Decades before Netflix original films existed, HBO transformed the critical perception of what a “TV movie” could be.
For years, HBO cornered the market on quality original films for at-home consumption, routinely cranking out critically acclaimed documentaries and biopics or dramas with notable Hollywood names.
The cable network has had its fair share of misfires as well, including its most recent feature, a critically panned adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451.”
But altogether, with biopics like “Gia,” starring Angelina Jolie as the heroin-addicted supermodel Gia Carangi, or Claire Danes’ role as the revolutionary autistic scientist “Temple Grandin,” HBO has produced many acclaimed films and performances since it released its first original movie, “The Deadly Game,” in 1982. And now thanks to on-demand streaming, if you are an HBO subscriber you can watch the whole back catalog through either HBO Go or HBO Now.
To figure out which HBO original films are worth seeking out, we turned to the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and compiled every HBO film that had above a 70% “fresh” rating on the site. We excluded HBO coproductions that were distributed in theaters by other studios.
Here are the 41 best HBO original movies of all time, according to critics:
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