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Look at all these queens (plus a Mandalorian!).
Look at all these queens (plus a Mandalorian!).

Pop CultureOctober 1, 2020

What’s new to Netflix NZ, Neon and other streaming services in October

Look at all these queens (plus a Mandalorian!).
Look at all these queens (plus a Mandalorian!).

What are you going to be watching in October? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand.

The biggies

The Mandalorian (season two weekly on Disney+ from October 30)

The Mandalorian was the surprise hit of 2019 for reasons nobody expected: a mascot that outshone nearly every aspect of the show (Baby Yoda), bizarre guest stars (Werner Herzog, Amy Sedaris, Ming Na-Wen) and an episodic structure that resembled no mainstream drama at the time. Also, it was actually kind of great, netting a Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Drama, and managing to even overshadow the (quite iffy) third entry in the recent film trilogy. Season two comes with new guest stars, more Taika Waititi and most importantly, more Baby Yoda. / Sam Brooks

Emily in Paris (binge on Netflix from October 2)

Want to go to Paris but can’t? Emily in Paris probably isn’t the next best thing, or even in the top ten of the next best things, but it’s as pretty as a postcard. The new Netflix series, after some development limbo, comes from the brain of Darren Star (Sex and the City, Younger) and stars Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror, Phil Collins’ daughter) as an American social media manager who finds herself transferred to her employer’s Paris office. Expect culture clashes, technicolour hijinks, and all the jokes you’ve ever heard about French people, brushed off and revamped for 2020. / SB

The Vow (binge on Neon from October 21)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31rSR0w0z30

Alas, this is not a remake of the classic Channing Tatum tearjerker, but a new five-part HBO documentary series about American cult NXIVM. This group promoted itself as a life changing self-improvement group, but in reality was a place of emotional and physical abuse, with its leaders later convicted on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.  The Vow promises to go behind the headlines by speaking to people deeply involved in the cult, and is a must-see for true crime fans. Tara Ward

The Undoing (weekly on Neon from October 26)

Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelley take their Big Little Lies success all the way to New York in HBO’s latest psychological drama. Kidman plays a successful therapist whose privileged world begins to unravel when her doctor husband (Hugh Grant) suddenly disappears, revealing their life together to be full of lies. Big lies, little lies, probably lots of big little lies. It’s not an original premise for a drama series, but Kidman is just a therapist standing in front of a lying oncologist, asking him to love her, and who doesn’t want to watch that? /  TW

The notables

The Queen’s Gambit (binge on Netflix from October 23)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDrieqwSdgI

Anya Taylor-Joy (Peaky Blinders, The Miniaturist) smashes out another period drama in The Queen’s Gambit, an intense series set in the Cold War era about a young orphan’s rise to chess genius. Child prodigy Beth Harmon has plenty to deal with on her road to success, including an addiction to painkillers, a troubled home life, and a bunch of annoying men who don’t want to lose to a girl. If you thought chess was fun, think again. / TW

INSiDE (binge on Neon from October 31)

Filmed entirely during the first Covid-19 lockdown, local show INSiDE follows the struggles of a reclusive germaphobe forced to confront her past during a second wave of the pandemic. Originally made in 12-minute episodes, INSiDE is a tense, tight thriller lifted by dark humour, and shows how creative New Zealanders can be even during the most restrictive of times. Starring Morgana O’Reilly, Josh Thomson, Antonia Prebble and Sam Snedden, INSiDE is the lockdown drama you didn’t know you needed. / TW

The Haunting of Bly Manor (binge on Netflix from October 9)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tykS7QfTWMQ

Escape the horror of the real world for the horror of The Haunting of Bly Manor, the next chapter in Mike Flanagan’s “Haunting of” anthology series. Heavily influenced by Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, Bly Manor follows a young American nanny hired to look after two orphaned children in England, shortly after the tragic death of an au pair. Bly Manor is creepy as hell but I’m sure everything will turn out fine, especially if you’re happy to sleep with the light on for the rest of your life.  / TW

