We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
Urzila (Neon, September 1)
In her new self-titled comedy series, New Zealand’s favourite filter-free comedian blends sharp-witted stand‑up with side-splitting and outrageous sketches. From menopause to ageism and sexism, nothing is off-limits in the TV show that is tailor-made for the “cheerfully unhinged”. Also featuring New Zealand comics Tom Sainsbury, Chris Parker, Abby Howells, and Madeleine Sami, Urzila is one-to-watch if you need a laugh out loud pick-me-up this week.
Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly (Netflix, September 1)
At the 1972 Olympics, Olga Korbut captivated the world. In Beijing in 2008, it was Usain Bolt. But at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it was Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun, who stunned the world for all the wrong reasons. With an unconventional breakdancing routine, she failed to score a single point, igniting a global firestorm of memes and conspiracy theories. Now the subject of Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly, the lampooned Australian athlete and academic is finally telling her side of the story.
Possession (TVNZ+, September 1)
Written by Karla Crome and directed by Storm Saulter, this plantation horror described as “TV’s answer to Sinners” sees Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Claudia, a high-flying lawyer sent to Jamaica to investigate an inheritance claim. Set across dual timelines in both the present and 300 years ago during the height of slavery, the two timelines eventually mesh as supernatural forces get to work. Boasting “superb performances, meticulous cinematography, and effective horror elements,” Possession is sure to send shivers down your spine.
Valley Girl (1983) (Prime Video, August 31)
Loosely based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Martha Coolidge’s Valley Girl centres on the romance between Deborah Foreman’s Julie, a valley girl, and Randy, a Hollywood hills punk played by Nicolas Cage in his first starring role. Labelled as “a social battle played out in a Disneyland punk underground”, Julie must choose between her materialistic pink-clad world and her love for the rocking Randy. It’s nigh impossible not to crack a smile at this beloved 80s classic.
The West Wing (HBO Max, September 2)
Described as “balm for these confusing times”, The West Wing has been given a new lease on life in an era of Trumpian politics. Created by Aaron Sorkin, the writer and director of the upcoming The Social Reckoning, the iconic and idealistic political drama follows Martin Sheen as US president Josiah “Jed” Bartlet. Across two terms and seven seasons, he and his loyal White House staff navigate a myriad of scandals, threats and crises. A reminder of when “people in political office took their jobs very seriously”, The West Wing has now earned the title of a “bittersweet comfort watch”.
Pick of the Flicks: The Silence of the Lambs (Prime Video, August 31)
There are few film villains as iconic and as petrifying as Hannibal Lecter. In the 1993 film The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins is the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and mass murderer being interviewed by Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a young FBI trainee who is hunting a serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill”. Described as “one of the greatest psychological thrillers ever made”, The Silence of the Lambs, the most recent film to win the Big Five at the Oscars, is the stuff of nightmares.
The rest
Netflix
The Blind Side (August 31)
Jared Freid: The Family Plan (September 1)
Perfect Blue (September 1)
Hotel Transylvania (September 1)
Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly (September 1)
Lovesick (September 2)
Turning Point: Generation 9/11 (September 2)
The Gentlemen S2 (September 3)
Fito Páez: The World Within a Song (September 3)
Earle Meets World (September 4)
Teenage Wasteland (September 4)
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (September 4)
TVNZ+
Vigil S3 (August 31)
Possession (September 1)
Liar, Liar, Predator (September 2)
Billy Idol Should be Dead (September 5)
MĀORI+
Rave Culture: The Birth of Dance Music (August 31)
Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness (September 4)
The Convert (September 4)
Spy Cat (September 5)
Edge of Tomorrow (September 5)
Muriel’s Wedding (September 6)
Neon
A Spy Among Friends (August 31)
Urzila (September 1)
Everything’s Gonna Be Okay (September 1)
Michael Palin in Iraq (September 1)
Ross Kemp: Lost Boys, Deadly Men (September 1)
South Park S26-S27 (September 1)
SpongeBob SquarePants S17 (September 1)
Tākaro Tribe S5-S6 (September 1)
Mother Mary (September 1)
One Mile: Chapter One (September 1)
One Mile: Chapter Two (September 1)
Vince (September 2)
Frontier Crucible (September 2)
Alien: Romulus (September 2)
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants S1-S2 (September 3)
Kung Fu Panda: Paws of Destiny (September 3)
Next Goal Wins (September 3)
Poor Things (September 3)
Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare (September 3)
The Titan Sub Disaster: Minute By Minute (September 4)
Trolls: The Beat Goes On (September 4)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (September 4)
Silent Night, Deadly Night (September 4)
Daliland (September 4)
The First Omen (September 5)
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (September 5)
Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation (September 5)
Nicholas Rossi: Predator on Trial (September 5)
The Killer’s Game (September 6)
Ezra (September 6)
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (September 6)
McCartney 3, 2, 1 (September 6)
Prime Video
Ali G Indahouse (August 31)
Carrie (1976) (August 31)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) (August 31)
Not Without My Daughter (August 31)
Overboard (1987) (August 31)
Overboard (2018) (August 31)
Rain Man (August 31)
The Rage: Carrie 2 (August 31)
The Silence of the Lambs (August 31)
Uptown Girls (2003) (August 31)
Valkyrie (August 31)
Valley Girl (1983) (August 31)
Elf (September 1)
The Runner (September 2)
The Grand Tour (September 4)
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (September 6)
Disney+
Disney Jr. Ariel – The Little Mermaid (September 1)
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (September 2)
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Official Podcast (September 2)
LEGO® Star Wars: The Mandalorian (September 2)
Chad Powers S2 (September 3)
Apple TV
Mayday (September 4)
DocPlay
Singing Wings (September 3)
AroVision
The Voice of Hind Rajab (September 1)
Jimpa (September 2)
The Death of Robin Hood (September 2)
Arco (September 2)
HBO Max
Batwheels S3 (August 31)
Little Singles (September 1)
DC Studios Showcase: The Official Podcast (September 1)
Life of Crime 1984-2020 (September 1)
Chelsea Handler: Evolution
Expecting Amy (September 2)
The West Wing S1-S7 (September 2)
An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (September 3)
Oslo (September 3)
The Idaho College Murders: Catching Kohberger (September 4)
Maria Full of Grace (September 4)
Primo (September 4)
Fired on Mars (September 6)
The Fastest Woman On Earth (September 6)
