We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
Licence To Drive (Neon, July 2)
From the creators of Wheel Blacks: Bodies on the Line comes Licence To Drive, a series follow the transformative journey undertaken by a group of disabled New Zealanders who are pursuing more independence by learning to drive. Each episode follows the learner drivers alongside their patient (and not-so-patient) parents and driving instructors as they experience the uber-relatable highs and lows of being behind the wheel. From autistic twins wanting to take their partners for a cruise, to a man learning to steer with his feet, to a quadriplegic teen trialling groundbreaking adaptive technology, Licence To Drive is bound to be a fascinating and emotional ride.
Dead Ahead (TVNZ+, June 30)
The charming bilingual local comedy Dead Ahead chronicles the Wharekoa whānau who, after returning to Aotearoa after a decade overseas, have discovered that they’ve somehow upset the equilibrium between the spiritual and physical realms. Unbeknownst to the rest of the whānau, it’s the secret agenda of matriarch Kiri (Miriama Smith) that has unleashed three kēhua, who hope to spook and steer them back in the right direction. Reminiscent of The Canterville Ghost and Coco, the spirited Dead Ahead will haunt the screen with heartfelt and homespun humour.
Heads of State (Prime Video, July 2)
From the director of Hardcore Henry and Nobody, Ilya Naishuller’s newest star-studded project follows two prime ministers (played by Idris Elba and John Cena) who begrudgingly set aside their public rivalry when they’re shot down in Air Force One by a bloodthirsty foreign power. Aided by the kick-ass MI6 agent Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), the enemies-to-besties must rely on each other to survive as they’re hunted across the backroads of Europe by gun-toting mercenaries. A light-hearted action comedy that is sure to blow your head off… with laughter.
Hospice Heroes (ThreeNow, July 6)
Granted unparalleled access to Tāmaki Makaurau’s Tōtara Hospice, Three’s intimate Hospice Heroes welcomes you warmly into the place where people go to die. Medical professionals, volunteers, patients, and their whānau, candidly share their experience of end of life care, a part of life that is universal and inescapable. Despite the potentially morbid subject matter, the tender TV show is also a reminder to live life to the fullest, as the hospice facilitates hot laps at Hampton Downs and pamper parties for patients. Tune in to Hospice Heroes to cry until you laugh, and laugh until you cry.
1917 (TVNZ+, July 1)
Set across the squalid trenches, torched fields and fanged rubble of the Western front, two babyfaced British soldiers receive a seemingly impossible order: they must journey into enemy territory and deliver an urgent message that could save thousands of ensnared Tommies. Directed by Sam Mendes and filmed to look like one continuous take by Roger Deakins, the epic war odyssey was nominated for 10 Oscars in 2020 and won three. Described as “tense, exhilarating and profoundly moving,” keep an eye out for the who’s who of British and Irish acting royalty – Andrew Scott, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch all make a cameo.
Pick of the Flicks: Johatsu: Into Thin Air (DocPlay, July 3)
Johatsu, refers to the Japanese phenomenon in which thousands of individuals, who with the help of ‘night movers’, sever all ties with their past lives and start anew. Often driven by societal pressures, financial difficulties, and abusive relationships, the subjects in Johatsu: Into Thin Air agreed to participate in Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori’s austere documentary on the condition that the film will never be screened in Japan. “Unfolding like a suspense thriller,” Johatsu: Into Thin Air is a poignant account of those suspended “between the abandoned, unbearable normality of before and the new normality in the making.”
The rest
Netflix
Attack on London: Hunting The 7/7 Bombers (July 1)
Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel (July 1)
The Old Guard 2 (July 2)
Tour de France: Unchained: S3 (July 2)
The Sandman: S2 V1 (July 3)
Countdown: Taylor vs. Serrano (July 3)
All the Sharks (July 4)
The Summer Hikaru Died (July 6)
TVNZ+
Dead Ahead (June 30)
The Burning Girls (June 30)
Elsbeth (July 1)
Diddy: In Plain Sight (July 1)
The Emoji Movie (July 1)
Now You See Me (July 1)
Now You See Me 2 (July 1)
I Feel Pretty (July 1)
Booksmart (July 1)
Dirty Grandpa (July 1)
1917 (July 1)
Spy Kids 4 (July 1)
The Dog House S6 (July 5)
Susan Calman: Great British Cities (July 6)
America’s Got Talent S19 (July 5)
The Essex Millionaire Murders (July 6)
ThreeNow
This City is Ours (July 1)
90 Day: The Last Resort (July 4)
Hospice Heroes (July 6)
Neon
Chowder (June 30)
Regular Show S1-2 (June 30)
Ben 10 S3-4 (June 30)
Ben 10: Alien Force S2 (June 30)
Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix (Red) (June 30)
My Fair Lady (June 30)
Murder Under The Friday Night Lights S4 (July 1)
Joker (July 1)
Joker: Folie A Deux (July 1)
Blue’s Clues & You S1-S3 (July 1)
Bubble Guppies S6 (July 1)
Butterbean’s Café S2 (July 1)
Dora and Friends: Into the City! S2 (July 1)
Days of our Lives S61 (July 1)
Licence To Drive (July 2)
The Loud House S4-S6 (July 2)
Rugrats (2021) (July 2)
Spongebob Squarepants S10-S13 (July 2)
Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Open (July 2)
Mia Farrow – Shadows & Light (July 2)
Licence To Drive S1 (July 2)
Practical Magic (July 3)
Monster Summer (July 4)
Polyfamily (July 4)
Mystery at Blind Frog Rach S4 (July 4)
Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel (July 5)
Sniper: The Last Stand (July 5)
Prime Video
The Hunger Games (June 30)
Heads of State (July 2)
Disney+
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Reunion Special (July 1)
ZOMBIES (Sing-Along version) (July 2)
ZOMBIES 2 (Sing-Along version) (July 2)
ZOMBIES 3 (Sing-Along version) (July 2)
Hamster & Gretel: S2 (July 2)
Miraculous World London: At the Edge of Time (July 4)
Sharks of the North (July 6)
Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory (July 6)
Investigation Shark Attack (July 6)
Shudder/AMC+/Acorn/HIDIVE
Puppet Master (July 1)
Puppet Master II (July 1)
Puppet Master III (July 1)
The ABCs of Death (July 1)
The Madame Blanc Mysteries S4 (July 2)
Call of the Night S2 (July 4)
DocPlay
School of Hard Knocks (June 30)
Johatsu: Into Thin Air (July
