Clockwise: Henry Cavill in The Witcher, the cast of Party of Five, Emma Watson in The Bling Ring, the cast of I Kissed a Boy.
Clockwise: Henry Cavill in The Witcher, the cast of Party of Five, Emma Watson in The Bling Ring, the cast of I Kissed a Boy.

Pop CultureJune 26, 2023

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

Clockwise: Henry Cavill in The Witcher, the cast of Party of Five, Emma Watson in The Bling Ring, the cast of I Kissed a Boy.
Clockwise: Henry Cavill in The Witcher, the cast of Party of Five, Emma Watson in The Bling Ring, the cast of I Kissed a Boy.

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+, Neon and TVNZ+.

The biggies

The Witcher: Season 3: Volume 1 (on Netflix from June 29)

Season two of The Witcher was released at the end of 2021. Recollections of what happened have likely been eclipsed by time and the news that season three would be Henry Cavill’s last as Geralt of Rivia. Season two wasn’t as funny as season one and frankly suffered without an annoyingly catchy viral song. It added more monarchs, mages and beasts and an owl who’s not an owl but a sorceress named Philippa to the universe, and culminated with all of them looking for Ciri. Season three looks set to be focused on Geralt’s continued quest to protect Ciri, billed as a fitting end to Cavill’s tenure as the magical mutant and monster-hunting machine. /Anna Rawhiti-Connell

I Kissed a Boy (on TVNZ+ from July 1)

What if Love Island… but gay? I Kissed a Boy is a new reality series that follows ten single gay men who’ve been matched up and meet for the first time with a kiss to test out their chemistry. After meeting their match, they’re encouraged to get to know the rest of the men in their gorgeous Italian country house – the “Masseria” – and give a more permanent relationship a try. Dannii Minogue hosts, which seems a very on brand thing for her to do. /Sam Brooks

Jack Ryan: Season 4 (on Prime Video from June 30)

Would you believe that not only is there a Jack Ryan series, based on the hugely popular Tom Clancy character starring John “Jim from The Office” Krasinski, but its fourth and final season is about to drop on Prime Video? Well, believe it, because it’s true. Also true is that this season seems to exist entirely to be a backdoor pilot to a series about another hugely popular Tom Clancy character called Ding Chavez, who will be played by Michael Pena. /SB

The notables

Muscles and Mayhem: An Unauthorised Story of American Gladiators (on Netflix from June 28)

If you’re a child, or more likely an adult, of a certain age, you’ll remember American Gladiators, the spectacle show that saw some of the world’s greatest, most ludicrously dressed, athletes competing against each other and performing physical feats week after week on TV. They were celebrities for a time, and I have a vivid memory of meeting them (or possibly their UK counterparts) in an Auckland mall. Anyway, this new five part docuseries tells the untold stories of the rise and fall of the series, with participation from many of the OGs, including Storm, Blaze, Laser, Sky and Tower (none of which are their real names). /SB

Party of Five (on Disney+ from June 28)

Two people I worry about more than I probably should: my flatmate, currently three-quarters of their way through a full rewatch of The OC, and that comedian who recaps batshit old episodes of 7th Heaven on Instagram. What will they watch next?! In both cases I think the answer should be Party of Five, in which a family of five freshly-orphaned children ranging in age from 24 years to 10 months (in the pilot episode) experience every 1990s social issue under the sun in dizzyingly quick succession. One of television’s greatest and these days most overlooked teen dramas. /Calum Henderson

Angel City (on Neon from July 1)

This docuseries goes behind the scenes of the Los Angeles-based professional women’s football team, Angel City Football Club (captained by Football Fern Ali Riley) which was founded in September 2020 by Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman. It’s the largest majority female owned team in professional sports, and the series will pull back the curtain on their inaugural 2022 season and reveal what it takes to build a franchise from scratch. So like Welcome to Wrexham, but not silly. / SB

The films

Run Rabbit Run (on Netflix from June 28)

Missing Sarah Snook on your screens? Thankfully, Netflix has you covered with this psychological horror. A fertility doctor (Snook) grows increasingly unsettled by her daughter’s claims to have lived a previous life, and tries to figure out what it is. Alice in Wonderland visual references, creepy children and harried mothers run amok in this film, if the trailer is anything to go by. / SB

Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (on TVNZ+ from July 1)

There is no franchise I will stump harder for that the Charlie’s Angels franchise, the most iron-clad time capsule of the early 00s than ever exists. There are ridiculous stunts, ludicrous cameos, barely a gun in sight, and a lot of high camp, borderline problematic jokes that would see everybody involved cancelled. They’re also really, really fun times. And now you can watch them for free! Thank your tax dollars. / SB

The Bling Ring (on Neon from July 2)

Another thing I will stump for: Sofia Coppola’s underrated 2013 film about a group of fame-obsessed teenagers who use the internet to track celebrities so they can then rob their homes. It’s based on an equally brilliant Vanity Fair article ‘The Suspects Wore Louboutins’ by Nancy Jo Sales, and features what is undoubtedly Emma Watson’s best performance. If you gave it a miss for whatever reason, I recommend you give it a watch – it’s funny, it’s smart, and it’s a pretty bleak commentary on fame culture. / SB

Netflix

June 28

Run Rabbit Run

Muscles and Mayhem: An Unauthorised Story of American Gladiators

Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate

June 29

The Witcher: Season 3: Volume 1

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers

June 30

Is It Cake, Too

Nimona

The Truman Show

No Country for Old Men

Neon

June 26

New Jack City

June 27

Caddyshack

Caddyshack 2

June 28

Wild Card

June 29

Life

July 1

Angel City

Jurassic World

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

July 2

Warped

The Bling Ring

Seriously Red

TVNZ+

June 26

Loaded in Paradise

June 27

Cats and Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

June 29

On the Line: The Richard Williams Story

June 30

Dodger: Season 1-2

July 1

I Kissed a Boy

The Karate Kid (1984)

The Karate Kid (2010)

The Karate Kid: Part II

The Next Karate Kid

Bewitched (2005)

Charlie’s Angels

Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle

Mr. Pickles: Season 4

Robot Chicken: Archie Conics Special

Royal Crackers: Season 1

Samurai Jack: Seasons 1-5

Yolo: Season 2

Teenage Euthanasia

New Order

Love Affairs

Stage Changers

Capital C: The Crowdfunding Revolution

The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women

Sisu

The Queen of Ireland

Made in America

An Amish Sin

You Can’t Take My Daughter

Home, Not Alone

From Straight A’s to XXX

Angelo’s Outdoor Kitchen

Giant Hubs

Da Fuq: Season 2

Miami Dolls: Season 1b

Behind the Drag Queen Pageant of the Year: Season 1b

Tupaia’s Endeavour

Arsene Wenger

Signed, Theo Schoon

The Girl on the Bridge

July 2

Unforgotten: Season 4-5

Disney+

June 28

Weekend Family: Season 2

Freeks: Season 1

Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog: Season 3

Critter Fixers: Country Vets: Seasons 2, 3 & 5

Great Expectations: Season 1

Home Improvement: Seasons 1-8

Party of Five: Season 1

June 30

548 Days: Abducted Online

Saving Notre Dame

Prime Video

June 30

Jack Ryan: Season 4

Apple TV+

N/A

Acorn

June 26

Cannes Confidential

Shudder

June 26

Home Movie

AMC+

N/A

Keep going!