For HBO Max viewers, May 2026 isn’t just about new content—it’s about experiencing stories that span not just continents and cultures but also lived experiences, and it’s all in a single lineup. From a sweeping historical drama rooted in Japanese history to a contemporary sports journey with global stakes and intimate reflections on identity and community, HBO Max offers some stand-out titles this month, including films pairing literary romance, large-scale disasters, and smaller, more enigmatic originals.
Our top picks are an HBO Original Film about grief and a mockumentary with a pop star. This May, here are the 8 new shows and movies streaming on HBO Max in the U.S.
8
Song of the Samurai
Gorgeous fight choreography blended with historical fact
Based on the popular manga series Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem, Song of the Samurai is an ambitious, live-action period drama exploring the intense and passionate lives of the Shinsengumi, a legendary samurai police force tasked with defending the collapsing shogunate, or feudal military dictatorship.
Set in Kyoto during the final years of Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868), the heart of the story rests with a street fighter who finds purpose and belonging among fellow warriors as they fight enemies and ideals while their bond of loyalty is tested by betrayal, illness, and war. The series features an epic blend of historical grounding and dramatic stylization with large-scale action promising intimate character arcs.
Song of the Samurai debuts on Saturday, May 9. New episodes will roll out weekly.
7
U.S. Against the World: Four Years with the Men’s National Soccer Team
Exploring the pressures of representing a nation
Filmed over the course of four years, U.S. Against the World: Four Years with the Men’s National Soccer Team offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most pivotal eras in American soccer.
The five-episode sports docuseries exclusively chronicles the U.S. Men’s National Team as they prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America this June. While tracking key players such as Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Tim Weah, the series captures their professional pressures and personal journeys rather than focusing solely on match highlights, emphasizing the emotional and psychological stakes of representing a nation on the global stage.
U.S. Against the World: Four Years with the Men’s National Soccer Team debuts on Tuesday, May 12. New episodes will roll out weekly.
6
The A List: 15 Stories from Asia and Pacific Diasporas
The silenced voices in mainstream media
Shifting the focus from competition to identity, The A List: 15 Stories from Asia and Pacific Diasporas offers a deeply personal, culturally significant tapestry of personal vignettes from across the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.
The documentary film weaves together individual stories from both celebrity figures like Sandra Oh and everyday individuals like Madelyn Yu, a retired nurse in New Jersey, to showcase the different experiences that reflect the diversity within these broad identity labels. Intimate first-person accounts draw focus on these communities while inviting audiences to question umbrella terms like “Asian American” and “AAPI” (Asian American Pacific Islander).
The A List: 15 Stories from Asia and Pacific Diasporas debuts on Wednesday, May 13.
5
Wuthering Heights
Gothic romance reimagined
If you missed Emerald Fennell’s bold new interpretation of the love story that is Wuthering Heights, you can finally see what all the commotion is about when it premieres on HBO Max this month. Margot Robbie (Barbie) and Jacob Elordi (Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein) star in the lush period drama.
Rather than a strict, faithful adaptation of the classic tale, Fennell’s film reimagines the story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff with a modern, stylized edge, emphasizing emotional intensity and youthful obsession. The visually daring literary adaptation recreates the visceral experience of first encountering the novel’s forbidden passion, which soon turns from romantic and intoxicating to a grand tale of lust, love, and total madness.
Wuthering Heights makes its streaming debut on Friday, May 1.
4
Greenland 2: Migration
A large-scale catastrophe
Gerard Butler returns for the sequel to the 2020 disaster movie Greenland, and this time it follows his family as they navigate life in a post-apocalyptic world full of intense radiation storms and a collapsing infrastructure. Greenland 2: Migration gives us a more intimate focus on a high-stakes premise that’s riddled with action-driven storytelling set around survival and resilience.
In the aftermath of a comet strike that devastated most of Earth, the Garritys are forced to leave the safety of their Greenland bunker to search for a new home. Viewers follow along as the family man leads his loved ones on a dangerous journey where the odds are against them, and that will test the family’s sense of love, sacrifice, and instinct to survive.
Greenland 2: Migration makes its streaming debut on Friday, May 8.
3
Lurker
The psychological shadows of celebrity worship
Love and obsession are but two sides of the same coin in Lurker , a daring thriller by writer and producer Alex Russell (The Bear). The 2025 Mubi film boasts a well-earned 94% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and features performances from rising stars Archie Madekwe (See) and Théodore Pellerin (Family First).
After encountering a rising pop star, a 20-something-year-old retail clerk takes the opportunity to infiltrate the in-crowd and blur the line between friend and fan. As that line fades beyond recognition, he learns the hard way that access and proximity can be a matter of life and death. Set in a glitzy Los Angeles where social currency rules, the film luxuriates in the suspense and dark irony of celebrity worship.
Lurker debuts on Friday, May 15.
2
The Moment
The pressures of rapid fame
Alexander Skarsgård and Charli XCX lead the cast of The Moment, a sly, self-aware satire capturing the thrill of momentum and the pressures of what it costs to stay on top. Kylie Jenner and Rachel Sennot (I Love LA) also star.
As her arena tour debut looms, a pop star finds herself caught inside the afterglow of a breakout summer. She faces the mounting pressures of doing whatever it takes to stay relevant while also navigating and battling the complexities of fame.
The Moment debuts on Friday, May 29.
1
Miss You, Love You
A poignant exploration of aching separation
Oscar and Emmy winner Allison Janney stars as a blunt, grieving widow in the HBO Original film Miss You, Love You, alongside Andrew Rannells (Girls).
Forced to plan her husband’s funeral with a total stranger after her estranged son sends his assistant (Rannells) in his place, Diane Patterson (Janney) fumbles through her grief as darkly funny circumstances, buried secrets, and long-held resentments surface. This unexpected partnership becomes an unlikely conduit for connection, laughter, and healing for this grieving mother and surrogate son.
Miss You, Love You debuts on Friday, May 29.
For a full lineup, check out our list of everything coming to HBO Max in May 2026.
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Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
