What are you going to be watching in April? With thanks to our friends at Nando‘s, we round up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ on Demand.
The biggies
The Handmaid’s Tale (season four on Neon from April 29)
Our favourite dystopian nightmare is back, but after our own year of mask wearing, US political uprisings and social restrictions, will we see June Osbourne’s world a little differently now? Season three of the award-winning drama finished with June near death, but the season four trailer shows June not only surviving but thriving. The resistance is growing and June is putting herself – and everyone she loves – in the centre of the drama. Would we expect anything else from our steely-faced hero? Never. / TW
Creamerie (on TVNZ on Demand from April 19)
This dark Kiwi comedy-drama looks intense as hell, and I love it already. Set in a world where a rampant virus has killed all the men, three women accidentally stumble across the last surviving member of the male species, who they decide to secretly keep in their shed. Think The Handmaid’s Tale, but funny and set in rural New Zealand. Starring Perlina Lau, J.J. Fong and Ally Xue (the genius team behind Friday Night Bites), Creamerie also comes with a killer supporting cast that includes Rachel House, Jay Ryan, Tandi Wright and Sara Wiseman. / Tara Ward
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaLLEZO6FM
Mare of Easttown (limited series on Neon from April 19)
I can’t believe it’s taken until April to get our annual gritty drama starring an Academy Award winning actress, but thank god it’s finally arrived. Kate Winslet stars in Mare of Easttown as Mare Sheehan, a detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigating a murder while trying to stop her life from falling apart. It sounds more like Sharp Objects than Big Little Lies, and I’m praying it’s nothing like The Undoing. / SB
New Zealand Today (on Three from April 8, also streaming on ThreeNow)
Comedy nerds rejoice! Guy Williams and his cult hit show are back. In it, Williams visits small-town New Zealand to investigate what he thinks are the most interesting stories in New Zealand today. Our very own Duncan Greive loved the first season, saying that “the best moments of New Zealand Today are when he’s out in the field, no script in sight, running with the people and figuring it out as he goes along”. Let’s hope season two brings us more of the same! / SB
The notables
Younger (season 7 on Neon from April 19)
Over six delightful seasons, the half-hour comedy-drama Younger has become a true highlight of my TV viewing year. Created by Darren Star, who also brought Sex and the City to the screen, Younger shares that show’s love for both New York and the magic of female friendship, but is an altogether sweeter confection. Now that Lisa’s deep dark secret – she’s not really 26, gasp, but actually a single mother in her 40s – is public knowledge, this final season will no doubt focus on the really vital drama: is she going to choose Josh or Charles?/ Catherine McGregor
George and Me (on TVNZ on Demand from April 12)
A fresh season of the New Zealand educational series about the human body hits TVNZ OnDemand this month. If your kids have ever wondered what happens to their food when they swallow it, or how long their intestines are (seven metres, FYI), this is the show for them. It’s the ideal choice for kids who love fun facts and wacky adventures, as George and his animated BFF Me explore all the mysterious ways that the body works. / TW
Why Are You Like This (on Netflix from April 17)
Need an Australian comedy about millennials to fill the Please Like Me shaped hole in your life? This new Netflix show will fill that hole handily. Why Are You Like This was commissioned through the same scheme that gave us Funny Girls and Mean Mums, where a network filmed five pilots and commissioned the show that got the best feedback. The series following best friends Penny, Mia and Austin, as they plunder through their early 20s in the hyper-divisive, socio-political hellscape that is 2020, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Sounds a lot like Girls, with more shrimp on the barbie. / SB
Big Shot (season one on Disney+ from April 16)
Gather ’round everyone, your favourite TV uncle John Stamos (Full House, ER) wants to shoot some hoops. Stamos returns to the small screen in David E Kelley’s latest drama Big Shot, playing a grumpy basketball coach forced to take a job in an elite private girls’ high school. Those teenagers are about to teach John Stamos a thing or two about life, and what’s the bet there’s a heart of gold hiding underneath that sassy smoulder and hair that just won’t quit? Count me in, Coach. / TW
The movies
Savage (on Neon from April 15)
Sadly, this is not a feature length adaptation of the Megan Thee Stallion hit. No, it’s a local film inspired by the true stories of New Zealand’s street gangs across 30 years, following Danny (Jake Ryan) at three critical moments in his life as he grows from a boy into a violent enforcer. Each part of the film is set during a defining moment in the history of New Zealand gang life, from the state-run homes of the ’60s where many gang members grew up, to the emerging urban scene in the ’70s, right through to the ’80s where gangs became more structured – and violent. / SB
Thunder Force (on Netflix from April 9)
Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy in a superhero comedy? Sign me up, fill three bowls of popcorn, and put me on the couch. McCarthy stars with her husband, actor-director Bel Falcone, for this Netflix original about two childhood best friends who reunite as a crime-fighting duo when one invents a formula that gives people, yup, superpowers. If I’m honest, the McCarthy-Falcone pairing has resulted in films that have had, uh, little return on investment. By which I mean, they’re not very good. I have hopes for this one, though, and I can guarantee there’s worse ways to spend time on April 9, 2021. / SB
Mad Max: Fury Road (on Neon from April 22)
It’s the best action movie of the past decade. If you haven’t seen it, close this tab, wait until April 22, and watch it. / SB
This post is made possible by our friends at Nando’s.
