The year is still new, but some problems remain the same. Those pesky 10 pounds are still there despite your recommitment to exercising regularly, and the weather still isn’t as all that great. Movies still hold the promise of escape, though, and this weekend, audiences will have the option of seeing Gerard Butler kick some butt in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera or a musical biopic of English pop star Robbie Williams starring a CGI monkey (yes, really) in Better Man.
For those wanting to stay in and chill, Max has plenty of movies for you to watch. The three movies on this list aren’t classics, but they are underrated films that are worth watching. Hey, it beats going to the gym again.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Citizen X (1995)
Is there anything more unsettling than watching a serial killer movie that’s based on a real-life serial killer? I always get the creeps when watching them, and one of the most underrated ones in the subgenre, a little-known 1995 HBO movie that is just as chilling as The Silence of the Lambs or Zodiac.
In 1982, a body is discovered on a farm in the Soviet Union. This prompts the discovery of seven more bodies buried around the area, which forces the police to confront the unmistakable fact that a serial killer is hunting in their midst. The manhunt is led by Viktor Burakov (Stephen Rea) and Col. Mikhail Fetisov (Donald Sutherland), and they eventually find their man: Andrei Chikatilo (Jeffrey DeMunn).
What’s interesting about Citizen X isn’t the revelation of the killer but how government bureaucracy and forensic incompetence led to Chikatilo remaining free even after he is caught and questioned. Because he was a member of the Communist Party, high-ranking officials refused to believe he was a murderer, which led him to claim more victims. Citizen X is masterful in capturing the relentlessness of people like Viktor and Mikhail, who must overcome obstacles from their own peers to get their man and make sure he doesn’t kill again.
Citizen X is streaming on Max.
Edge of Darkness (2010)
Mel Gibson isn’t what he used to be. Once the star of four Lethal Weapon movies and the Oscar-winning Braveheart, he’s now directing B-movie action thrillers like the upcoming Flight Risk. One of his last truly good lead roles was in Edge of Darkness, a conspiracy thriller directed by Martin Campbell, who helmed the best James Bond movie of all time, Casino Royale. Edge of Darkness isn’t quite as good as that film, but it serves up decent suspense and gives Gibson and co-star Ray Winstone two juicy roles to sink their teeth into.
When his daughter Emma is gunned down in front of him, homicide detective Thomas Craven (Gibson) is overcome with grief. After taking a lock of her hair as a farewell memento, he discovers that it’s radioactive. Digging a little further, he finds out that Emma has been investigating a company, Northmoor, that is producing dirty nuclear bombs. Craven teams up with British gun-for-hire Darius Jedburgh (Winstone) to find who ordered Emma’s murder and how they can stop Northmoor from making more lethal weapons.
Edge of Darkness is streaming on Max.
On Chesil Beach (2018)
Saoirse Ronan is one of the best young actors working today, and her four Oscar nominations, all achieved before turning 30, are a testament to the respect she has from her peers. Some of her movies like Ladybird and Little Women get more recognition than others, and one movie that was wrongly ignored was On Chesil Beach, a flawed yet moving adaptation of Ian McEwan’s 2007 novella.
Ronan stars as Florence, a young woman who has just married a man she barely knows, Edward (Billy Howle). She loves him, but she is sexually inexperienced, and since it’s 1962 in England, she has no one to talk to about her fears and lack of knowledge. On their honeymoon in the titular locale, the two lovers must confront their pre-conceived notions of each other, and find a way to understand one another.
On Chesil Beach takes its time, and maybe it takes too much of it, to get to its central conflict and the revelation of a secret from Florence’s past that prevents her from giving herself completely to her new husband. But the movie eventually finds its way, and the ending is just about perfect. The same can be said for Ronan, who never lets her film’s pacing issues get in the way of her nuanced performance.
On Chesil Beach is streaming on Max.
