A new month means a fresh wave of must-watch movies is coming to Max. The streaming service’s ever-expanding library is packed with titles worth adding to your watchlist, and this month is no exception.
But with so much on offer, narrowing down which movies to watch can be a tall order. That's why we're narrowing down all of the new movies on Max in April 2025 to the best of the best: Only movies with a 90% or higher critics' score on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes make the cut.
While no rating system can guarantee whether you'll love a movie, a high Rotten Tomatoes score is a good sign that it's charmed audiences and critics alike.
This month’s batch includes everything from iconic sci-fi movies to emotional coming-of-age tales and award-winning documentaries. So let's dive into five new to Max movies with a 90% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes that you need to watch right now.
'Aftersun' (2022)
One of the emotionally impactful movies I've seen in a good while, "Aftersun" will devastate you in the best of ways. A24's coming-of-age drama follows Sophie (Frankie Corio), a precocious 11-year-old on a seminal summer trip with her 30-year-old father, Calum (Paul Mescal).
But as the two enjoy quality time together at a fading resort in Turkey, it's not all fun in the sun. While her attention is caught by a group of older teens and their sexual antics, Sophie can’t help but pick up on Calum’s anxiety as he grapples with serious mental health issues.
Years later, an adult Sophie (played by Celia Rowlson-Hall) looks through the camera footage from that holiday to try to understand what happened to the father she once knew.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Watch it now on Max
'Little Men' (2016)
For a painfully accurate portrait of childhood friendship, look no further than "Little Men." Director Ira Sachs' drama follows two Brooklyn families at odds and the friendship between their two teenage sons, who get caught in the crossfire of adult issues.
When struggling actor Brian (Greg Kinnear) inherits his father’s Brooklyn brownstone, it's a windfall his family desperately needs. His sensitive teenage son, Jake (Theo Taplitz), quickly befriends the sitting tenant's son, Tony (Michael Barbieri), and the two make a pact to attend the same art school.
However, their relationship grows tense when Brian raises the rent after discovering his father was charging only a fraction of the apartment's market rate. Once their parents start to quarrel, instead of taking sides, the two stick together, giving the adults the silent treatment, but it's only a matter of time before forces larger than themselves drive them apart.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Watch it now on Max
'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' (2019)
![Portrait of a Lady on Fire [Official Trailer] – In Theaters December 6, 2019 - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/R-fQPTwma9o/maxresdefault.jpg)
Listen, the heart wants what it wants, and sometimes, marriage isn’t part of the plan. That conflict is at the heart of "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," a captivating love story set in 18th-century France with more layers than one of Marianne's (Noémie Merlant) paintings.
Faced with an arranged marriage, Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) fights back in the only way she knows how: by refusing to have her portrait painted—an essential step before she is wed. Enter Marianne, a young painter commissioned by Héloïse's mother to complete her portrait in secret.
But as the two women spend time together, a mutual understanding blossoms into something deeper. As the painting nears completion, the reality sinks in that their time together is quickly coming to an end.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Watch it now on Max
'The Biggest Little Farm' (2019)
![The Biggest Little Farm [Official Trailer] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UfDTM4JxHl8/maxresdefault.jpg)
"The Biggest Little Farm" is a rich and soul-feeding documentary about one family's dream of turning 200 acres of barren land into a thriving farm. The Chesters, cinematographer John and chef Molly, trade in their sanitized life in Los Angeles for the country, and these city folks are not prepared for what it takes.
"The Biggest Little Farm" chronicles the first eight years of their journey transforming their fallow acreage into a veritable Garden of Eden through the power of regenerative farming.
Though it's not always easy, they learn to live in harmony with the cycles of the land and the creatures that inhabit it, proving that even in the dust bowl of drought-parched California, there's a way forward with eco-conscious farming.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
Watch it now on Max
'The Terminator' (1984)
One of my favorite sci-fi movies of all time, "The Terminator," just landed on Max this month, and there's always a good excuse to revisit the beloved cyborg assassin wreaking havoc again.
It's set in a world where an artificial intelligence called Skynet has hunted humanity to near extinction. To keep humanity's resistance leader, John Connor, from being born, Skynet sends a deadly cyborg assassin, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), back in time to 1984 to kill his mother, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton).
Humanity sends its own soldier from the future, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), for her protection. As the Terminator relentlessly hunts Sarah down, the two uncover her pivotal role in humanity's survival.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
Watch it now on Max
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