#1Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are sent to live with a foster mother, only to learn that she is hiding a terrifying secret.
Bring Her Back
★ 7.42025
Cinemax started life in 1980 as HBO’s sister channel, a round-the-clock feed of Hollywood movies and gritty action with no ad breaks. For a while it punched far above its weight with originals like Banshee, Warrior and Strike Back, but the studio pulled the plug on those commissions in 2020 and shifted the hits over to HBO Max. Today Cinemax is a paid add-on, not a standalone app, leaning almost entirely on its film and action library while the brand keeps quietly shrinking.
That catalog rides on Prime Video Channels and stays tied to the American market, so Cinemax works in just 1 country, the United States. Elsewhere the app simply turns you away. Surfshark moves your virtual location back to the States so the Cinemax library loads where it otherwise stays dark, capped at 1080p with no 4K or HDR. You still pay for Cinemax yourself; the VPN only sorts out geography and reopens the catalog.
Cinemax actively blocks VPNs. Only certain providers reliably bypass the detection.
| VPN Service | Price | Cinemax | Tested | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SurfsharkBEST | From $1.78/mo | ✓ Works | June 12 | Try it |
ExpressVPN | From $2.79/mo | ✓ Works | June 12 | Open |
NordVPN | From $2.99/mo | ✓ Works | June 11 | Open |
CyberGhost | From $1.75/mo | ~ Partial | June 10 | Open |
IPVanish | From $2.19/mo | ~ Partial | June 13 | Open |
ProtonVPN | From $3.59/mo | ~ Partial | June 7 | Open |
Private Internet Access | From $1.79/mo | ~ Partial | June 12 | Open |
Takes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
Cinemax is only available in the United States. To access it from anywhere else, use a premium VPN.
Cinemax is blocked in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada, in New Zealand and in Ireland, plus in 188 more countries. To access it, use a premium VPN like Surfshark.
Cinemax is a US premium movie add-on from Warner Bros. Discovery, the longtime sister channel to HBO. It is not a standalone service: you stream it through the Cinemax Amazon Channel (about $9.99 a month with a 7-day trial) or as a cable add-on. Expect a rotating library of Hollywood theatrical films plus action and thriller titles and a 24/7 linear feed. There are no current original series, and streaming runs in 1080p HD only, available solely in the United States.

5 tips from our Cinemax testing team · Updated June 13, 2026
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Everything you need to know before subscribing to Cinemax.
Surfshark unlocks Cinemax from anywhere in the world. Risk-free 30-day money-back.
Part of the Warner Bros. Discovery (Home Box Office, Inc.) family.
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