HBO Max is leaning on a mix of holiday escapism, hard-hitting nonfiction and family favorites in its lineup for the week of November 17 to 23, giving subscribers a small but varied batch of new arrivals. The platform’s highlights include a gingerbread-building competition, a documentary about the active shooter preparedness business and the streaming debut of a recent screenlife thriller.
On November 18, Gingerbread Land: The Biggest Little Holiday Competition arrives on the service after premiering on Magnolia Network and Food Network. Hosted by Oliver Hudson and executive produced by Chip and Joanna Gaines, the series asks teams of expert bakers to construct elaborate miniature worlds from gingerbread across four themed challenges, aimed at viewers seeking festive comfort. Company announcements describe it as part of a larger holiday push across food and lifestyle brands that now feed directly into HBO Max’s streaming library.
The same day brings Thoughts & Prayers, an HBO original documentary that examines the multibillion-dollar industry built around preparing schools for potential shootings. The film follows students, teachers and safety consultants through drills, training sessions and product demonstrations, raising questions about how much money flows into this sector while debates over gun policy remain stalled. The project focuses on the everyday reality facing children who have grown up with lockdown drills as a routine part of school life, according to the filmmakers and early coverage of the documentary.
On November 20, the 2023 film Missing lands on HBO Max, expanding the week’s offer beyond unscripted and documentary fare. The thriller follows a tech-savvy teenager who turns to email records, security cameras and social media platforms to search for her mother after she fails to return from a trip abroad. The movie helped popularize the “screenlife” approach, in which the story unfolds through laptop and phone screens, and its arrival gives subscribers who missed the theatrical run a chance to catch up.
Rounding out the schedule are several library additions spread across the week, including wildlife series Work on the Wild Side, new episodes of Teen Titans Go! and Bugs Bunny Builders from Cartoon Network, and reality series Belle Collective. The mix reflects HBO Max’s continued strategy of using the service as a hub for titles drawn from across the wider Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio, linking premium HBO documentaries with unscripted lifestyle shows and children’s animation in a single weekly drop.
