Best new movies and TV series on Netflix New Zealand: September 2024

Each month, loads of new films and TV shows are added to Netflix‘s library. Eliza Janssen presents her picks for titles worth watching. For the full list of everything arriving on the platform, scroll down.

Top Picks: TV

The Perfect Couple: Season 1 (September 5)

Nicole Kidman has starred in a few different streaming series now (like Nine Perfect Strangers, Big Little Lies, and The Undoing) but this new one for Netflix might be the most Kidman show yet. It borrows the DNA of all those previous efforts, casting Kidman as the matriarch of a wealthy Nantucket family. Things are tense enough when she gives her soon-to-be daughter-in-law (Eve Hewson) a frosty reception, but the discovery of a body on the beach turns uncomfortable wedding prep into a nightmarish whodunnit. Liev Schrieber, Dakota Fanning, and Meghann Fahy round out the cast—and the list of suspects.

Twilight of the Gods: Season 1 (September 19)

Developed as part of Zack Snyder’s big deal with Netflix, this series reanimates the epic characters and fables of Norse mythology—plonking Snyder firmly in his gods-and-monsters, comic-book-inspired action wheelhouse. The voice cast is pretty flash, featuring John Noble as Odin, plus the recognisable timbres of Rahul Kohli, Peter Stormare, Jamie Chung and Lauren Cohan. And Hans Zimmer is behind the show’s score, presumably a soundscape of majestic battle hymns and a lot of clanging metal.

Queen of the Villains (September 19)

In the world of wrestling, bad guys are known as ‘heels’—sneering villains that the audience loves to hate, cheering when the virtuous ‘faces’ beat them to a pulp. Over five episodes, this Japanese Netflix Original dramatises the story of Dump Matsumoto, a legend of 1980s wrestling who bore her badness with pride—and some awe-inspiring theatrics, tongue flailing and eyeliner sharp enough to slice any unlucky opponents. I’m always whinging about how Netflix cancelled the women’s wrestling dramedy GLOW way too early, so I’m legally obligated to tune in for this Japanese take on similar themes.

Top Picks: Movies + Specials

Rebel Ridge (September 6)

Kinda disappointed that the latest, long-awaited effort from director Jeremy Saulnier doesn’t have a colour in its title, after Blue Ruin and Green Room…but hey, I’ll take it! Saulnier is a master of escalating tension, here tackling small-town corruption through a revenge story structure. Aaron Pierre plays an outsider to the dinky Shelby Springs, who flips out when his savings are seized by a crooked local cop (Don Johnson in peak sleaze mode). Our hero was gonna use that money to pay his cousin’s bail, but now he might wind up in the slammer himself…because his revenge is going to be heart-poundingly dramatic.

Uglies (September 13)

Is dystopian YA coming back, or did it never leave? Long after The Hunger Games and her sons took over cinemas in the 2010s, here’s a new adaptation of a well-liked teen novel series, with its own wacky depiction of a broken sci-fi society and the hot kids who struggle to change it. Here, that takes the form of an oppressive, beauty-obsessed autocracy, where teens are “gifted” a surgical makeover when they come of age—forming a segregated class system of “uglies” and “pretties”. I have a strong feeling that we’re going to learn that beauty is skin deep, what matters is what’s underneath, looks aren’t everything, etc. etc. etc.

His Three Daughters (September 20)

Set in New York, this chamber drama features a stellar trio of actors playing the daughters of a dying man. Natasha Lyonne, Carrie Coon, and Elizabeth Olsen have each proven their dramatic chops in film and TV, and so even though they look absolutely nothing alike we’re keen to see them convince us of a palpable family bond. Estranged, the three women will need to find common ground as they reunite in their ailing father’s New York apartment, hopefully dishing out affecting drama and big angry monologues.

All titles arriving on Netflix New Zealand in September

September 1

The Fast and the Furious
Follow the Rain
The Reader
The Rooster
Videoland: Season 1

September 2

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

September 3

Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef
Phil Wang: Wang in There, Baby!
Last One Standing: Season 3
Untold: Hope Solo vs. US Soccer

September 4

Outlast: Season 2

September 5

Apollo 13: Survival
Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas
The Perfect Couple: Season 1
Selling Sunset: Season 8

September 6

Disco; Ibiza, Locomia
Lantana
Rebel Ridge

September 9

Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Season 2
The Way Back

September 10

Ahir Shah: Ends
Jack Whitehall: Fatherhood with My Father
Monster-in-Law

September 11

Boxer
The Circle: Season 7
Technoboys

September 12

Angel Di Maria: Breaking Down the Wall
Billionaire Island
Emily in Paris: Season 4 Part 2
Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter
Midnight at Pera Palace: Season 2