We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
The Last Moa (Neon, July 10)
From award-winning animators Phil Brough and Terry Nghe comes The Last Moa, the fast-paced animated local comedy that’s fun for the whole whānau. Thought to be extinct for centuries, the not-so-bright Moa is the last of her kind. But when the fame-hungry trapper Ted comes calling, her fiercely loyal guardian Kiwi pulls out all the stops to keep her safe and sound. Set against the breathtaking expanse of rural Aotearoa, The Last Moa is sure to get you and your young ones through these school holidays.
Making the Grade (MĀORI+, July 6)
Directed by documentarian Ken Wardrop, the endearing and uplifting Making the Grade charts the bond between piano teachers and their pupils as they anxiously prepare for the Royal Irish Academy of Music examinations. Joining the likes of To Be and To Have and American Teacher as “one of the great, affecting films about teaching,” this ode to education is “full of irrepressible positivity.” The world may be all doom and gloom, but Making the Grade is guaranteed to brighten your day.
Housebound (MĀORI+, July 11)
Before Morgana O’Reilly was Pam in The White Lotus, the acclaimed local actor was Kylie Bucknell in Housebound, “a madcap maelstrom of horror-comedy.” Directed by Kiwi Gerard Johnstone, who would go on to helm the smash-hit horror M3GAN, the film follows Bucknell as she is forced to serve her eight month house arrest sentence at her creepy childhood home. What happens next is “creepy, silly, inventive, darkly funny and, at one point, mind-blowingly bloody.” Spotlighted by Indiewire as one of the best horror-comedies of the 21st century, Housebound is one hell of a film.
Art Detectives (Neon, July 12)
If you’re a fan of The Brokenwood Mysteries and Only Murders in the Building, then the cozy murder-mystery procedural Art Detectives is the series for you. Centred around the shady world of art and antiquities, the show follows Detective Inspector Mick Palmer (Stephen Moyer). The lone member of the Heritage Crime Unit, he joins forces with Detective Constable Shazia Malik (Nina Singh) to solve a series of art world mysteries that “are well-constructed and intricate without veering into anything either too silly or serious.” Cue the Vivaldi.
The Five Star Weekend (Hayu, July 10)
Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s best-selling novel of the same name, The Five Star Weekend stars Jennifer Garner as beloved food blogger Hollis Shaw who, after losing her husband, hosts a weekend of self-discovery with her friends at her picture-perfect Nantucket home. Also featuring Chloë Sevigny, Regina Hall, Gemma Chan, and D’Arcy Carden, the weekend getaway for the five friends doesn’t go as planned as boundaries are pushed and secrets exposed. Reminiscent of Big Little Lies and The Perfect Couple, the sun-soaked The Five Star Weekend is a taut treat.
Pick of the Flicks: Sgt. Haane (TVNZ+, July 10)
Labelled by The Spinoff as “a triumphant documentary of a harrowing event,” Sgt. Haane tells the story of L. Sgt. Haane Manahi DCM (Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa), a Māori soldier from Ōhinemutu, Rotorua. His extraordinary courage during a bloody operation led by the 28th Māori battalion in Takrouna, Tunisia, helped secure a strategically vital hill that was previously deemed an “impregnable fortress.” Helmed by Mt. Zion and Muru director Tearepa Kahi, and featuring NCIS: Hawai’i star Alex Tarrant as the titular Sgt. Haane, this absorbing documentary is a must-watch for any New Zealander.
The rest
Netflix
Sparks of Tomorrow (July 6)
Better Late Than Single S2 (July 7)
Jeff Arcuri: Nice to Meet You (July 7)
Salcedo, Leather, and Boogaloo (July 8)
I’m Not Afraid (July 8)
Nothing to Lose (July 8)
Thunder 3 (July 9)
Little House on the Prairie (July 9)
Ikka (July 10)
Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea (July 10)
Miguel Ángel Blanco: The 48 Hours that Changed Spain (July 10)
Perfect Blue (July 10)
Love is Blind: UK After the Altar (July 12)
The Apartment Job (July 12)
TVNZ+
Sgt. Haane (July 10)
Ranginui: Call of the Ice (July 12)
MĀORI+
Making the Grade (July 6)
Wilfred Buck (July 10)
Millie Lies Low (July 10)
My Fairy Troublemaker (July 11)
Housebound (July 11)
ThreeNow
1000-lb Sisters S5 (July 11)
Neon
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (July 6)
Frasier S5-S11 (July 7)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 7)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (July 7)
Sylvanian Families the Movie: A Gift from Freya (July 8)
Madam Secretary S1-S6 (July 8)
Jujutsu Kaisen S3 (July 9)
Ricky Stanicky (July 10)
A Discovery of Witches S1-S3 (July 10)
The Last Moa (July 10)
Art Detectives (July 12)
Silent Witness S28 (July 12)
The Idea of You (July 12)
Prime Video
The Ghost in the Shell (July 8)
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman (July 9)
Disney+
Project Runway S22 (July 10)
Apple TV
Trying S5 (July 8)
DocPlay
The American Revolution (July 6)
The Last Daughter (July 9)
Her Name is Nanny Nellie (July 9)
Dripped in Black (July 9)
Walkatjurra: Our Actions Will Never Stop (July 9)
AroVision
Late Shift (July 8)
The One I Loved (July 8)
Birthright (July 8)
Journey Home, David Gulpilil (July 8)
Hayu
The Five Star Weekend (July 10)
The Real Housewives of Orange County S20 (July 10)
Paris Hilton’s My New BFF S1-S2 (July 11)
Paris Hilton’s My New BFF UK (July 11)
Paris Hilton’s My New BFF Dubai (July 11)
HBO Max
Jay & Pamela S2 (July 7)
Chopped Castaways (July 8)
Mortal Kombat (July 11)
