3 Underrated HBO Max Movies to Watch This Weekend (September 5-7): ‘Friendship’ and More

It’s the first weekend of September, and HBO Max is wasting no time in keeping you from enjoying those last moments of summer.

The streamer added a slew of new films this month, and Watch With Us has selected three underrated movies for you to watch this weekend.

The 2025 indie hit Friendship should appeal to cringe-comedy fans, while the erotic drama Emmanuelle is strictly for adults who like a little titillation in their films.

Last but not least, check out the sci-fi horror flick Morgan and see why Anya Taylor-Joy is a star.

‘Friendship’ (2025)

Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) is having a midlife crisis. Bored with his middle-class life and roles as husband to Tami (Kate Mara) and father to Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer), he perks up when his new neighbor, Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd). Austin is everything Craig is not — cool, confident and liked by everyone he meets. The two men soon become best friends, but Craig wants Austin all to himself, and his neediness and jealousy set off a chain of events that could ruin his friendship, marriage and life.

“Cringe comedy” is an apt description of Friendship — but what else would you expect from Robinson, who perfected the awkward comedy subgenre with his shows Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave. It’s almost painful to see Robinson’s Craig sabotage his friendship with Austin because of his own inability to believe anyone would be interested in him. It’s also funny to see the extremes Craig will go to prove his loyalty and “coolness” to Austin, who is put off by his new friend’s increasing desperation.

Friendship isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoyed Robinson’s past works or thought the notoriously uncomfortable The Office episode “Scott’s Tots” was hilarious, you’ll like this movie.

Friendship is streaming on HBO Max.

‘Emmanuelle’ (2024)

Does the name Emmanuelle ring a distant bell to you? If so, you probably heard about — or even watched — the many softcore erotic movies that bore that name in the 1970s through the 2000s. All of those films were Eurotrash dressed up with gratuitous nudity and superficial artsy fartsy affectations, but this Emmanuelle is the real deal — an erotic drama directed by a female auteur who has something to say about female desire.

In this Emmanuelle, the titular character (Noémie Merlant) isn’t a sex-starved rich woman but rather a quality controller for a luxury hotel who travels to Hong Kong to oversee the opening of a new branch. Once she’s there, she meets Kei (The White Lotus’ Will Sharpe), a client who awakens her repressed sexual desires. Will her affair with Kei sabotage her career — or break her heart?

Directed by Audrey Diwan, Emmanuelle is a drama first and an erotic movie second. Don’t expect cheap thrills here; instead, you’ll get an engrossing portrait of a woman looking for more than just a satisfactory orgasm.

Emmanuelle is streaming on HBO Max.

‘Morgan’ (2016)

Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) looks and acts like a normal teenage girl, but she’s anything but — she’s actually an artificial being with superhuman strength who was raised by a group of scientists in a remote location in the woods. After Morgan kills one of them, she’s scheduled to be terminated by risk-management specialist Lee Weathers (Kate Mara). But Morgan doesn’t want to die and will do anything to live — even if that means killing everyone who gets in her way.

Morgan is a cross between Species and MEGAN — a horror thriller with a lethal female protagonist who has her reasons for killing every stupid human that crosses her path. As the titular cyborg, Taylor-Joy is perfectly cast — she’s both empathetic and a little creepy, a killer robot who is more human than the humans who created and raised her. She’s supported by an unusually talented cast consisting of Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Paul Giamatti, indie queen Jennifer Jason Leigh and Game of Thrones’ Rose Leslie.

Morgan is streaming on HBO Max.