Clockwise: The Supermodels, Cocaine Bear, Sex Education, Westside.
Clockwise: The Supermodels, Cocaine Bear, Sex Education, Westside.

Pop CultureSeptember 18, 2023

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

Clockwise: The Supermodels, Cocaine Bear, Sex Education, Westside.
Clockwise: The Supermodels, Cocaine Bear, Sex Education, Westside.

What are you going to be watching this week? We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.

The biggies

Sex Education (season four on Netflix from September 21)

I’m sad to see this one go, but very glad that we got four seasons of it and that it got to go out on its own terms. While the show initially started with the simple premise of Otto (Asa Butterfield) running a sex therapy clinic at his school with Maeve (Emma Mackey), despite being a virgin and even more despite his mother Jean (Gillian Anderson) being a famous sex therapist, it has since grown into a rather beautiful ensemble comedy-drama about acceptance, family, friendship and communication. Just don’t ask anybody when the hell it’s supposed to be set. / Sam Brooks

Big Boys (on TVNZ+ from September 23)

This one looks wholesome. It’s a comedy that follows two unlikely roommates thrust together in a university dorm. Jack (Dylan Llewellyn, of Derry Girls) is a closeted 19 year old on a journalism scholarship, very much stuck in his shell; Danny (Jon Pointing, of Starstruck and Plebs) is a 25-year-old “mature” (how dare!) student who is more keen to party. An unlikely friendship ensues! / SB

Lost in France (on Neon from September 22)

One of the three travel shows featuring retired All Blacks in France released to coincide with this year’s Rugby World Cup. Carlos Spencer (Los) and Matua Parkinson (Mutz) begin their travels in Paris, where they drive recklessly around the Arc de Triomphe in a classic Citroën, eat escargot, try their hand at the famous French sport of parkour and other everyday French activities. They also catch up with a handful of Kiwi expats doing Aotearoa proud on le stage du monde. / Calum Henderson

The notables

The Super Models (on AppleTV+ from September 20)

Remember when we actually had super models rather than influencers in designer clothes? This docuseries follows the lives and careers of the original super models: Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington Burns. Each episode has a hilariously dramatic title: “The Look”, “The Power”, “The Legacy”, “The Fame” etc. / SB

The Winter King (on TVNZ+ from September 18)

Do we need another version of the King Arthur legend? Someone certainly thinks so. This one involves Arthur (Iain de Caestecker) as a banished king in a world where the famous wizard Merlin has disappeared, Saxons are doing their pillaging thing, and a child-king sits on the throne. The rest of the Arthurian cast are twisted to be a little bit more evil, but honestly, if you’re pining for some more King Arthur in your life, this one’s had pretty decent reviews. SB

Westside (all seasons on ThreeNow from September 21)

The prequel series to Outrageous Fortune, now all available at your fingertips to watch for free! Watch the West family wine, whine, crime and dine their way across the decades, with the suspiciously ageless Rita West (Antonia Prebble, of course) at the helm. / SB

The films

Cassandro (on Prime Video from September 22)

Well, this looks delightful! This biopic stars Gael Garcia Bernal as Saul Armendariz, a gay wrestler who lives in El Paso, Texas, and regularly crosses the border to Mexico to compete in lucha libre wrestling matches. A chance meeting with a new trainer, Sabrina (Roberta Colindrez from A League of Their Own), suggests he competes as an exotico. Thus, Cassandro is born. (Interestingly, Roger Robert Mitchell directs this, and The Super Models above and the Donna Summer documentary below! Good week for him.) / SB

Cocaine Bear (on Neon, Netflix and Prime Video from September 24)

From our story about the New Zealander who played the titular bear: “Inspired by the true saga that saw an American black bear ingest 34 kilograms of cocaine dumped by drug smugglers, Cocaine Bear deviates away from the sad truth (the bear promptly died and was stuffed for display in a Kentucky mall) to tell a much better story (the bear goes on a killing spree and everyone from Felicity from Felicity to Tyler from Modern Family are in the firing line).”

Love to Love You: Donna Summer (on Neon from September 18)

It is what it says on the tin: A documentary about the pop and disco legend that was Donna Summer, directed by her daughter Brooklyn Sudano and Black American doco legend Roger Ross Williams. The film received warm reviews at both the Berlin International Film Festival and SXSW, and promises not to be a puff piece, but to instead explore the difficult aspects of Summer’s life and career. / SB

Netflix

September 18

My Little Pony: Make Your Mark

September 19

Second Chances

September 20

Hard Broken

September 21

Scissor Seven: Season Four

Sex Education: Season 4

Love is Blind: Season 5

Kengan Ashura: Season 4

September 22

How to Deal with a Heartbreak

Black Book

Spy Kids Armageddon

Neon

September 18

Love to Love You: Donna Summer

September 20

Monster in Law

September 21

Annika: Season 2

Gemini Man

September 22

Lost in France

September 23

My Pet and Me: Teeny Tiny Creatures

Family Camp

Singin’ in the Rain

September 24

Cocaine Bear

TVNZ+

September 18

The Winter King

September 22

The Messenger

September 23

Big Boys

September 24

Dear Mama

ThreeNow

September 19

Megan Thee Stallion vs Tory Lanez: Five Shots

September 20

The Little Drummer Girl

September 21

Westside: All Seasons

Disney+

September 20

Marvel Studios’ Assembled: The Making of Secret Invasion

L-Pop: Season 1

This Fool: Season 2

The D’Amelio Show: Season 3

Irresistible: Season 1

Pretty Freekin Scary: Season 1

Reply 1994: Season 1

September 22

No One Will Save You

Likes for Sale

Prime Video

September 22

The Continental: From the World of John Wick

Cassandro

September 24

Cocaine Bear

Apple TV+

September 20

The Super Models

September 22

Still Up

AMC+

September 20

Thick Skin

Acorn

N/A

Shudder

September 21

Project Wolf Hunting

September 22

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster