HBO Max spent June living large—House of the Dragon‘s third season ruled the charts (and continues to), and Larry David is skewering 250 years of American history just in time for Independence Day. But once the dragons stop breathing fire, it’s the stranger-than-fiction real-life documentaries that linger, and HBO Max keeps a deep library of those.
This weekend (July 3-5), I’ve picked three docs about folks who’ve chosen to draw outside the lines: a band of grinning provocateurs fighting for religious freedom, a 1970s crocheted-bikini public-access television icon whose free-speech advocacy triggered a Supreme Court showdown, and a roots-rock brotherhood that burned bright and broke up. I’ve ranked them in order from good to best, in my opinion.
3
Hail Satan?
How satirical Satanists took on church and state
It’s important to note, right off the bat, that The Satanic Temple, the activist group at the center of acclaimed filmmaker Penny Lane’s provocative, frequently hilarious 2019 documentary Hail Satan?—surprise—doesn’t actually worship Satan or even believe in him. This isn’t a movie about evil people. Instead, it’s an enlightening film about a group of media-savvy members who used Satanic imagery to expose hypocrisy and defend the separation of church and state. And it’s surprisingly a lot of fun.
The 95-minute film charts the Temple’s rise from a 2013 rally on the steps of the Florida statehouse to its headline-grabbing push to install a nine-foot statue of the goat-headed occult symbol Baphomet on capitol grounds in Arkansas. Anchoring the film are Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves and former Detroit chapter leader Jex Blackmore, who take on the group’s most vocal opponent, “The Preacher Politician,” Arkansas state senator Jason Rapert.
Hail Satan? mixes real-life footage, news clips, and talking-head interviews that make the film wickedly playful, often funny, and so very tongue-in-cheek. The film was a Sundance hit, and it currently has a 96% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Hail Satan?
Hail Satan?
Release Date
April 17, 2019
Runtime
91 minutes
Director
Penny Lane
2
Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story
A provocative cable pioneer’s free-speech fight
New to HBO Max as of June 30th, to perfectly wrap up Pride Month, this absolutely fun and fabulous 2026 documentary celebrates Robin Byrd, the crocheted-bikini queen of New York public-access TV who inadvertently became a beacon of advocacy for free speech and a LGBTQ+ icon.
From 1977 to 1998, The Robin Byrd Show ruled Manhattan’s public access, anything-goes Channel J, where Byrd welcomed adult performers of all genders and sexualities for a low-budget, sex-positive party, ending each week’s show with her own song, Bang My Box. The film tells her story and how her cult act became an AIDS-era lifeline and a beacon of queer hope and visibility. It also delves into her First Amendment battle against Time Warner, who tried to censor her show, and her landmark victory at the Supreme Court.
Built from rare archival footage and intimate interviews, Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story finds Byrd at nearly 70, weighing her legacy while tenderly caring for Shelly, her husband of 50 years, now living with dementia. Among those paying tribute in the 79-minute feature are Annie Sprinkle, Sandra Bernhard, and SNL‘s Cheri Oteri—who once parodied her. There’s no RT score as of yet, but so far, early reviews have been positive.
Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story
Release Date
June 9, 2026
Runtime
79 minutes
Director
Jyllian Gunther, Stephanie Schwam
1
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band
The rise and bitter breakup of The Band
You know them for their iconic hits like The Weight and Up on Cripple Creek, but how much do you really know about iconic ‘60s and ‘70s roots rock group, The Band? Well, put director Daniel Roher’s 2019 documentary in your watchlist and find out. Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band is a fascinating film that tells the incredible story almost entirely through guitarist and chief songwriter Robbie Robertson, who sadly died in 2023.
Based on Robertson’s 2016 memoir, Testimony, Once Were Brothers traces the group from their start as backing band, The Hawks, for rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins, through a legendary stint behind a newly electric Bob Dylan, to an acclaimed career of their own. It traces their close bond and brotherhood before spiraling into the addiction-fueled bitterness that fractured them in 1976, just in time for their legendary farewell concert, as captured in Martin Scorsese’s epic film The Last Waltz.
Roher weaves rare archival footage, photos, and music with fresh interviews from Robertson and his ex-wife, as well as several music legends: Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and Hawkins himself. It’s a deeply moving portrait of five musicians who became more than the sum of their parts, and it has an 84% rating on RT.
Cheeky July
It’s funny how the figures that polite society once clutched its pearls over tend to age into icons. Settle in, hit play, and see what all the fuss was about. And if none of these are your cup of tea, dig into How-To Geek’s other streaming recommendations.
Subscription with ads
Yes, $10.99/month
Simultaneous streams
2 or 4
HBO Max is a subscription-based streaming service offering content from HBO, Warner Bros., DC, and more. In 2025, the service re-branded itself as HBO Max after having previously cut “HBO” from its name.
