As mid-Autumn approaches with its winter-prepping weather, we’re here to prep you with a ripe ol’ list of what to watch on Aotearoa’s biggest streaming services.
New to NEON
Chernobyl
This HBO mini-series puts Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson in the middle of one of the worst man-made disasters in history—the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion.
BlacKkKlansman
An African-American police officer from Colorado teams up with a white counterpart in an audacious double-act to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Writer-director Spike Lee picked up his first ever Oscar for his adapted screenplay based on a true story.
“BlacKkKlansman may be the most accessible, and perhaps most entertaining, work of Lee’s latter day career but it is also his most important.” -Katie Parker, FLICKS
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Director Peyton Reed re-teams with Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Peña for the follow-up to 2015’s Ant-Man.
“A hugely entertaining, self-contained scientific scramble.” -Steve Newall, FLICKS
Incredibles 2
Oscar-winning writer-director Brad Bird returns for the sequel to Disney/Pixar’s 2004 box office crushing CGI action-adventure.
“Despite reservations, I walked out of the theatre feeling like I’d just watched the year’s most exhilarating action movie.” -Aaron Yap, FLICKS
Fast and Furious 6
Sixth gear of the crazy popular action franchise. It’s the one with a 46km airplane runway.
“Nothing here quite tops the Rio-demolishing climax of Fast Five” -Aaron Yap, FLICKS
Mulan
Check out Disney’s 1999 animated adventure in preperation for director Niki Caro’s liva-action version due in cinemas early next year.
New to Netflix
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
The charming Ted Bundy, also a notorious psychopathic serial killer, is brought to life by Zac Efron in this true story told from the perspective of Bundy’s girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily Collins).
“How is Zac Efron as Bundy? I think he’s startlingly good: controlled, magnetic, audacious, committed, and eerily right.” -VARIETY
Wine Country
Amy Poehler directs and leads this Netflix comedy about a group of longtime pals celebrating a 50th birthday at many, many wineries. However, the two-decade-strong friendship carries tensions from the past that resurface during the boozy getaway.
The Perfection
Psychological mystery thriller twisted around a cello prodigy’s pursuit for perfection. Stars Allison Williams (Get Out) and Logan Browning (Dear White People).
See You Yesterday
Two best friends build a pair of time machines to save a loved one from being killed by the police in this Spike Lee-produced time travel adventure.
Knock Down the House
Documentary follows four American women, insurgents running for Congress against powerful incumbents. With no political experience and no corporate donations behind them, the odds are hugely against the political outsiders, but one of them, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is about to pull off one of the biggest upsets in American political history.
When They See Us
Ava DuVernay’s mini-series illustrates the injustice behind the Central Park Five, the notorious real-life case of five black teens convicted of a rape they did not commit.
New to rent or buy elsewhere
The Favourite
Two cousins (Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone) jockey for influence and power during the reign of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman, who scored an Oscar for her performance) in this darkly comedic political drama from the Oscar-nominated director of The Lobster.
“A strange, twisted and darkly funny love story that is truly one of a kind.” -Katie Parker, FLICKS
Glass
M. Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of Split and Unbreakable. Returning are Bruce Willis, James McAvoy and Samuel L. Jackson.
“It’s going to prove frustrating for many viewers. AND YET, there’s a lot to like here.” -Tony Stamp, FLICKS
Pick of the Litter
Spanning two years, this documentary follows five Labrador puppies as they train to become guide dogs for the blind.
“I challenge anyone to make it through this self-proclaimed ‘dogumentary’ completely dry-eyed” -Aaron Yap, FLICKS
They Shall Not Grow Old
Peter Jackson directs this WWI documentary featuring never-before-seen black-n-white footage that’s been digitally coloured to commemorate the centennial of the war’s end.
“This digitalised revamping is unlike anything I’ve seen before—certainly not as simple as clicking a ‘turn on the colour’ button.” -Liam Maguren, FLICKS
Death Warmed Up
David Blyth’s cult classic New Zealand horror receives a Blu-ray release, starring Michael Hurst as a man out for revenge against a mad scientist that caused him to kill his parents as a child.
The Hate U Give
Amandla Stenberg (Everything, Everything) witnesses the fatal shooting of her friend by police in this drama based on Angie Thomas’s novel.
“A starkly effective film for teenagers concerned with the effort towards a better world.” -Amanda Jane Robinson, FLICKS
Girl
A 15-year-old girl, born in the body of a boy, dreams to become a ballerina and will push her body to its limits in order for her dream to succeed. This is Lukas Dhont’s feature debut and was nominated for the Queen Palm at Cannes.
“How to stand out and blend in at the same time? Few films convey that tension better than Girl” -VARIETY
The Guilty
Set entirely within an emergency services phone operating centre, Jakob Cedergren anchors this Danish thriller that won the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance.
“Scrupulously lean and driven by cool-headed, precision staging that might suggest a Fincher protégé” -Aaron Yap, FLICKS
Green Book
Winner of Best Picture at the 2019 Academy Awards, this road comedy-drama set in 1960s American South stars Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali (who won an Oscar here and for 2016’s Moonlight).
“Its cartoonish sincerity and beaming optimism make it an agreeable two-hour reprieve from a more serious, complex conversation—one that needs to start again immediately after the credits have rolled.” -Aaron Yap, FLICKS
Colette
Keira Knightley plays the titular French novelist in this biopic, revealing the author’s battle against her own husband who took all the credit for her work.
“As far as period dramas go, this is one of the most fun and funny to date.” -Amanda Jane Robinson, FLICKS
The Front Runner
American Senator Gary Hart’s (Hugh Jackman) 1988 presidential campaign is derailed by scandal in this political biopic from four-time Oscar nominee Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air).
“As ever, Reitman reveals a deft hand when it comes to interpersonal dynamics and the mordant humour that resides in the everyday failures of our existence.” -Paul Casserly, FLICKS
Double Lover
Psychological, erotic thriller from François Ozon (In the House) about an troubled former model, the psychoanalyst she falls for, and the discovery of his double identity.
“Quickly descends into a psychodrama of such committed dementedness I found myself liking it a great deal more than I probably should have.” -Graeme Tuckett, STUFF.CO.NZ
