STREAMING GUIDE APRIL 2022

Te Kohu, TVNZ onDemand

With autumn comes darker, cooler nights and settling down to watch or binge some great content feels even more guilt-free.

TVNZ has some great local dramas to sink your teeth into, and Māori TV has launched another gritty and thought provoking season of Te Ao with Moana to keep you up with the play, while Neon continues to bring us internationally acclaimed local talent in a range of great shows.

TVNZ ONDEMAND

Beyond the Veil This anthology of spooky stories with supernatural elements are anchored in local experiences. As a curated collection of stories they complement each other beautifully, but there are two stand-out stories in this collection to look forward to.

Tappy Good drama is supposed to take you on an emotional journey and Tappy cuts right to the heartstrings. You will be hard pressed not to laugh and cry during this moving road trip story that truly goes beyond the veil. The writing by experienced drama writer Tim Worrel is complemented by authentic and compelling performances by Dahnu Graham as Carlos, and Grace Hoete as Tappy. (You might remember Dahnu Graham from the hilarious local comedy Kura, which we reviewed in the November issue last year). I’d love to see more of Dahnu Graham as Carlos - I'm sure there is a spin series in this one. 

Te Kohu Patupaiarehe are mystical beings that can be both exquisitely beautiful and kind but also have reputations of being ruthless and dangerous to humans who cross the line. Te Kohu is a wonderful interpretation of the connection between humans and patupaiarehe. It encourages the audience to reconsider their position of how tightly to hold on to the ones you love and when to let them walk their own path. Beautifully shot with a great ending, it is one to watch. 

The Pact With an exceptional cast and heavy subject matter, The Pact takes you on a journey through the complicated issue of dementia and euthanasia. It’s character-driven and full of authentic humour. The talented cast, including Ian Mune, Irene Wood, Kirk Torrance, Browyn Bradley, Fasitua Amosa and Timmie Cameron, make each character’s story matter. It’s a series which leaves you satisfied, but really wanting to know more about how this family navigates the next stage of their lives. I think there’s potential for a return series with these characters. 

NEON

Our Flag Means Death From executive producer Taika Waititi, (who also stars as Blackbeard) Our Flag Means Death starts off in a slapstick silly comedic style reminiscent in some ways to Monty Python. Rhys Darby breathes real life into the lead character Stede Bonnet. It’s a story loosely based on the real historical figure of Stede Bonnet, a wealthy landowner in the colony of Barbados who gives up the trappings of his privileged life to escape his troubled marriage and the crisis of mid-life. He buys a ship, runs away, and seeks a life of debaucherous adventures and plunder as a pirate on the high seas.

With a dose of gratuitously funny splatter in deathly fight scenes juxtaposed against the anxiety of a gentlemanly wannabe pirate captain who doesn’t like the idea of killing anyone, this series has a great premise that genuinely grows on you.

Our Flag Means Death, NEON

Full of great Kiwi talent, this story sails in its own direction, endearingly funny, and growing in charm with each episode. 

MĀORI TV / MĀORI+

Te Ao with Moana After just two episodes the new season of Te Ao with Moana proves exactly why it deserved to win the Voyager Best Current Affairs show award.

Hosted by Moana Maniapoto, Te Ao with Moana is made up of a slick team of journalists who are unrelenting in seeking the truth. They fearlessly tackle the ‘triggering’ issues which divide communities while bringing an authentically empathetic eye to some of the more troubling events that affect us all. 

THREENOW

Funny Girls Hurry and catch the first episode of Season 3 of Funny Girls before it’s too late. Female comedic talent like this needs an ongoing stage so it can be savored, watched, re-watched, and re-watched again. Then it should be commissioned for more seasons so we can all enjoy the perspective of female writers and comedians on our screens who truly understand us.

There is so much to love in this series which blends an overarching sitcom style story arc with laugh-out-loud sketches that show gender inequalities for what they really are - totally hilariously absurd and wrong. 

Funny Girls, THREENOW