We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
If you like intriguing crime dramas: Get Millie Black (November 26, Neon)
From Man Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James and co-produced by HBOcomes Get Millie Black, “a vivid, blistering slice of contemporary noir driven by a truly iconic woman, the formidable Millie-Jean Black”. Black, an ex-Scotland Yard detective (Tamara Lawrance), returns home to Kingston to investigate missing persons cases for the Jamaican police force. The detective is soon tasked with cracking a case that will blow her world apart and have her square up against the legacy of colonisation. Get Millie Black won’t be anything like Death in Paradise– strap in for an uncompromising and unrelenting ride.
If you enjoy behind-the-scenes sports documentaries: Taniwha Unleashed: Inside The Chiefs Rugby Club (TVNZ+, November 28)
Following the success of All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks and Sky Sport Presents: All Access,it’s about bloody time the mighty Chiefs had a documentary of their own. Nestled in the rugby heartland of Aotearoa and steeped in Māori culture, the Chiefs is a club like no other. Across one dramatic season of Super Rugby, Taniwha Unleashed: Inside The Chiefs Rugby Club offers “rare insight into the extraordinary highs and the dream-shattering lows of life inside the men’s and women’s squads”. This candid peek into the inner workings of the Chiefs is sure to be try-mendous.
If you have a sweet tooth: Is it Cake? Holiday (Netflix, November 28)
Is it Cake? Holiday brings back nine baking luminaries from the series’ three seasons to cook up a special festive edition of the show. Photo / The Spinoff
As Covid-19 ravaged the world and Aotearoa went into lockdown, social media was flooded with videos of knives slicing into everyday objects, only to reveal mouthwatering cakes. This viral meme gave birth to the hit TV show Is it Cake? Talented cake-making gurus create hyper-realistic fondant-covered phoneys of everyday objects in the hopes of fooling the celebrity guest judges and winning $50,000. Is it Cake? Holiday brings back nine baking luminaries from the series’ three seasons to cook up a special festive edition of the show. Is it a glittering cherry red bauble or delicious cake? Watch to find out if the constants can bake it ‘til they make it.
If you love mysterious melodramas: The Trunk (Netflix, November 29)
You might recognise Korean superstar Gong Yoo from Train to Busan or Squid Game. The Trunk, the hotly anticipated K-drama with a beguiling twist marks his long-awaited comeback, following what happens when a mysterious trunk washes up on the shore of a lake. In the hands of the police, the trunks’ mysterious contents reveal the secrets behind the contract marriage between Noh In-ji (Seo Hyun-jin), a temporary spouse for the wealthy, and Jung Won (Gong Yoo), a lonely music producer. As love, obsession and the truth blur, will their “marriage” survive?
If you’re a music-doc-aholic: Beatles ‘64 (Apple TV, November 29)
On February 7, 1964, Beatlemania landed in America and changed the culture forever. John, Paul, George and Ringo, young men-turned-deities, arrived at JFK International Airport, where thousands of frenzied fans stood waiting. The Martin Scorsese-produced Beatles ‘64 captures the spectacle of Beatlemania as it swept America and the intimate story of the Fab Four as they experience the high cost of fame. Featuring rare footage meticulously restored by Park Road Post and Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films, Beatles ‘64 will transport you back to the swinging sixties, so you can experience Beatlemania like never before.
Pick of the Flicks: Caddo Lake (Neon, November 29)
Up-and-coming director duo Logan George and Celine Held helm Caddo Lake – a blue-collar thriller set in the marshy swamps and dense woodlands of America’s sun belt. But with M. Night Shyamalan producing, all is not as it seems. What shocking surprises does the film have up its sleeve? One critic remarked that Caddo Lake “feels like a traditional streaming thriller but reveals itself to be something very different”. Expect the unexpected as Dylan O’Brien and Eliza Scanlen search for clues hoping to make sense of a series of intertwined and mysterious disappearances. Count me in.
