We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
A House of Dynamite (Netflix, October 24)
After a decade-long hiatus, Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow returns to Hollywood with the explosive A House of Dynamite. Recently premiering at the Venice Film Festival, the apocalyptic political procedural depicts – in real-time and from three different perspectives – the fraught 18-minute period in which the US government has to respond to the existential threat of an incoming nuclear missile. As the doomsday clock ticks closer to midnight, Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, and the rest of the A-list ensemble cast must hold their nerve and save humanity. Deemed “more terrifying than most horror films,” A House of Dynamite is not for the faint of heart.
The Ridge (Neon, October 21)
Likened to Sharp Objects, Top of the Lake, and The Undoing, this SKY NZ/BBC Scotland joint venture follows Outlander’s Lauren Lyle as Mia, a troubled doctor fleeing stormy Scotland. She’s accepted an invitation to her estranged sister’s small town Aotearoa wedding, but upon her arrival, the bride-to-be is found dead, after falling from the titular ridge in a supposed accident. Smelling something fishy, the grieving Glaswegian, in pursuit of the truth, must now grapple with a spine-chilling web of secrets, and an untoward attraction to Kiwi heartthrob Jay Ryan, her late-sister’s fiance. “Gradually turning the screw of gnawing suspense,” this breathtaking psychological thriller, jam-packed with local talent, is sure to be a heart-pounding watch.
Toi Time (TVNZ+, October 20)
Attention parents: the joyous and locally-made Toi Time is back for another season of laughter and learning. With brand new adventures on the horizon, gather your tamariki and join Aunty Anika, Māia, Jojo, Riki, Buzz, and a number of surprise guests as they merrily explore the world through waiata, kanikani, and play. A welcome reprieve from the likes of Bluey and Peppa Pig, Toi Time might just be Aotearoa’s answer to The Wiggles.
Coldwater (October 22)
No longer beholden to the rigor mortis of AMC’S The Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln stars in Coldwater as a struggling middle-class man who, after freezing in the middle of a violent attack and now in the midst of an identity crisis, uproots his family to a remote Scottish town. Desperate for companionship, he’s drawn into the orbit their unnerving, God-fearing neighbour (played by Trainspotting’s Ewen Bremner. As their unlikely friendship begins to blossom, it becomes clear that a hair-raising evil resides on the other side of the quaint cul-de-sac. Described by one critic as the “maddest, most original show,” they’ve seen in years, this twisted psychological thriller will make your skin crawl.
Burden of Dreams (DocPlay, October 20)
Exquisitely restored in 4K, Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams documents the making of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, the 1982 epic made infamous by its tumultuous production. Refusing to use special effects and insisting on shooting on location, Herzog sought to recreate Peruvian rubber baron Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald’s feat of transporting a steamship across an Amazonian isthmus from one river into another. As chronicled by Blank, the lines between greatness and megalomania blur as the film’s antagonistic star, and the “vile” jungle, threaten to sink Herzog’s grandiose vision. Just like Fitzcarraldo, Burden of Dreams has to be seen to be believed.
Who Killed the Montreal Expos? (Netflix, October 21)
If you were a die-hard fan of the now-defunct New Zealand Knights or Auckland Tuatara, you’ll relate to the heartbreak of Quebecers who, after 36 years, farewelled Canada’s first Major League Baseball team in 2004. In this “poignant and righteously angry” documentary, director Jean-François Poisson assembles the former owners, players, journalists and supporters of the Montreal Expos, and asks: Who Killed the Montreal Expos? If you step up to the plate, this gripping behind-the-scenes sports documentary is a surefire home run.
Pick of the Flicks: Moonlight (TVNZ+, October 21)
Despite being considered one of the greatest films of the 21st century, the magic of Moonlight is hard to describe as it’s “so delicate in its touch that the usual superlatives sound unusually shrill.” Based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning coming-of-age queer triptych across childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, achingly traces the life of Chiron. Played by Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes, the melancholic masterpiece is a “hard look at American reality and a poem written in light, music and vivid human faces.” Do yourself a favour and bask in the glow of Moonlight.
The rest
Netflix
Who Killed the Montreal Expos? (October 21)
The Monster of Florence (October 22)
Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia (October 22)
Nobody Wants This S2 (October 23)
The Elixir (October 23)
A House of Dynamite (October 24)
The Dream Life of Mr. Kim (October 26)
TVNZ+
Toi Time S4 (October 20)
R.F.D.S S3 (October 20)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (October 21)
Moonlight (October 21)
Room (October 21)
The Illusionist (October 21)
Coldwater (October 22)
The Legend of Crocodile Dundee (October 25)
Neon
The Greatest Showman (October 22)
30 Coins S2 (October 23)
Deadliest Catch S21 (October 23)
Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake S2 (October 23)
Boudica: Queen of War (October 24)
10 Things I Hate About You (October 24)
Tiny Toons Looniversity S2 (October 25)
Jennifer’s Body (October 26)
Pearl Harbor (October 26)
Prime Video
Silver Linings Playbook (October 21)
Harlan Coben’s Lazarus (October 22)
Salt (October 22)
Disney+
Pirates: Behind the Legends (October 22)
Top Guns: The Next Generation (October 22)
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (October 22)
Entrepreneurs (October 23)
LEGO Frozen: Operation Puffins (October 24)
Apple TV
Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost (October 24)
Hayu
Wife Swap: The Real Housewives (October 22)
Shudder/AMC+/Acorn/HIDIVE
Irish Blood (Acorn, AMC+, October 20)
FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards (Shudder, AMC+, October 19)
DocPlay
Burden of Dreams (October 20)
Lost in La Mancha (October 20)