What are you going to be watching in April? With thanks to our friends at Nando’s, we round up everything coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand.
The biggies
The First Lady (limited series on Neon from April 18)
I’m casting my vote that The First Lady has the most impressive cast of any drama we’ll see this year. Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson play Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt respectively, while O-T Fagbenie (Handmaid’s Tale), Aaron Eckhart and Kiefer Sutherland play their husbands. The First Lady takes a fresh look at three of America’s most memorable presidencies, challenging everything we know by centring the perspectives of the first ladies. It should be a winner on cast alone, but The First Lady also promises drama, tears, and a modern take on the personal and political lives of these intelligent, complex women. / Tara Ward
Grace and Frankie: The Final Season (on Netflix from April 29)
The end of Grace and Frankie feels like the end of an era for Netflix. Starring always and forever legends Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the show was one of its big early comedy hits upon its release in 2015, and nabbing those two huge names gave the streamer a sense of credibility and class it had largely lacked until then. Grace and Frankie has been around for seven seasons, never flagging in energy, and I’m glad the show about two women finding themselves in the midst of (lightly comedic) crisis has a chance to bid a proper farewell. / SB
Russian Doll (season two on Netflix from April 20)
When Natasha Lyonne’s incredible time-loop romcom Russian Doll aired its first season on Netflix, I never expected to see it back for round two. But now, like we’re stuck in some sort of three-year loop of our own, it is. There’s been no shortage of Groundhog Day-esque films and series in recent years, but Russian Doll is in a class of its own, thanks mainly to Lyonne’s dual role as writer and lead actress. This show is funny, fast paced, and somehow also manages to be truly thrilling. / Stewart Sowman-Lund
The Flight Attendant (season two on Neon from April 22)
I bloody loved the first season of HBO’s The Flight Attendant, but it’s a show that seems to have flown under most people’s radars. Kaley Cuoco shines as alcoholic flight attendant Cassie, a loveable hot mess who wakes after a Bangkok layover to find her lover (and former first-class passenger) lying dead next to her. Cassie can’t remember anything about what happened, but she’ll do everything to avoid being caught up in whatever it was. Fingers crossed season two is just as darkly funny and full of surprises. / TW
The notables
The Kardashians (on Disney+ from April 14)
Have you missed watching the antics of America’s first family? Well, mourn no longer because The Kardashians have brought their kollective to the House of Mouse, via Hulu, for basically more of the same, but with more Kardashians, more Jenners and at least one more Barker (Travis, of Blink-182, who dates Kourtney now). The family signed a multi-year deal, so expect them to stay around for some time, whether that’s the end of the world or the end of this contract. / Sam Brooks
The Offer (on TVNZ on Demand from April 29)
A documentary about the making of a famous film is one thing, but a 10-part prestige miniseries? If the premise of The Offer initially sounds like overkill, that sense dissipates once you know a bit about the tumultuous backstory of Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece The Godfather, including some very scary threats from the real-life Italian mob. Released to coincide with the movie’s 50th anniversary, the series stars Miles Teller as producer Albert S. Ruddy, Giovanni Ribisi as mob boss Joe Colombo and Matthew Goode in what appears to be a scene-stealing turn as legendary studio head Robert Evans. / Catherine McGregor
Roar (on AppleTV+ from April 15)
From the creative team behind the cruelly cancelled wrestling comedy Glow comes this star-studded anthology series consisting of eight “darkly comic feminist fables”, all with an absurdist twist. Want to watch Nicole Kidman eat photographs, Betty Gilpin be displayed on a trophy shelf, or Issa Rae turn invisible? Roar is the show for you. Based on a book of short stories by superstar novelist Cecelia Ahern, the series also stars Alison Brie, Cynthia Erivo, Merritt Weaver and Meera Syal. / CM
A Very British Scandal (on Amazon Prime Video from April 22)
There are a lot of Very British Scandals, including the sinkhole under Gail Platt’s house on Coronation Street or the time Steve Arnott didn’t wear a waistcoat in Line of Duty, but this new BBC drama might be the most scandalous of all. Starring Claire Foy (The Crown) and Paul Bettany (Wandavision), A Very British Scandal is based on the real life marriage and bitter divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyle during the 1960s. It was an upper-class marriage that broke down in front of an unforgiving media, with accusations of drug-taking, forgery and theft being slung about, and private photos and secret recordings used to publicly shame the Duchess. It’s basically MAFS AU in tweed and pearls, and I can’t wait. / TW
The movies
In the Heights (on Neon from April 17)
It’s not the only 2021 big budget musical film set in a minority community in America. But while West Side Story dominated awards chatter, In The Heights should have been right in there too. I absolutely adore this movie. The production value is so glossy and crisp, the music sequences leap off the screen like you’re watching a theatre production. And with a soundtrack written by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, you’ll want to be dancing as well. / SS-L
Cousins (on Netflix from April 1)
From Charlotte Muru-Lanning’s feature on powerful New Zealand film Cousins: “Cousins is a film that achieves so much, and yet it’s the subtle moments of the film that stay with you long after watching. Really, it’s hard to find the exact words to describe why Cousins has left such an impression on me. It’s all fleeting feelings that sway between warmth for the characters and the real-life people they remind me of; and anger over land and children taken by the state.” / Charlotte Muru-Lanning
Mad Max: Fury Road (on Netflix from April 1)
Speaking of Oscars, Mad Max: Fury Road should have won Best Picture. That’s all. / SB
This post is made possible by our friends at Nando’s.
