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The best Criterion Collection films on HBO Max right now

Right now the best Criterion Collection films on HBO Max in the United States are Seven Samurai (1954), Modern Times (1936) and The Great Dictator (1940). This is the top 20 streaming there today, ranked by how well rated each one is, how many people have rated it, and what people are watching now.

Updated November 12, 2026 · streaming in the United States

Pick three for me

  1. 1. Seven Samurai1954

    Film · 3h 27mAction, Drama★ 8.5

    A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide…

    Stream onHBO MaxKanopy (free)Shout! Factory TV (free)Plex (free)+1

  2. 2. Modern Times1936

    Film · 1h 27mComedy, Drama, Romance★ 8.3

    A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

    Stream onPrime VideoHBO MaxYouTube TVCriterion Channel+4

  3. 3. The Great Dictator1940

    Film · 2h 5mComedy, War★ 8.3

    Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.

    Stream onPrime VideofuboTVHBO MaxCriterion Channel+6

  4. 4. Casablanca1943

    Film · 1h 42mDrama, Romance★ 8.1

    In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

    Stream onHBO Max

  5. 5. 2001: A Space Odyssey1968

    Film · 2h 29mScience Fiction, Mystery, Adventure★ 8.0

    Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.

    Stream onHBO Max

  6. Which of these would you actually like?

    Rate a few films you've seen and every title gets a match score for your taste, with picks from friends who agree with you. Free, about three minutes.

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  7. 6. Singin' in the Rain1952

    Film · 1h 43mComedy, Romance★ 8.1

    In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his paranoid screen partner struggle to make the difficult transition to talking pictures.

    Stream onHBO Max

  8. 7. City Lights1931

    Film · 1h 27mComedy, Drama, Romance★ 8.2

    A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

    Stream onPrime VideoHBO MaxHoopla (free)Fawesome (free)+3

  9. 8. Paris, Texas1984

    Film · 2h 25mDrama★ 8.1

    A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.

    Stream onHBO MaxShout! Factory TV (free)Plex (free)Tubi (free)

  10. 9. High and Low1963

    Film · 2h 22mDrama, Crime, Thriller★ 8.4

    A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

    Stream onHBO MaxShout! Factory TV (free)YouTube Free (free)Plex (free)+1

  11. 10. The Kid1921

    Film · 1h 8mComedy, Drama★ 8.1

    A tramp cares for a boy after he's abandoned as a newborn by his mother. Later the mother has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son.

    Stream onfuboTVHBO MaxMGM+Philo+13

  12. 11. Ikiru1952

    Film · 2h 23mDrama★ 8.3

    Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion ChannelKanopy (free)

  13. 12. Portrait of a Lady on Fire2019

    Film · 2h 1mDrama, Romance★ 8.1

    On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

    Stream onHBO MaxKanopy (free)

  14. 13. In the Mood for Love2000

    Film · 1h 39mDrama, Romance★ 8.1

    In 1960s Hong Kong, two neighbors form an intimate bond after making a discovery about their spouses in this visually stunning tale of unrequited love.

    Stream onHBO MaxShout! Factory TV (free)

  15. 14. Bicycle Thieves1948

    Film · 1h 29mDrama★ 8.2

    Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycle—essential to his work—gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief.

    Stream onPrime VideoHBO MaxKanopy (free)Tubi (free)+1

  16. 15. Isle of Dogs2018

    Film · 1h 41mAdventure, Comedy, Animation★ 7.8

    In the future, an outbreak of canine flu leads the mayor of a Japanese city to banish all dogs to an island used as a garbage dump.

    Stream onDisney+HBO MaxCinemax

  17. 16. The Gold Rush1925

    Film · 1h 35mAdventure, Comedy, Drama★ 8.0

    A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl.

    Stream onPrime VideoHBO MaxCriterion ChannelHistory Vault+11

  18. 17. The Seventh Seal1957

    Film · 1h 36mFantasy, Drama★ 8.1

    When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life.

    Stream onHBO MaxKanopy (free)YouTube Free (free)Plex (free)+1

  19. 18. Stalker1979

    Film · 2h 42mScience Fiction, Drama★ 8.1

    Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies.

    Stream onHBO Max

  20. 19. M1931

    Film · 1h 50mDrama, Thriller, Crime★ 8.1

    In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt.

    Stream onHBO MaxCriterion ChannelIndieFlix ShortsKanopy (free)+3

  21. 20. 8½1963

    Film · 2h 19mDrama★ 8.1

    Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and…

    Stream onHBO MaxKanopy (free)Shout! Factory TV (free)Plex (free)+1

Questions

What are the best Criterion Collection films on HBO Max right now?
In the United States, as of November 12, 2026: Seven Samurai (1954), rated 8.5 out of 10 on TMDB, then Modern Times and The Great Dictator.
How is this list made?
Watchwalla asks TMDB for everything of this kind that streams in your country today, ranks it by rating (pulled toward the middle until enough people have rated a title), with a nudge for what's new and what people are watching now, and refreshes the list every day. Streaming availability comes from JustWatch, through TMDB.
Can it pick something for me?
Yes. The picker at watchwalla.com/tonight asks who's watching, how much time you have and what you're in the mood for, and gives three picks streaming where you are. Sign in and every title also gets a match score for your own taste.

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