Max Hubacher was born in Bern in 1993. Having already started to act in children's theatre at the age of seven, he was 13 years old when he starred in a production of Robert Walser's "Liebestraum" at the Schauspielhaus Zurich. Since 2007, Hubacher is an ensemble member of the Jugend-Theaterclub at the Schlachthaus-Theater in Bern.

In 2009, he made his screen debut in the award-winning drama "Stationspiraten" (CH), which chronicles the lives of several young cancer patients. He next starred in Markus Imboden's "Der Verdingbub" ("The Foster Boy", D/CH, 2011), and his moving portrayal of an orphaned boy who is sold to a brutal famer garnered him the title of "Shooting Star" at the 2012 Berlin IFF and the Swiss Film Award for Best Actor.

After supporting roles in the "Tatort" episode "Schmutziger Donnerstag" (CH/DE 2013) and the feature film "Nachtzug nach Lissabon" ("Night Train to Lisbon", DE/CH/PT 2013), Hubacher was cast as the lead in the award-winning drama "Driften" (CH 2014). He next got very positive reviews for his turn as a rapist in the drama "Nichts passiert" (CH 2015). Shortly before, he had enrolled in the acting class at Hochschule für Musik und Theater 'Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy' in Leipzig. In the 2016/17 season, he became a company player of the Schauspielstudio at the Schauspiel Leipzig.

Following his leading role in the tragicomedy "Lasst die Alten sterben" (CH 2017), Hubacher played an athlete cum serial killer in "Der Läufer" (CH 2017). His performance in the gay romance "Mario" (CH 2018) garnered him a nomination at the 2018 Swiss Film Award. Hubacher next starred in the titular role of "Der Hauptmann" ("The Captain"), playing German war criminal Willi Herold who posed as a Wehrmacht officer at the end of WWII, randomly had people executed and became infamous as the "Hangman of Emsland". The film received very good reviews, and Hubacher was awarded the Young Actors Prize at the Bavarian Film Prize 2019 for his haunting performance. In the same year he was nominated for the Swiss Film Prize for "Der Läufer" ("Midnight Runner") and won the prize for Best Newcomer at the Braunschweig Film Festival.   

In autumn 2020 two films with Hubacher were released in cinemas: In the tragicomedy "Gott, du kannst ein Arsch sein!" ("God, You're Such a Prick") he played a teenager who flees from his authoritarian father and goes on a trip to Paris with a young cancer patient; shortly afterwards he was seen in the psycho-thriller "Schlaf" ("Sleep") alongside Sandra Hüller.