The 10 Best Series to Watch on HBO Max Right Now (July 2026)

Friends

Starting, of course, with the classic. Having Friends in full in the catalog worked wonders for Max when it launched in Brazil—despite having been off the air for more than 20 years, the sitcom about six friends in New York still draws millions of fans around the world, and Brazil is no exception. No wonder: with a brilliant cast and a sharp capture of the zeitgeist of its time, it truly is one of the best of its genre in television history.

Big Little Lies

At the other end of the tonal spectrum, Big Little Lies built a fan base that hung on every twist and turn of its over-the-top mystery-and-murder plot set in the lavish rooms of Monterey, California mansions. Of course, the cast —made up of veterans like Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, and Laura Dern, who hadn’t had roles with this much substance in quite some time — helped a lot. Rumors of a third season are still making the rounds, so you never know…

The Pitt

After a stunning first year, which saw it rack up the industry’s top awards, such as the Emmy and the Critics Choice, The Pitt returns for its second season with the mindset that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” With few changes compared to its predecessor, whether in the cast or the plot, the new season brings back the frenetic energy that has become the series’ trademark, a formula that worked wonders on 24 and fits the project conceived by the trio of R. Scott Gemmill, John Wells and Noah Wyle like a glove.

Read the full review.

I May Destroy You

The miniseries that Michaela Coel wrote, directed, produced, and starred in for the BBC/HBO, inspired by a shocking experience of sexual assault, does not treat the themes running through it lightly — but neither does it settle for being a straightforward account of misfortune and trauma. What makes I May Destroy You work is its persistent humanity, its moral complexity, its determination to look more deeply at the systems and institutions that shape the protagonist’s life. A triumph of eloquence.

City of God: The Fight Rages On

Revisiting the Brazilian cinema classic by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, this strong series reintroduces us to Buscapé (Alexandre Rodrigues) as a family man who finds himself entangled with crime in the favela once again after a new power struggle involving Curió (Marcos Palmeira) and his former protégé Bradock (Thiago Martins). At once a tribute and a course correction, The Fight Rages On presents us with a modernized City of God, yet still as electrifying and gripping as we remember it from 2002.

Girls

In the first episode of Girls, protagonist Hannah (played by creator Lena Dunham herself) declares herself “the voice of a generation, or at least a voice of a generation.” Over the six brilliant seasons that followed, despite all her flaws, Dunham proved she wasn’t too far off in that assessment. If you really want to understand late millennials from a certain social class, with their fits-and-starts coming of age and their psychologized quirks, the HBO series is simply essential.

My Brilliant Friend

On yet another note, Girls and Insecure are both very American… jokes aside, here is a third coming-of-age series centered on female characters who reveal unexpected sides and complex feelings with each episode. But My Brilliant Friend, inspired by the monumental books of Elena Ferrante, also adds a historical dimension to its plot, tracing political life in 20th-century Italy through the eyes of Lenù and Lila - an unforgettable duo.

Our Flag Means Death

The phenomenon of piracy has inspired a whole slew of films and TV series ever since moving pictures were invented back in the 19th century — but none is quite like Our Flag Means Death, a romantic comedy about queer acceptance and the different forms of courage human beings are capable of. With characters sketched in broad yet careful strokes, and a brilliant cast led by Taika Waititi, Our Flag deserved more than the two seasons it was given… but the ending is still quite satisfying nonetheless.

Rick and Morty

Having dominated the adult animation space since 2013, Rick and Morty is not only a masterclass in how to use the possibilities of the medium to create mature entertainment, but also one of the most compelling science fiction narratives of the past few decades — in terms of philosophical ideas and time-bending twists. Borrowing formats from the traditional sitcom, but stretching them to encompass an increasingly intricate mythology and increasingly ambivalent character relationships, the series about a brilliant scientist and his grandson on interdimensional adventures has grown into something far greater than it first appeared to be.

Mare of Easttown

A cultural phenomenon in 2021, when it first aired on HBO, Mare of Easttown signaled a new era in the mystery miniseries that have become the network’s bread and butter beyond major franchises like Game of Thrones and The Last of Us. Emotionally grounded by an excellent Kate Winslet, and steering away from the ultra-rich protagonists that defined other entries in the subgenre, the story seems to have connected with audiences on their level, and for that very reason won over a loyal following. Of course, there have been talks of a second season ever since…