HBO Max in June 2026: Here Are the New Shows and Movies I Plan to Watch

Documentaries about cults are almost as ubiquitous as documentaries about mysterious murders, but there’s a reason for that: they feed our obsession with true crime and stranger-than-fiction tales. The new HBO Documentary series, Bring Me The Beauties: A Model Cult, is the story of Hoyt Richards, who became one of the world’s first male supermodels in the 1980s, all while getting sucked into a cult called Eternal Values. It was run by a seductive leader named Frederick von Mierers, who promised Richards and many others like him enlightenment, while exploiting and preying upon them. The limited series consists of three episodes that roll out weekly; the first arrives June 1.

Questlove is the longtime drummer for The Roots, but he’s also a talented filmmaker whose films include Summer of Soul and Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius). His newest project, Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World), arrives on HBO Max this month and tells the history and impact of the legendary, genre-spanning band formed by Maurice White. It features an ensemble of musicians that has included Verdine White, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay and many others. You can tune in on June 7.

How to Make a Killing is one of this month’s A24 films arriving on HBO Max. In the comedic thriller, Glen Powell stars as Becket Redfellow, the heir to a massive family fortune who was disinherited as a boy. Now in prison, Redfellow tells the story of how he landed there, as he attempted to reclaim his inheritance by knocking off his remaining family members who stood in his way. The film, directed by John Patton Ford, co-stars Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Bill Camp, Zach Woods and Topher Grace, and arrives on HBO Max on June 19.

House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel that’s set 200 years before the events of that series, returns for season 3 on June 21. While Daenerys Targaryen was the only blonde dragon rider featured on Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is a deeper look at her ancestors, their power struggles and their fire-breathing companions. The series last aired in the summer of 2024, so you’d be forgiven if you’ve forgotten where we left off. To sum it up quickly, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), exiled to Dragonstone, had been building up a dragon-riding army and plotting how to overthrow her half-brother Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), who’s been illegitimately seated on the Iron Throne. There will be eight episodes of the show this season, with the first premiering on Sunday, June 21, and the rest arriving weekly after that.

As a kid, I received a shocking and not entirely accurate history lesson from Mel Brooks’ History of the World: Part One, and it looks like we’re about to get a similarly skewed education in American history from comedian Larry David. His new limited series Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness debuts this month on HBO Max. The seven-episode show stars David, along with Bill Hader, Kathryn Hahn, Jon Hamm, Sean Hayes and several more of David’s regular collaborators. (Oh, and Barack and Michelle Obama co-produced the show.) Every episode will feature four comedy sketches about different moments in US history — or at least, David’s cringe-inducing, outrageous and hilarious interpretation of them. The series will premiere on June 26 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and stream on HBO Max.

Robin Byrd was a fixture of New York public access television for over 20 years and became locally famous for her late-night call-in show that often featured adult entertainers and experimental artists. Known for hosting her show clad only in a crocheted bikini, she was sex-positive before that was a term we used regularly. Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story was co-produced by another iconic New Yorker, Sarah Jessica Parker (consider Byrd a raunchier version of Carrie Bradshaw). The HBO original documentary premieres on June 30.