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+.
Now this is theStar Wars series I’ve been waiting for. Ahsoka follows the popular character from the critically acclaimed animated Star Wars series and is a spinoff from The Mandalorian. Rosario Dawson played Ahsoka for a few memorable episodes, but she takes the lead here to play the former Jedi padawan, on the hunt to stop an “existential threat to the universe”. Dawson was tremendous in this role back in that series, and I have no doubt she’ll be just as great here, supported by Ray Stevenson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and even Hayden Christiansen, back as Darth Vader once again. - Sam Brooks
Who is Erin Carter? (on Netflix from August 24)
This limited series comes from Doc Martin and Strike Back writer Jack Lothiank, and follows a British expat teacher, Erin Carter (played by Swedish-Kurdish actor Evin Ahmad), whose past catches up with her after she and her daughter are caught up in a supermarket robbery in Spain. It becomes extremely clear that she’s more than just some teacher. A little bit domestic drama, a little bit action, what more could you want? - SB
Kin (on TVNZ+ from August 24)
This series revolves around a fictional Dublin family embroiled in a gangland war, and stars Aiden Gillen and Ciaran Hinds as rival gang leaders, Frank Kinsella and Eamonn Cunningham. The series debuted to rave reviews in 2020, and was quickly commissioned for a second series. Irish drama stalwarts Charlie Cox, Clare Dunne and Maria Doyle Kennedy round out the cast of this acclaimed series. - SB
I have never heard of this Apple TV+ sci-fi drama, now in its second season, but it sounds pretty damn fascinating. As the title implies, Earth is “visited” by an alien species that threatens humanity’s existence, and the show follows five ordinary people across the globe as they try to make sense of civilisation crumbling. Sam Neill played a sheriff in the first season. - SB
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season 16 on Disney+ from August 23)
Has any other show been as consistently at the top of its game for as long as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia? My take is absolutely not. Somehow, this mean-spirited, black-hearted sitcom about the four worst people in Philadelphia remains a goddamned delight, despite having been on the air for about a decade before streaming services were ever a thing. You’re unlikely to jump in at the 16th season, but luckily for you, the rest of the episodes are all on Disney+. Hop to it! - SB
My Life is Murder (season three on Acorn TV from August 21)
From Tara Ward’s interview with Lucy Lawless from last year: “It’s not often a series about murder is full of joy, but My Life is Murder breaks the mould. The third season of the murder-mystery series dropped on TVNZ+ this week, and the show’s star Lucy Lawless has never been prouder to see her home town on the telly. My Life is Murder is a vibrant love letter to Tāmaki Makaurau. - SB
The films
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (on Netflix from August 25)
Worth it for the title alone, to be frank. This film, from Adam Sandler’s studio Happy Madison Productions, is about two best friends, played by newcomers Sunny Sandler (wonder who she’s related to) and Samantha Lorraine, who have dreamed about having huge blow-out bat mitzvahs since they were little girls. Things go comically awry when they fall in love with the same boy, and drama threatens to destroy not just their friendship but their individual rites of passage. - SB
Constantine (on Neon from August 23)
I’m old enough to remember when Constantine was considered a terrible comic book movie. If you look back at it, it’s probably not the best, but this Keanu Reeves vehicle deserves more flowers than it got at the time. It’s impressively gothic without taking itself too seriously, has a stacked cast (Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale), and is way better than like, the last four Marvel/DC films. - SB
In an imaginary world where people ask what my favourite Wes Anderson movie is, I smugly reply: Bottle Rocket. Released in 1996, the idiosyncratic director’s first feature film is his most overlooked and least “Wes Andersonny” work. His signature mix of whimsy and melancholy is still very much evident, though, as are plenty of his longtime collaborators – this is the Wilson brothers’ first and arguably best movie too. - Calum Henderson