God Shave The Queens (series on TVNZ on Demand from October 24)

You might be disappointed to learn that this isn’t a show where barbers shave the matriarchs of royal families around the world. But never fear, God Shave the Queens still sounds pretty great. The doco-series starts less than a week after The Vivenne was crowned as the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and it follows her and the rest of the contestants as they embark on a UK tour that carries them across the pommy nation. So if you need something to fill the Drag Race hole in your heart/schedule, then look no further./ SB

The movies

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (movie on Netflix from October 16)

In the month of October, Sacha Baron Cohen will be fronting a new Borat film for Amazon and leading an ensemble cast in The Trial of the Chicago 7. The latter won’t be a bundle of laughs, but it could be the film to snag Cohen an Oscar nomination. Written and directed by the West Wing’s Aaron Sorkin, this true story follows a group of anti-Vietnam War protesters in 60s America. With a supporting cast that includes Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne and Mark Rylance, it’s being tipped as an awards season darling and the first trailer certainly backs that up. After being shipped to Netflix as a result of Covid-19, this is your chance to see what’s being called one of the best films of the year from your living room. / Stewart Sowman-Lund

Birds of Prey (movie on Neon from October 11)

Many of the recent DC offerings have been unwatchable (I’m looking at you, Justice League), so it came as a surprise that Birds of Prey was not only a step-up but actually… good? Despite its links to the ill-fated Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey has enough charm to make up for that film’s lack of – thanks in part to a stunning turn by Margot Robbie. It’s highly stylised, violent, funny and honestly just kicks a lot of ass. / SSL

The Forty-Year-Old Version (movie on Netflix from October 9)

I can’t describe this film better than its synopsis, and I won’t try: “Desperate for a breakthrough as she turns 40, down-on-her-luck New York playwright Radha reinvents herself as a rapper and searches for her true voice.” While it sounds potentially quite cringe, Radha Black is an absolute freaking legend and draws from her own experiences as a playwright. The film premiered at Sundance 2020 and came away with the US Dramatic Competition’s Directing Award. So put aside your qualms and get elbow-deep in what could’ve been one of the year’s festival hits, if we still had film festivals. / SB

The rest

Oktoberfest: Beer and Blood. (Photo: Netflix)

Netflix

October 1

Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood

Bom Dia, Veronica

All Because of You (Pasal Kau)

Carmen Sandiego: Season 3

The Worst Witch: Season 4

The Amazing Spider-Man

Magnolia

50 First Dates

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

The Hangover

October 2

Song Exploder

Emily in Paris

Serious Men

Vampires vs. the Bronx

The Binding

Ahi te encargo

Òlòtūré

Dick Johnson is Dead

A Go! Go! Cory Carson Halloween

October 4

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

October 6

StarBeam: Halloween Hero

October 7

Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol

Private Lives

To the Lake

Hubie Halloween

October 9

Deaf U

The Haunting of Bly Manor

Ginny Weds Sunny

The Forty-Year-Old Version

Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Season 2: Rio

Super Monsters: Dia de los Monsters

October 10

Blade Runner 2049

October 12

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Season 3

The Intern

October 13

The Cabin with Bert Kreischer

Octonauts & the Great Barrier Reef

October 14

BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky

October 15

Social Distance

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting

Love Like the Falling Rain

Rooting for Roona

October 16

La Revolution

Alguien tiene que morir

Star Trek: Discovery: Season 3

Grand Army

Dream Home Makeover

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Pup Academy: Season 2

The Last Kids on Earth: Book 3

October 19

Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 2

October 20

The Magic School Bus Rides Again: The Frizz Connection

October 21

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: Season 3

Rebecca

October 22

You Me Her: Season 5

The Alienist: Angel of Darkness

Cadaver

October 23

Perdida

Move

Barbarians

The Queen’s Gambit

Over the Moon

King Kong

8 Mile

Oblivion

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

Mr Bean’s Holiday

The Bourne Ultimatum

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Definitely, Maybe

Nanny McPhee

Les Miserables

Neighbours

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Wild Child

October 24

The Mule

October 27

Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine

Vilas: Seras lo que debas ser o no seras nada

Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt: Season 4

Blood of Zeus

October 28

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight

Holidate

October 29

You Animal!