The rest
Netflix
April 1
Trivia Quest
Get Organized with The Home Edit: Season 2
The Bubble
Battle: Freestyle
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood
Forever Out of My League
Celeb Five: Behind the Curtain
The Last Bus
Mad Max: Fury Road
Cousins
April 2
Tomorrow
April 3
Sex and the City: The Movie
Sex and the City 2
April 5
Ronny Chieng: Speakeasy
April 6
The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On
Furioza
Michela Giraud: the Truth, I Swear
Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story
April 7
Green Mothers’ Club
Return to Space
Senzo: Murder of a Soccer Star
April 8
Dirty Lines
Elite: Season 5
Dancing on Glass
Metal Lords
Yaksha: Ruthless Operations
Green Eggs and Ham: Season 2
Tiger and Bunny 2
April 9
Our Blues
April 10
My Liberation Notes
April 12
Hard Cell
The Creature Cases
April 13
Smother-in-Law
Almost Happy: Season 2
Our Great National Parks
April 14
Ultraman: Season 2
April 15
Heirs to the Land
Anatomy of a Scandal
Mai
Choose or Die
April 16
Man of God
April 19
White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch
Battle Kitty
Pacific Rim: The Black: Season 2
April 20
Yakamoz S-245
Russian Doll: Season 2
The Marked Heart
The Turning Point
April 21
He’s Expecting
All About Gila
April 22
The Seven Lives of Lea
Heartstopper
Selling Sunset: Season 5
Along for the Ride
April 26
David Spade: Nothing Personal
April 27
Bullshit: The Gameshow
Silverton Siege
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes
April 28
Samurai Rabbit: The Usage Chronicles
Bubble
April 29
Ozark: Season 4 Part 2
Grace and Frankie: Season 7 – The Final Episodes
Honeymoon with My Mother
Rumspringa
Neon
April 1
Family Tree
Meeting Stone Cold
Brothers of Destruction
Breaking News in Yuba County
April 2
Gangster Squad
April 3
Respect
April 4
Take Home Pay
April 5
Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom
Love and Hip Hop: Miami: Seasons 1-3
Blades of Glory
Moonshot
April 6
DMZ
April 7
Bluff City Law
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
April 8
Peppa Pig
Kimi
April 9
Shopping
April 10
Nightmare Alley
April 11
Blues Clues and You: Seasons 1-2
The Social Network
April 12
House: Season 1-8
Get Smart
April 13
The Cleaning Lady
April 14
Danger Force: Season 1A
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
The Towering Inferno
April 15
MTV Cribs Collection: Seasons 1-3
Ghosted: Love Gone Missing: Seasons 1-2
April 16
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Monsters vs Aliens
April 17
In the Heights
Snow Dogs
April 18
The First Lady
Fear The Walking Dead: Season 7B
Space Jam: A New Legacy
Boy
April 19
Grand Crew
Better Call Saul: Season 6
Snow Piercer
April 20
American Auto
Last Vegas
April 21
Mayas MC: Season 4
Little Pet Shop
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
April 22
The Flight Attendant
Honey Girls
April 23
Pacific Rim
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
April 24
Gunpowder Milkshake
April 25
Barry: Season 3
Here Comes the Boom
The Boss Baby: Family Business
April 27
This is 40
April 28
Superman
April 29
The Way Down
Superbad
April 30
Out of Death
TVNZ on Demand
April 1
Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 1-4
Metalocalypse
Squidbillies
Robot Chicken
Liz and Dick
From the Vault: Anzac
Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Seasons 2-7
The Canterville Ghost
Six: Seasons 1-2
The Attack
Tanna
Everything in Between
Bush to Belly
Motley’s Law
Rise Above
Operation Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler
The Neighbour in the Window
Who Killed JonBenet?
Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy
Beyond Survival: Season 1
Queens and Cowboys: Season 1A
Cheetah in August: Season 2B
Metro Sexual: Season 2B
Crash and Burn
Dina
Hillary: Ocean to Sky
Walrus and the Whistleblower
April 2
Hollyoaks
April 3
Smother: Season 3
April 4
Yap Trap: Season 2
April 5
Secrets of Playboy
Madagascar: A Little Wild
April 6
The Croods: The Family Tree
April 8
Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce: Seasons 1-5
April 12
Jamestown: Seasons 1-3
April 14
O’Town Dreaming
April 16
No Return
April 18
Transplant: Season 2
April 25
The Bachelorette Australia: Season 7
April 29
The Offer
Amazon Prime Video
April 1
Luxe Listings Sydney
The Outlaws
Daddy’s Home
April 5
Sully
April 6
Superbad
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
April 8
All The Old Knives
Man of the Match
April 12
Gangster Squad
April 13
Men in Black
Men in Black 2
Men in Black 3
April 15
Outer Range
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit: Seasons 14-15
April 22
A Very British Scandal
A Very English Scandal
April 27
Black Hawk Down
April 28
Bang Bang Baby
Disney+
April 1
Better Nate Than Never
Heat
In Time
The Internship
Knight and Day
LA Confidential
Love and Other Drugs
Man on Fire
Monte Carlo
Noah
What Happens in Vegas
What’s Your Number?
Step Into… The Movies with Derek and Julianne Hough
April 6
FEUD: Bette and Joan
The Hardy Boys: Seasons 1-2
Minnie’s Bow-Toons: Party Palace Pals
Wayward Pines: Seasons 1-2
Good Trouble: Season 3
Africa’s Deadliest: Seasons 5-6
Wild Australia: Season 1
April 8
Rules Don’t Apply
Shutter
Mission Pluto
Wild Ways of the Vikings
April 13
Ice Age: Scrat Tales: Season 1
The Ignorant Angels: Season 1
Baskets: Seasons 1-4
Devs: Season 1
Making History: Season 1
Man Seeking Woman: Seasons 1-3
Random Rings (Shorts): Seasons 1-2
Riding Britain’s Railways: Season 1
April 14
The Kardashians
April 15
Joy Ride
Jumper
Street Kings
Russia’s Wild Tiger
The Way of the Cheetah
April 20
Estée in Parijs: Season 1
Hacking the System: Season 1
Lion Kingdom: Season 1
The Resident: Season 4
April 21
Captive Audience: Season 1
April 22
Polar Bear
Bear Witness
The Biggest Little Farm
Explorer: The Last Tepui
Unfaithful
The King of Comedy
Natural Born Killers
Once Upon a Time in America
Operation Orangutan
Counting Tigers
Sketchbook: Season 1
Grown-ish: Season 4
Eye Wonder: Season 1
The Ghost Whisperer: Seasons 1-5
India’s Lost Worlds: Season 1
Invasion Earth: Season 1
Superstructures: Engineering Marvels: Season 1
April 29
Love in Colour
Blow Your Mind
JFK: Seven Days That Made a President
Ultimate Tutankhamun
Apple TV+
April 1
Slow Horses
April 15
Roar
April 22
They Call Me Magic
April 29
Shining Girls
Acorn
April 4
Harry Wild
Poldark: Season 5
Taggart: Season 17
Lost Letter Mysteries; The Vows That We Have Made
April 11
Taggart: Season 8
Candice Renoir: Season 4
Coming Home
April 18
Keeping Faith: Season 3
Garage Sale Mysteries: Season 1
The Ipcress File: Season 1
April 25
Balthazar: Season 4
Nancherrow: Season 16
Shudder
April 5
How to Deter a Robber
You Might Be The Killer
April 7
Cursed Films 11
April 12
Julia
The 100 Candles Game
April 13
Subspecies
The Pit and the Pendulum
Intruder
April 15
The Cellar
April 19
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Seasons 1-3
Devil’s Tower
Eat
April 21
Virus 32
April 26
Etheria: Season 5
Evidence
The Windmill Massacre