The rest
Netflix
April 1
Prank Encounters: Season 2
Tersanjung the Movie
Magical Andes: Season 2
Worn Stories
Dumb and Dumber To
Shrek
The Little Rascals
The Big Lebowski
April 2
The Serpent
I Met a Girl
Just say Yes
Concrete Cowboy
Madame Claude
Sky High
April 5
Family Reunion: Part 3
April 6
The Last Kids on Earth: Happy Apocalypse to You
April 7
Snabba Cash
The Wedding Coach
The Big Day: Collection 2
Dolly Parton: A MusiCares Tribute
This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist
April 8
The Way of the Househusband
April 9
Have You Ever Seen Fireflies?
Thunder Force
Night in Paradise
April 11
Downton Abbey
April 13
My Love: Six Stories of True Love
Mighty Express: Season
April 14
Law School
Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!
The Circle: Season 2
The Soul
Love and Monsters
Why Did You Kill Me?
April 15
Ride or Die
April 16
Ajeeb Daastaans
Into the Beat
Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Season 4: Mexico
Arlo the Alligator Boy
April 17
Why Are You Like This
April 18
Luis Miguel – The Series: Season 2
Escape and Evasion
April 20
Izzy’s Koala World: Season 2
April 21
Zero
April 22
Life in Colour with David Attenborough
Stowaway
April 23
Shadow and Bone
Tell me When
April 27
Fatma
Go! Go! Cory Carson: season 4
April 28
Sexify
Headspace Guide to Sleep
April 29
Things Heard & Seen
Yasuke
April 30
The Unremarkable Juanquini: Season 2
The Innocent
Pet Stars
And Tomorrow The Entire World
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Neon
April 1
Supergirl: Season 6
Hustle
Pocoyo Easter Eggs
Timmy’s Seaside Rescue
Two Minute Tales
Machete
April 2
Inside Dior
Samsam
Step Brothers
April 4
Inherit the Viper
April 5
Bill & Ted Face The Music
April 7
The Unicorn: Season 2
April 8
The Patriot
April 9
A Stitch in Time
Red Joan
April 11
The Kindness of Strangers
Ambushed
April 12
The Nevers
Shameless: Hall of Shame
Fear the Walking Dead: Season 6B
April 13
The Tourist
April 14
The Story Of
Pineapple Express
April 15
Savage
April 16
San Andreas
April 17
Younger: Season 7
Luis & The Aliens
April 18
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
April 19
Mare of Easttown
April 20
Kids Who Save the World
Earth To Luna
Through the Woods
A Certain Justice
April 21
Breeders: Season 2
I’m a Creepy Crawly
Taina and the Amazon’s Guardians
Mad Max: Fury Road
April 22
While the Rest of Us Die
Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island
April 23
Timmy Time
Lil Doc
Locusts
April 24
Black Water: Abyss
April 25
Disturbing the Peace
Sgt. Stubby
April 26
4th and Forever: Alcoa
4th & Forever: Muck City
The Swan Princess: A Royal Wedding
Cinderella: After Ever After
Jack and the Beanstalk
April 27
The Last Witch Hunter
April 28
Jupiter Ascending
The House Bunny
April 29
The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 4
Book Club
April 30
The Iron Lady
Dragon Eyes
TVNZ on Demand
April 1
Unforgotten: Season 1-2
David Bowie: Finding Fame
April 2
Manifest
The Watch
April 4
The Bridge: Season 1-2
April 7
Burden of Truth: Season 1-4
April 8
Kung Fu
April 12
The Fall
Jandal Burn
George and ME
April 14
The White Queen
The White Princess
April 19
Creamerie
April 22
The End
April 30
Nurses
Disney+
April 2
Scream Queens: Season 1-2
Cesar Millan: The Real Story
Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season 1-5
Station 19: Season 4
Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale
Sharks of the Bermuda Teiangle
Dino Ranch: Season 1
Disney Walk the Plank: Season 1-3
Higglytown Heroes: Season 1-2
April 9
Solar Opposites
Disney Junior Muppet Babies: Season 3
Disney Future-Worm!
April 16
Big Shot
National Geographic: Earth Moods
April 22
Secrets of the Whales
April 30
Genius: Aretha
South Pacific
Amazon Prime Video
April 1
Lol: Last One Laughing Italy
Lol: Last One Laughing Germany
April 8
The Priest
April 9
Them
Wir Kider Vom Bahnhof Zoo
April 30
Without Remorse
Apple TV
April 30
The Mosquito Coast
Acorn TV
April 5
Balthazar: Season 3
WPC 56: Season 2
Whites
April 12
Cider with Rosie
Taggart: Season 19-22
In Deep: Season 3
April 19
Murphy’s Law: Season 2-3
The Black Velvet Gown
April 26
Poldark: Season 1-2
The Advocates: Season 1-2