HBO Max’s new arrivals lean on quality over quantity this week, led by Benny Safdie’s bruising MMA biopic The Smashing Machine, the Travel Channel’s cozy-creepy My Haunted Hometown, and the searing Holocaust documentary 33 Photos from the Ghetto. It’s a compact slate, but it spans prestige drama, unscripted paranormal, and essential nonfiction—exactly the cross-genre mix that has become Max’s calling card since folding Discovery brands into the platform.
The Smashing Machine Puts Dwayne Johnson in the Octagon of Drama
Directed by Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine follows real-life heavyweight Mark Kerr, a dominant force of late-’90s mixed martial arts whose supremacy was shadowed by personal battles. Johnson’s performance is calibrated and bruisingly physical, a shift from his blockbuster persona that plays to Safdie’s gift for high-strain character studies. Emily Blunt and MMA veteran Ryan Bader round out a cast that treats the fight world as both spectacle and crucible.
- The Smashing Machine Puts Dwayne Johnson in the Octagon of Drama
- My Haunted Hometown Delivers Small-Town Lore With Big Atmosphere
- 33 Photos from the Ghetto Uncovers Rare Resistance Images
- Also New on Max This Week: Talk, Comedy, and Competition
- Why This Slate Matters for Max’s Streaming Strategy
- What to Watch First on Max from This Week’s Arrivals
Kerr’s résumé justifies the legend—he won multiple UFC tournaments and was a standout in Pride—and the film smartly leverages archival texture without slipping into hagiography. Early user scores hover around 6.4/10 on IMDb, but the craft on display, from lean fight choreography to Safdie’s nerve-pricking sound design, makes this one a conversation starter for sports-film devotees and Safdie fans alike. Rating: R.
My Haunted Hometown Delivers Small-Town Lore With Big Atmosphere
My Haunted Hometown taps into the enduring appeal of local ghost stories—pubs with poltergeists, historic houses with legends—and treats them with a mix of investigation and campfire charm. Originating on Travel Channel, the series benefits from the same sturdy formula that powers hits like Ghost Adventures: boots-on-the-ground curiosity, cinematic reenactments, and a knack for letting townspeople narrate their own myths.
For viewers who like their scares family-friendly but still eerie, this is an easy weeknight watch. It’s rated TV-14, and early audience sentiment is positive, with IMDb users around 6.7/10. It also underscores Warner Bros. Discovery’s strategy of giving Discovery-branded unscripted a second life on Max, broadening reach without diluting identity.
33 Photos from the Ghetto Uncovers Rare Resistance Images
Jan Czarlewski’s documentary centers on a singular historical record: a cache of images believed to be the only photographs taken from within the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered in recent years and painstakingly contextualized with historians and eyewitness accounts, the photos capture daily courage and the logistics of survival under Nazi occupation—material that complements established archives preserved by institutions such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
The film lands at a time when education gaps persist; a Claims Conference survey has shown significant knowledge deficits among younger Americans about the Holocaust. By focusing on the perspective of resisters from inside the Ghetto, 33 Photos from the Ghetto reframes familiar narratives with immediacy and agency. Advisory rating: 13+.
Also New on Max This Week: Talk, Comedy, and Competition
Rounding out the lineup, Real Time with Bill Maher returns with a new season, the satirical panel staple Have I Got News for You adds an archival season to the library, and Beat Bobby Flay serves up another batch of culinary showdowns. It’s a pragmatic blend of talk, comedy, and competition that helps fill out the grid between headline premieres.
Why This Slate Matters for Max’s Streaming Strategy
For Max, which Warner Bros. Discovery reports at around 95 million global direct-to-consumer subscribers across its streaming portfolio, the cadence here is strategic. A prestige feature anchors discovery, a comfort-genre series sustains weekly engagement, and a high-impact documentary drives cultural relevance. That trio tends to produce strong completion rates and word-of-mouth without needing a tentpole franchise every week.
What to Watch First on Max from This Week’s Arrivals
If you want character drama with real-world stakes, start with The Smashing Machine. For group viewing or a low-stress binge, My Haunted Hometown hits the sweet spot. And if you’re looking for something vital and concise that lingers long after the credits, 33 Photos from the Ghetto is the week’s essential pick.
