This weekend’s watchlist has two psychological thrillers that will mess with your head in completely different ways, and one animated series that has no business being this good.
Whether you are in the mood for small-town dread, generational trauma wrapped in Southern Gothic atmosphere, or a Big Pharma conspiracy told through some of the most distinctive animation on television right now, there is something here for you. All three are on HBO Max, criminally underrated, and at least one of them will stick with you long after the credits roll.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best free movies, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Sharp Objects (2018)
Based on Gillian Flynn’s debut novel, this is eight episodes of psychological tension that never lets up. Amy Adams plays a troubled journalist who returns to her suffocating hometown to cover the murders of two young girls, only to find herself unraveling alongside the investigation.
What makes Sharp Objects special is that it is less of a murder mystery and more a study of inherited trauma, toxic motherhood, and the damage small towns do to the people who grow up in them. Patricia Clarkson is quietly terrifying as Adora. The ending hit me like a freight train. Stick through the final credits of the last episode, seriously!
You can watch Sharp Objects on HBO Max.
The Outsider (2020)
It looks like a crime drama on the surface, but The Outsider has a much stranger agenda. A young boy is found murdered in a small Georgia town, and the evidence overwhelmingly points to one man. However, that same man has an airtight alibi and that central impossibility becomes the hook that drives the whole show.
The character, Ralph Anderson, played by Ben Mendelsohn, is excellent as the detective unwilling to accept what he is seeing. But it is Cynthia Erivo as investigator Holly Gibney who completely steals the show. She walks in around episode 3, and the whole series changes gear. Fair warning, the pace is deliberate and the finale is divisive. But if you enjoy atmospheric slow burns with great performances, this one is worth your time.
You can watch The Outsider on HBO Max.
Common Side Effects (2025)
It is an animated TV series, and a lot of people have slept on it, but I highly recommend it. Two former high school friends discover a mushroom that can cure every known disease, and immediately find themselves hunted by Big Pharma, the DEA, and international corporations determined to bury it.
I know it sounds absurd, and it kind of is, but the show handles its conspiracy thriller premise with real wit and surprising emotional depth. Co-created by the team behind Scavengers Reign and produced by Greg Daniels of The Office fame, it holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The animation style is distinctive and takes an episode to get used to, but once it clicks, you will not want to stop.
You can watch Common Side Effects on HBO Max.