2024 was a banner year for the beloved indie distributor A24, as some of the most acclaimed films of the year were released under their banner. Several of these A24 movies have either been nominated or received multiple accolades in the current awards season, making some of these gems necessary viewing ahead of the 2025 Oscars. Now, the Max streaming service will be the go-to destination in March 2025 for those who are looking to catch up or who may have missed out on some of the more buzz-worthy A24 films of the past year.
Whether it was Scott Beck and Bryan Woods‘ horror film Heretic that posited questions about faith and the power of belief, the emotionally striking Sing Sing starring Oscar nominee Colman Domingo, or Luca Guadagnino‘s adaptation of William S. Burrough‘s 1985 novella Queer, March 2025 will see plenty of A24 releases (old and new) trickle onto the Max streaming platform. Each one is well worth your time, especially because of the diversity in genre, powerhouse talent, and production value.
Heretic is Coming to Max on March 7
This existential horror movie is finely crafted and filled with intricate details. Filmmaking duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who are famously known for co-creating the A Quiet Place franchise with John Krasinski and for directing the Adam Driver–led sci-fi dinosaur flick 65, have outdone themselves with the uniquely thrilling combination of horror, dark comedy, and puzzle thriller aspects in Heretic.
Starring acting veteran Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher (Companion), and Chloe East (The Fabelmans), Heretic is a primarily single-location film. Two young female Mormon missionaries (Thatcher and East) find themselves unwittingly trapped in the house of Mr. Reed (Grant), an individual with a twisted sense of morality and faith who wants to put the girls through the ultimate religious test. Sharp editing, clever production design that tells a story in and of itself, and riveting performances from its small cast all make Heretic more than worthy of streaming on Max, with a shocking ending that will have people revisiting it on the streamer to catch all the details and hints that they may have missed on their first viewing.
Sing Sing Takes the Stage on Max March 21
In perhaps the most authentic and realistic prison drama ever made, Sing Sing beautifully tells the true story of a group of incarcerated men who found a second chance through the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at the titular Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison in New York. Colman Domingo (Rustin) portrays real-life former inmate John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield, who was wrongly convicted. Audiences follow the writer and creative as he tries to appeal for his release, all while putting on a stage production with his fellow inmates at the facility.
Directed by Greg Kwedar (Jockey) and written by Kwedar, Clint Bentley, and the real John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield and his fellow RTA alum Clarence ‘Divine Eye’ Maclin, Sing Sing is an admirably made film. To further add to its authenticity, many first-time actors who were former inmates at the Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison are featured in the cast ensemble as well. More than that, Sing Sing also followed an equitable pay model that had everyone, from director Greg Kwedar to star Colman Domingo to production assistants, paid the same rate on the film.
Raising awareness on issues such as wrongful convictions and the therapeutic power of discovering one’s inner artistry, Sing Sing is worthy of being streamed on Max. Considering its small theatrical release window, many moviegoers probably missed out on this one last year. Colman Domingo’s second Best Actor nomination in a row speaks for itself.
Queer Debuts on Max March 28
Director Luca Gudagnino had an incredibly impressive 2024, releasing two films in both halves of the year. While his April 2024 sports drama Challengers can be found on Prime Video and MGM+, the more recently released Queer will arrive on Max on March 28, 2025. Led by former James Bond 007 star Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey (Outer Banks), Queer is an adaptation of the William S. Burroughs 1985 unfinished novella of the same name. The abstract and semi-autobiographical narrative is expertly brought to life from a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes, the playwright and novelist who also wrote Challengers.
Shot primarily on soundstages over two months, Queer feels like an old-school production with a heartbreaking performance from Daniel Craig as William Lee, an American expat who is a stand-in for Burroughs himself looking for any emotional and physical connections, especially with a young ex-navy man named Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Luca Guadagnino and Justin Kuritzkes take minimal creative liberties with the heavy thematic material of the book but add plenty of stylistic and even audacious flair. The end result is a riveting and psychological tale of desire with mind-bending scenes that will have plenty of Max subscribers pausing the film to try and figure out what they just experienced.
Beau Is Afraid Hits Max on March 15
Given that the HBO competitor Showtime (home to originals such as Yellowjackets and the A24 co-production The Curse) had exclusive streaming rights to A24 movies before Max, it makes sense that some older releases would take some time to head to their new streaming home. Ari Aster‘s latest release, Beau Is Afraid, is one such entry, which came out in April 2023 and will be landing on Max on March 15, 2025. The film is a sprawling and disturbing odyssey from the perspective of one cowardly and traumatized man, Beau (Joaquin Phoenix), as he comes to terms with the “death” of his mother and the realization that his life was never really his own.
Writer-director Ari Aster, who is most well-known for his previous horror films Hereditary (starring Toni Collette and Alex Wolff) and Midsommar (starring Florence Pugh), took an entirely different approach with Beau Is Afraid, as the movie is perhaps the biggest one he’s made yet. Much like Heretic, the devil is in the details in this one, making it a prime option for streaming, as cinephiles and movie analysts will be pausing to point out the hidden clues in early scenes that foreshadow Beau’s ultimate fate after the film’s behemoth three-hour runtime.
Moreover, Beau Is Afraid will be essential viewing to prepare for Ari Aster’s next ambitious project, a Western Comedy titled Eddington, also starring Joaquin Phoenix and first-time Aster collaborators Emma Stone, Pedro Pascal, and Austin Butler.
When Are The Rest of A24’s Awards-Buzz Films Coming to Max?
Even though Max is only getting three of A24’s big releases from the past year in March 2025, there are plenty more to look forward to. Additionally, others have been readily available since the beginning of the year. A Different Man (starring Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson), which is nominated for Best Make-Up and Hairstyling at the upcoming Oscars, just got added to Max in January. The Brutalist, directed by Brady Corbet and starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, and Guy Pearce, has a staggering 10 Oscar Nominations and is expected to hit Max within the next few months as well, especially since it has already had a digital release date and an upcoming physical media release straight from A24.
Overall, there is plenty to watch and look forward to on Max in the month of March 2025. There’s something for fans of A24 and different genres: whether you want to experience some unexpected horrors, unconventional and tragic romance, or compelling drama, it’ll be on Max in the next few weeks.
