maximum HBO I spent June living large.Dragon HouseThe third season dominated the charts (and continues to do so), 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 real-life, stranger-than-fiction documentaries that persist, and HBO Max maintains an extensive library of them.
This weekend (July 3-5), I chose three documentaries about people who chose to draw outside the lines: a group of smiling provocateurs fighting for religious freedom, a crochet bikini-clad public access television icon from the 1970s whose free speech advocacy sparked a Supreme Court showdown, and a roots rock sorority that burned bright and disbanded. In my opinion, I have ranked them from good to best.
3
Hail Satan?
How Satanist Satirists Confronted Church and State
It’s important to note, at the outset, that The Satanic Temple, the activist group at the center of acclaimed filmmaker Penny Lane’s provocative and frequently hilarious 2019 documentary. Hail Satan?—surprise—he doesn’t actually worship Satan or even believe in him. This is not a movie about evil people. Instead, it is an enlightening film about a group of media-savvy members who used satanic imagery to expose hypocrisy and advocate for 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 demonstration on the steps of the Florida House of Representatives to its headline-grabbing push to install a nine-foot statue of the goat-headed occult symbol Baphomet on the grounds of the Arkansas Capitol. The film’s hosts 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 tremendously funny, often funny and therefore very ironic. The film was a hit at Sundance and currently has a 96% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Hail Satan?
2
Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story
The fight for freedom of expression of a provocative cable pioneer
New to HBO Max starting June 30, perfectly concluding Pride Month, this absolutely fun and fabulous 2026 documentary celebrates Robin Byrd, the crochet bikini queen of New York public access television who inadvertently became a beacon of free speech advocacy and an LGBTQ+ icon.
From 1977 to 1998, The Robin Byrd Show She 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, hit my box. The film tells their story and how their act of worship became a lifeline in the era of AIDS and a beacon of hope and queer visibility. He also delves into his First Amendment battle against Time Warner, which tried to censor his show, and his historic Supreme Court victory.
Constructed from rare archival material and intimate interviews, Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story finds Byrd in her late 70s, 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 film are Annie Sprinkle, Sandra Bernhard and SNLIt’s Cheri Oteri, who once parodied her. There’s no RT score yet, but so far early reviews have been positive.
Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story
- Release date
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June 9, 2026
- Execution time
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79 minutes
- Director
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Jillian Gunther and Stephanie Schwam
1
They were once brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band
The rise and bitter breakup of The Band
You know them from their iconic hits like the weight and Up on Cripple CreekBut how much do you really know about the iconic roots rock group of the ’60s and ’70s, The Band? Well, put director Daniel Roher’s 2019 documentary on your watchlist and find out. They were once brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band is a fascinating film that tells the incredible story almost entirely through guitarist and main songwriter Robbie Robertson, who sadly died in 2023.
Based on Robertson’s 2016 memoir, Testimony, They were once brothers It traces the group from their beginnings as rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins’ backing band The Hawks, through a legendary period behind a newly electric Bob Dylan, to an acclaimed career of their own. It charts their close bond and brotherhood before spiraling into 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 together rare archival footage, photographs and music with recent interviews with 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 has an 84% rating on RT.
cheeky july
It’s funny how figures who once sustained polite society tend to age and become icons. Sit back, hit play and find out what all the fuss is about. And if none of these are your thing, dig deeper. Other streaming recommendations from How-To Geek.
- Subscription with ads
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Yes, $10.99/month
- Simultaneous currents
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2 or 4
HBO Max is a subscription streaming service that offers content from HBO, Warner Bros., DC, and more. In 2025, the service rebranded as HBO Max after previously dropping “HBO” from its name.
