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Pop CultureMay 13, 2024

New to streaming: What to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week

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We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.

If you love a racy costume drama: Bridgerton (Netflix, May 16) 

Based on a series of romance novels about eight (eight!!) siblings in Regency England looking for love, Bridgerton’s third season comes in two parts. The first four episodes are available this week, and the next four will be available from June 13. This season is about sibling Colin Bridgerton and Penelope, played by Nicola Coughlan. Apparently, their fan name is Polin. The Netflix machine has allowed stars to hint that season three is “super steamy”; if you love frothy dresses, grand ball scenes, longing looks, gossip and yes, steaminess, then we reckon Bridgerton’s third season will be as delightful as previous installments. If you start unironically using the term Polin, then you’ll know you’ve been taken over by the romantic Netflix hit. / Shanti Mathias

If you love a dark comedy-drama: Big Mood (ThreeNow, May 13)

It’s a big week for Nicola Coughlan, who not only stars in the return of Bridgerton, but also pulls a stellar performance in new comedy drama Big Mood. Coughlan and Lydia West play longtime best friends Maggie and Eddie, whose close relationship is pushed to the limits when bipolar writer Maggie decides to go off her meds. This is friendship and life in your 20s in all its messy, complex glory, with plenty of dark humour and emotional notes to keep you firmly in Maggie and Eddie’s corner. / Tara Ward

If you love ominous men in big hats: Deadwood (TVNZ+, May 16, all seasons)

This beloved Western, set in the fictional mining town of Deadwood, South Dakota in the late 1800’s, following the American Civil War, is one of the finest prestige television shows ever to have been callously axed at season three. The story follows the inhabitants of Deadwood – a lawless society with a fast-growing population of pioneers, vagabonds and outcasts, who have come seeking their fortune. Not only is the subject matter thrilling, but the production has everything you could want in a historical TV show – a large cast of incredible character actors, laboriously historical dialogue, evocative shots of the windswept desert, and many ominous men in big hats. The show can occasionally be confusing, if, like me, you struggle to tell a cast of grizzled older white men apart, but it’s one of those shows that rewards rewatching. A must see! / Hera Lindsay Bird

If you love trippy folk horror: Midsommar (TVNZ+, May 15)

For fans of The Wicker Man, The Witch, and any movie where a group of wanderlusting 20-somethings get themselves into a right pickle, make Midsommar your next late night horror watch. Directed by Ari Aster (Hereditary, Beau is Afraid), Midsommar follows a grieving Florence Pugh straight into the sun-soaked bowels of Swedish hell. After agreeing to accompany her boyfriend and his friends to a once-in-a-lifetime festival in Hälsingland, things quickly turn out to be a little less Rhythm and Vines and a little more like your absolute worst nightmare on mushrooms. / Alex Casey

If you love reality TV: Vanderpump Rules (Netflix, May 15 / all seasons on Hayu)

Some people call Vanderpump Rules reality TV trash, I call it a piercing drama that investigates the personal struggles of a group of unlikely friends as they navigate a catastrophic world of their own making. Either way, the early seasons of the reality TV juggernaut drop on Netflix this week (all 11 seasons are also available on Hayu) and this is your chance to go back to the early 2010s and soak up a dramatic world filled with the chunky necklaces, layered haircuts and toxic relationships of a bunch of 20 somethings working in Real Housewife Lisa Vanderpump’s Los Angeles restaurant. / Tara Ward

Everything else

Netflix

Adagio (May 13)

Vanderpump Rules (May 15)

Ashley Madison: Lies Sex & Scandal (May 15)

The Hours (May 15)

Maestro in Blue S2 (May 16)

How to Please a Woman (May 15)

Rogue Agent (May 15)

Muzzle (May 15)

Election (May 15)

All Fun and Games (May 15)

The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie (May 15)

Dr Stone (May 15)

Beyond the Lights (May 16)

Monster (May 16)

My Brother is up on the Tree (May 16)

Bridgerton S3 (May 16)

The 8 Show (May 17)

Fisherman’s Friends (May 17)

Maestro in Blue (May 17)

Chaos Walking (May 17)

Duck Duck Goose (May 17)

Mai (May 17)

Power (May 17)

Thelma The Unicorn (May 17)

The 8 Show (May 17)

View from the Top (May 18)

Golden Kamuy (May 19)

TVNZ+

Interview with a Vampire (May 13)

Highway Cops (May 13)

FBI: International (May 15)

Looper (May 15)

Midsommar (May 15)

Stronger (May 15)

Gifted (May 15)

Training Day (May 15)

Liam Lawson: In the Wings (May 16)

Grand Designs Australia (May 16)

Deadwood (May 16)

UFO (May 17)

Cyprus Hill: Insane in the Brain (May 18)

ThreeNow

Big Mood (May 13)

90 Day Fiance S9 (May 17)

Neon

Expendables (May 13)

Trees and Other Entanglements (May 14)

Catherine the Great (May 15)

Mamma Mia! (May 15)

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (May 15)

Chucky S3b (May 16)

Long Shot (May 16)

River Wild (2023) (May 17)

Space Chimps 2 (May 18)

Jack Reacher (May 19)

Disney+

Crash S1 (May 14)

Uncle Samsik (May 15)

Queen Rock Montreal (May 15)

Billy and Molly: An Otter Love Story (May 17)

Apple TV+

The Big Cigar (May 17)

Prime Video

The Expendables 4 (May 13)

Columbo S1-9 (May 15)

Academy of Country Music Awards (streaming live, May 16)

Outer Range S2 (May 16)

Friends in Low Places (May 17)

Edge of Tomorrow (May 19)

AMC+

Harry Wild S3 (May 13, also on Acorn TV)

In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin (May 15)

Nightwatch: Demons are Forever (May 17, also on Shudder)

This post is made possible by our friends at Nando’s

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