HBO Max has announced what’s leaving their platform in December, and while I’m sad to see some titles go, there’s still plenty of time to watch these gems while you still can. From reality TV shows and original documentaries to film franchises like Superman, along with a lot of Justice League content, there’s lots to keep you busy. Oh, and don’t miss out on seeing Christmas classics like Elf and A Christmas Story before they’re gone!

These are the three movies I’ll be watching before they disappear, followed by a complete list of everything leaving HBO Max in December.

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Four Christmases

Four Christmases is for anyone who’s part of a blended family and knows the stress that comes with trying to cram in all the visits and dinners into one short day.

Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) are a successful, independent couple enjoying their lives, free of traditional constraints like marriage and kids. It’s been three years, and they still haven’t met each other’s families. To avoid doing that, they always lie and say they’re going on a humanitarian vacation—until this year. When all flights are grounded and they’re busted on live TV in beach gear, they have no choice but to endure the madness. For them, that includes four stops full of home-based cage fighting and cougars’ dens of betrayal, babies, and judgment.

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Edward Scissorhands

There’s never been a Gothic fairy tale more gorgeously constructed than Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. A modern fable about the tragedy of social diversity, the film focuses on themes of love, acceptance, and friendship as told through the tale of an outcast.

Edward (Johnny Depp) is, for all intents and purposes, completely normal—short of his scarred-up face, pasty-white skin, and lethal contraptions of scissors for hands. The creation of a scientist who died before he was finished, he spent decades alone in his decaying mansion before Avon representative Peggy Boggs (Dianne Wiest) found him and brought him home. As he’s accepted into the family but judged by the community, he falls in love with Peggy’s daughter Kim (Winona Ryder), who is the only one to see his true nature and love him despite his differences, without wanting to change him. It’s one of the best outcast love stories in cinematic history.

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Gone Girl

If you haven’t seen the masterful thriller Gone Girl, now’s your chance. Its climax—paired with eerie, unnerving music—is so chilling and unpredictable, you’ll find it burrowing into your brain and lingering like a haunting memory.

Based on the book by fiction author Gillian Flynn, and inspired by the media coverage and public-feeding frenzies that surround true-crime cases, Gone Girl tells the harrowing story of a clueless husband who finds himself the prime suspect in his wife’s mysterious disappearance. She’s not just any wife, though—Amy (Rosamund Pike) is the inspiration for a very successful series of children’s books, so her disappearance demands widespread media coverage, as does all the evidence, which points directly to her husband, Nick (Ben Affleck).

Everything leaving HBO Max in December 2025

Once you’ve caught up on your favorites before they leave HBO Max, shift gears and immerse yourself in all the new stuff coming in December.

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Yes, $10.99/month

Simultaneous streams

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