Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To GeekHBO Max has been keeping the folks at Kleenex in business over the past weeks, with everyone bawling over the series finale of Hacks and divided over that controversial ending to Euphoria. A great way to recover from all those emotions is with something real and fascinating, like a good documentary, and luckily HBO Max has a library full of them.
Whether this weekend or next week, three new docs have landed on HBO Max, including Questlove’s joyful, two-hour love letter to a band that turned funk into a wild, cosmic trip, a true-crime deep dive into murders dragged from the bottoms of America’s lakes and rivers, and a new season of a series that peeks at Hollywood’s darker side.
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Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World)
Questlove’s has done it again with this cosmic tribute to a funk dynasty
Legendary Roots member Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson continues making a name for himself as the premier music documentary filmmaker around with his third feature-length film, Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World). Premiering Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. on HBO Max, the two-hour doc focuses all of Questlove’s cosmic power the tell the story of the legendary funk, R&B, and soul band, from the rise of its groundbreaking founder Maurice White, through the band’s meteoric rise and its lasting influence on music from the ’70s to today.
While White is the central focus, his presence delivered through the incredible and rare archival material and interview footage as the singer passed away in 2016 from Parkinson’s disease. The film details White’s vision, and how he wove the spiritual, metaphysical, and astrological into hits like September, Let’s Groove, and Boogie Wonderland, and into the band’s whole aesthetic.
Loaded with never-before-seen-or-heard visuals, footage, and audio from the band’s archives, Questlove builds the story, weaving in live performance footage and interviews with current and former members, including Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson. But it’s also a fan film, so why not hear from some notables who were also inspired by the band, such as Barack and Michelle Obama, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, H.E.R., and Flea. Questlove may be looking to add a second Oscar to his mantle with this one.
Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World
Release Date
June 7, 2026
Runtime
119 minutes
Director
Questlove
Cast
Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Ralph Johnson, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, H.E.R., Flea, Maurice White
Producers
Arron Saxe, Dave Sirulnick, KB White, Questlove, Samantha Grogin
Main Genre
Documentary
Executive Producer(s)
Amos Newman, Cheo Hodari Coker, Jon Kamen, Karla Zambrano, Lisa Heller, Nancy Abraham, Sara Rodriguez, Shawn Gee, Tariq Trotter, Zarah Zohlman
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Bodies in the Water
Murder investigations that go deep
I’ve recently discovered all the great Investigation Discovery true-crime documentaries available on HBO Max, and Bodies in the Water is another one I’ve just started watching that I can truly say has a unique and grim premise: it covers murder investigations where killers have tried to hide their victims in lakes, rivers, swamps, and coastal waters to get away with their crimes.
While the show’s make-up is pretty standard—each episode traces a crime from beginning to end, as investigators and family members talk us through the events, emotions, clues, suspects, motives, forensics, interrogations, and more—what makes the series so fascinating is how the locations and challenges of the water elements can factor into and wreak havoc on the investigation. Narrated by Riley Neldam, Bodies in the Water also uses well-produced re-enactments when necessary, and delves into the psychology of why criminals often choose water as a hiding place.
The current run of the show is rolling episodes out weekly, and as of this writing, only the premiere episode is up—a case in Pontiac, Michigan, where a young man gets into a car with the wrong person. For procedural-minded true-crime fans, it’s catnip
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Hollywood Demons (Season 2)
The dark underbelly of Hollywood fame
Like I said, Investigation Discovery is a treasure trove of dark and wonderful docuseries, and Hollywood Demons is definitely one of them. With its latest second season now all available to stream on HBO Max, the series turns the lights on in the night club of Hollywood fame for a voyeuristiclook at the roaches as they scatter. OK, maybe that’s a bit mellow dramatic, but Hollywood Demons is definitely for those who like a good, dramatic celebrity gossip story, so buckle up.
Season two’s new batch of five episodes, each a self-contained story, dive into some familiar territory, and include an examination of the 2023 death of Friends star Matthew Perry, the chaos and sensationalism of the Jerry Springer show (that includes an interview with Springer himself), a look at child stars who’ve since made the jump to adult film, and the scandals behind beloved TV series Saved by the Bell.
The docuseries definitely leans into a gossipy, sensationalized feel, but it uses exclusive interviews with experts, Hollywood insiders, and those close to the subjects, as well as archival and news footage to tell the stories. Check your brain at the door and enjoy.
Roku Express
Cosmic funk and true-crime
Funk, forensics, and famous people behaving badly make for a strange and entertaining weekend. Whatever mood you land on, How-To Geek has more streaming guides lined up to fill the next free evening.
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2 or 4
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