ambitious literary source material.
Not quite. The series is based on the work of Thomas Pynchon, one of American literature’s most elusive and celebrated novelists. Adapting Pynchon for television is a rare and ambitious undertaking given the dense, layered nature of his writing.
In Euphoria, what substance addiction is central to the storyline of the main character, Rue, played by Zendaya?
Correct! Rue’s battle with opioid addiction is a core thread running through Euphoria. The show uses her struggle as a lens to explore trauma, identity, and mental health among teenagers, and Zendaya won Emmy Awards for her portrayal.
Not quite. Rue struggles primarily with opioid addiction throughout Euphoria. Creator Sam Levinson drew on personal experience to shape her character, and Zendaya’s raw, emotionally powerful performance earned her back-to-back Emmy wins.
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The story follows the rise and fall of Elizabeth Carmichael, a trans entrepreneur who took on Detroit’s auto industry during the 1970s oil crisis with the Dale, a high-tech vehicle with three wheels that she claimed could get 70 miles on the gallon and cost just $2,000. Through archival footage, neat cutout collage animations, and talking head interviews with everyone from Carmichael’s kids to relentless reporter Dick Carlson (yes, Tucker’s dad)—who outed Carmichael as a transgender woman who had been wanted by the FBI since 1961—The Lady and the Dale tells Carmichael’s unbelievable story.
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Mean Girl Murders
Pretty, popular, and deadly
This sensational and salacious ID documentary series, with three seasons under its belt, has been holding steady on HBO Max’s U.S. Top 10 chart for the last week. I suspect that might have something to do with the explosive popularity of Netflix’s current global No. 1 movie, The Crash, a doc about Mackenzie Shirilla, a teenage girl who killed her boyfriend and his best friend by driving her car at 100 mph into a wall. Shirilla’s harrowing story is also covered in a Mean Girl Murders second-season episode called “Under the Influence,” but the series has plenty more stories of popular girls doing awful things, too.
“They’re pretty, popular, and deadly,” states the tagline for the show, which utilizes ID’s known formula of archival footage, interviews with family and friends, courtroom material, and dramatic reenactments to tell its stories. But the show’s unique thread is its use of recurring experts who feature in each of its 28 episodes, including homicide detective Dean O’Kelley, forensic psychologist Dana R. Anderson, journalist Casey Miller, and Love Murder podcaster Jessie Pray, who pick apart details and the social psychology behind each crime.
There’s plenty here for a weekend marathon, with standout episodes including the case of murdered Las Vegas showgirl Deborah Flores Narvaez, killed by her boyfriend amidst a tangled love triangle with another dancer, and “Girls In the Hoods,” a heartbreaking examination of middle-school bullying and toxic clique culture that ends in murder.
Binge lightly
Too much true-crime can seep into your dreams, so binge responsibly, or watch them in the order above for a wild automotive-tale layover. Or you could just check out How-To Geek’s other streaming roundups for some completely different suggestions.
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HBO Max is a subscription-based streaming service offering content from HBO, Warner Bros., DC, and more. In 2025, the service re-branded itself as HBO Max after having previously cut “HBO” from its name.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
