We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
DMV (TVNZ+, February 4)
Created by Friends producer Dana Klein, this side-splitting workplace comedy is set in the hellscape every American dreads: the Department of Motor Vehicles. Starring Aotearoa’s own Alex Tarrant, DMV follows the government agency’s misfit employees as they battle Kafkaesque bureaucracy and irate customers. With “all of the makings of a classic sitcom,” the charming DMV is one to watch if you are a fan of Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Spreadsheet Champions (DocPlay, February 5)
You’ve heard of the FIFA World Cup, the Bledisloe Cup and Wimbledon, but you’ve likely never heard of the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship. Directed by Australian Kristina Kraskov, Spreadsheet Champions documents six young competitors from around the globe as they head to Florida to compete in the Excel strand of the ultra-competitive championship. Reminiscent of Rocky and McFarland, USA, this “highly entertaining and heartfelt film about dedication, dreams, and passion,” is truly one of a kind, as never before has Excel been this exciting.
Jurassic World Rebirth (Netflix, February 8)
The seventh instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise accompanies Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett as she and her rag-tag team of scientists and soldiers travel to Île Saint-Hubert, a remote, inhospitable island that is home to three colossal dinosaur species. Their mission? To collect genetic material from these dinosaurs, whose DNA could provide life-saving benefits to mankind. Delivering “thrills, spills and euphoric highs,” this “well-made summer theme-park ride” might not reach the heights of the original Jurassic Park, but it’s a sure-fire good time.
Cash Queens (Netflix, February 5)
In the pulse-pounding and peppy Cash Queens, five women band together to escape a series of desperate situations by pulling off a brazen bank heist while disguised as bearded, burly men. When their adrenaline-fuelled robbery nets them a measly sum, they are forced back to square one, setting their sights on another score. Chasing after a life-changing payday that sees them facing off against politicians, police and gangsters, Cash Queens is a fun, playful-riff on the classic heist flick.
Girl Taken (Neon, February 1)
The thrilling Girl Taken follows Tallulah Evans as Lily Riser, a teenage runaway. Abducted by Rick Hansen, a local school teacher and family friend, the six-part TV show doesn’t just focus on her tortuous experience as a captive, but also explores her eventual escape and “the damage that a perpetrator can continue to inflict even from behind bars.” Game of Thrones star Alfie Allen is “incredible“ as Hansen, giving a performance that rivals the meaty evilness of Hannibal Lecter and John Doe. Girl Taken might be tough to stomach, but it’s bound to be a haunting and hypnotic watch.
Pick of the Flicks: Ka Whawhai Tonu (MĀORI+, February 6)
Helmed by Mike Jonathan and starring the legendary Temuera Morrison as Rewi Maniapoto, the Māori-language epic Ka Whawhai Tonu retells the historic 1864 siege of Ōrākau, the last major battle in the invasion of Waikato. Taking its name from the phrase “E hoa! Ka whawhai tonu mātou, ake, ake, ake!” – Maniapoto’s response to a British invitation to surrender – the monumental film “is tender when it needs to be, raucously funny at times and pounds across the screen like a classic war movie in between.” An indelible depiction of a seminal moment in our history, Ka Whawhai Tonu is essential viewing.
The rest
TVNZ+
Bake Off: The Professionals (February 2)
Origins S3 (February 3)
DMV (February 4)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (February 5)
Mission to Space with Francis Bourgeois (February 6)
Lord of the Flies (February 8)
Life Below Zero S1-S2 (February 8)
MĀORI+
The Bones of Our Past (February 2)
Cousins (February 6)
Legacy (February 6)
The Haka Party Incident (February 6)
Ka Whawhai Tonu (February 6)
Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs (February 7)
Rambo III (February 7)
Decision to Leave (February 8)
Netflix
Mo Gilligan: In The Moment (February 3)
Fifty Shades Freed (February 4)
Fifty Shades of Grey (February 4)
Fifty Shades Darker (February 4)
The Lincoln Lawyer S4 (February 5)
Salvador (February 6)
Yoh! Bestie (February 6)
Queen of Chess (February 6)
Deeper (February 6)
Lesbian Space Princess (February 6)
Jurassic World Rebirth (February 8)
Neon
Blindspot S1-S5 (February 2)
Teen Titans Go! S9 (February 2)
CatDog S3 (February 2)
SpongeBob SquarePants S6, S16 (February 2)
Rugrats S3 (February 3)
Rubble & Crew S3 (February 4)
Bigfoot Took Her (February 4)
Ready, Steady, Wiggles S6 (February 5)
A Warrior’s Heart (February 5)
Act of Valor (February 5)
Hummingbird (February 6)
Fatal Destination (February 6)
Heart of Dixie S1-S4 (February 7)
The New Adventures of Old Christine S1-S5 (February 7)
Disney+
Hook (February 2)
Bombing Pompeii (February 4)
The Muppet Show (February 4)
9-1-1 S8 (February 4)
We Call it Imagineering (February 4)
DocPlay
Spreadsheet Champions (February 5)
Hayu
Below Deck Down Under S4 (February 3)
Summer House S10 (February 4)
