20 Hidden Gems On HBO Max You'll Wish You'd Known About Sooner

Sure, it once received boos at Cannes (let's be real — Cannes moviegoers just like making noise!) and was called "an undifferentiated mess of story lines and hallucinations" by New York Times upon release (to be fair, that same publication recommended it for "Watching" two decades later), but if you're a Twin Peaks head or a Twin Peaks head-in-training, there's no doubt this will be right up your alley.Ad Astra, also known as Dad Astra by me, is the rescue-mission story of Brad Pitt learning to let go of his grief after discovering his astronaut father (Tommy Lee Jones; presumed dead) is actually alive and hiding away on another planet. Certainly there is no shortage of Moss Having a Meltdown movies to choose from, but pick this one because it's a good corrective to the A Star Is Born narrativizing of the music industry.This surprise Sundance hit from director Debra Granik — whose most recent film, Leave No Trace was a critical favorite that topped many year-end lists — features Jennifer Lawrence in her career-making role as a 17-year-old girl who sets out on a journey through the snowy Ozarks to track down her meth-dealing father. It's hard to find a single review upon release that didn't draw comparisons to American Beauty, but don't let that dissuade you — it's aged quite a bit better than its canceled-a-million-times-over counterpart.Let's start by noting a few things that make this HBO limited series not a "hidden gem" at all: It's adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name and it won two Emmys in 2015, including Limited Series and Lead Actress In A Limited Series for Frances McDormand. (One of the series' very best episodes, 'Kick the Can,' finds the couples facing off in a game of ball in order to reclaim the field that a group of "hipsters" have reserved for the same time.) Luckily, we have been spoiled with much more Duplass Brothers content!If you watched Marriage Story and felt like it was lacking the signature bitterness of some of Noah Baumbach's earlier films, might I recommend revisiting this polarizing 2010 film starring Ben Stiller and Greta Gerwig? A testament to its staying power, Assayas recently revealed that an A24-backed TV series adaptation is in the works — use this an excuse to dig back into the Assayas archives and have a watch if you haven't done so already!Get all the best moments in pop culture & entertainment delivered to your inbox.