We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
For crime fans: Dark City: The Cleaner (Neon, March 4)
Based on the bestselling crime novel, Dark City: The Cleaner follows Joe Middleton (Cohen Holloway) as he works as a cleaner by day, and moonlights as a serial killer by night. Duncan Greive previewed Sky’s new “riveting, coal-dark and gasp-inducing” Christchurch-made series last week: “Because what’s good about Dark City is original and electrifying. It’s one of what Sky are terming “Sky Originals” – along with the rebrand of Prime to Sky Open, it’s the company’s most ambitious attempt yet to draw much closer to the local conversation in Aotearoa. Dark City is a huge swing for all involved, and despite some uneven moments, when the show really connects it’s wildly impressive – further evidence that when given the space and funding, our television can elevate to any bar we care to set for it.”
For comedy fans: James Must-A-Pic His Mum a Man (March 7, TVNZ+)
Comedian James Mustapic sets himself the task of finding his Mum a new partner (and himself a new dad) in this new local series arriving on TVNZ+ plus this week. “Forget Art and Matilda, nobody mention Scotty and Shanti, because James Must-a-pic His Mum a Man is a romantic journey the likes we’ve never seen on local television before,” wrote Tara Ward in her Rec Room preview. “I’m fully invested in this unpredictable, hilarious, wild ride. James Must-a-pic His Mum a Man never forgets its own ridiculousness, but is bursting with heart, humour and a whole lot more bathtime Art Green than you might expect.”
For Kate Winslet fans: The Regime (March 4, Neon)
I’ve watched The Regime trailer three times and still have no idea what’s really going on. I know it stars Kate Winslet as an authoritarian chancellor of a fictional European country, a woman so desperate to hang on to power she falls in love with a soldier called “The Butcher”. I know the show looks like the twisted love child of The Crown and The Handmaid’s Tale, and I know Winslet says things like “these need to be briefer, these briefings” and “be better at being normal”, and then threatens to punch Hugh Grant’s face in. Winslet and Grant never got that sort of carry on in Sense and Sensibility, so whatever the hell this dark comedy turns out to be, I’m here for every gorgeous Winslet minute. / Tara Ward
For fantasy fans: Damsel (March 8, Netflix)
Millie Bobby Brown continues her run of playing clever kick-arse heroines in Damsel, Netflix’s epic new fantasy film that also stars Ray Winstone, Angela Bassett and Robin Wright. Brown plays a dutiful noblewoman who agrees to marry a handsome prince, only to discover that his family intends to sacrifice her to pay an ancient debt. She then gets trapped in a remote cave with a scary dragon and has to use all her wits and skills to survive. Is noblewoman turned princess Kate Middleton stuck in that cave with her? Either way, looks good! / TW
For fans of weird shit: How to With John Wilson (March 6, Neon)
This is a series that is impossible to recommend without making it sound like the most pretentious student film of all time: half hour video essays, assembled from thousands of hours of observational footage from around New York City etc. But believe me when I say: this show is a truly original, hilarious, jaw-dropping exploration of human beings and all their eccentricities and flaws. Produced by Nathan Fielder (Nathan For You, The Curse), omniscient host Wilson captures the most unhinged characters in the city, follows his curiosities to their logical conclusion (often someone’s basement) and, when you least expect it, smacks you in the face with a earth-shattering revelation about our existence. / Alex Casey
For fans of the Academy Awards: Poor Things (Disney+, March 7)
As Claire Mabey wrote in our wrap of where to watch the big Oscar nominees, expectations are sky high around Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, especially after the critical success of The Favourite. “Yes it’s beautiful, the costumes, the world building all mesmerising. It was good and weird, and the acting was top notch (particularly by Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo),” she wrote. “But the storyline was linear and predictable, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that Poor Things was a male fantasy trying very hard not to be a male fantasy.” Neverthless, it’s up for a whopper 11 Academy Awards so could be worth seeing what all the fuss is about.
Everything else:
Netflix
The Program (March 5)
Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda (March 5)
Supersex (March 6)
Full Swing S2 (March 6)
The Gentleman (March 7)
The Signal (March 7)
Ara San Juan: The Submarine that Disappeared (March 7)
The Monuments Men (March 8)
The Back Up Plan (March 8)
Every Body (March 8)
Nope (March 9)
Blown Away S4 (March 10)
Queen of Tears (March 10)
Eye Love You (March 10)
TVNZ+
Love Triangle (March 4)
Taking Back Our Beach (March 4)
Big Boys S2 (March 5)
ThreeNow
Gallipoli (7 March)
Disney+
Extraordinary S2 (March 6)
Neon
Quantum Leap (March 5)
Apple TV+
The Reluctant Traveller with Eugene Levy S2 (March 8)
Prime Video
Ricky Stanicky (March 7)
Beautiful Wedding (March 8)
Hayu
Erika Jayne Bet It All on Blonde (March 7)
AMC+
Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter (March 4)
Acorn TV
The Madame Blanc Mysteries Series 3 (out now)
Shudder
God is a Bullet (March 4)
The Hitcher (March 4)