October 30

Suburra: Season 3

Somebody Feed Phil: Season 4

Bronx

His House

The Day of the Lord

Neon

The gals of Broad City!

October 1

PAW Patrol: Season 5

Top Wing: Season 1

October 2

Teen Mom OG: Season 7-8A

October 3

All That: Season 1

Game Shakers: Season 1

Spies in Disguise

October 4

Warrior: Season 2

The Gentlemen

October 5

Broad City: Season 1-5

October 6

Hunter Street: Season 2

October 7

The Loud House: Season 3

October 8

Spongebob Squarepants: Season 11

October 9

Twenties

John Wick

October 10

My Spy

October 11

Birds of Prey

October 13

Fear the Walking Dead: Season 6A

October 14

Lizzie

October 15

Workaholics: Season 1-7

October 16

Pocoyo: Crazy Inventions

Ready Steady Ghost!

Sesame Street: Which Witch is Which?

Fireman Sam: Season 11

The Wiggles: Ready, Steady, Wiggle!: Season 2

What Not to Give an Ogre for his Birthday

Fast & Furious 6

October 18

Shark Tale

Doctor Sleep

October 19

Rogue Warfare

Rogue Warfare 2: The Hunt

Rogue Warfare 3: Death of a Nation

October 21

The Vow

October 22

Through the Woods

Andy’s Wild Adventures: Season 2

Bluey

October 23

Double Shot At Love with DJ Pauly D & Vinny: Season 1

Face to Face

Furious 7

October 25

Cagefighter: Worlds Collide

October 26

The Undoing

October 28

The Day Henry Met…

Marvellous Makes

Go Jetters: Season 2

Ashes in the Snow

The Guardian

Dennis the Menace

Now and Then

October 30

Zac & Mia: Season 1-2

Gremlins

October 31

INSiDE

Casper

TVNZ on Demand

David Tennant as Des in Des!

October 1

A Tale of Two Coreys

No One Would Tell

Old Dog

From the Vault: Vintage TV & Garden Shows

The Desert

Rec 2

Built to Shred: Season 4

CPH Open 2018

CPH Open 2019

CPH Open: Everyone Is A Winner

Revenge of the Electric Car

Scarlet Woman: The True Story of Mary Magdalene

The Believers

Saudi Arabia Uncovered

The Watcher in the Woods

The Wrong Teacher

Desert Runners

Greedy Lying Bastards

Selling God

Back Country Rescue

Border Battles

Drag Fan

Comedy Qweens

Trasnlation

Devil’s Throat

October 5

Welcome to Cardboard City

ASB: Backing Business

October 8

Des

October 14

The Bachelorette US

October 24

God Shave The Queens

Disney+

Taika Waititi as IG-11 in The Mandalorian.

October 2

Ford V Ferrari

Bunk’d: Season 4

October 9

The Right Stuff

October 16

Clouds

Meet the Chimps

Lost on Everest

Disney Junior’s The Rocketeer

October 23

Once Upon A Showman

The Last Secrets of the Nasca

The Big Fib

October 30

The Mandalorian: Season 2

PJ Masks

Amazon Prime Video

Heidi Schreck in What the Constitutions Means to Me.

October 1

Soltos Em Floripa

October 2

Bug Diaries Halloween Special

Savage X Fenty Show: Season 2

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond

October 6

Welcome to the Blumhouse: Black Box

Welcome to the Blumhouse: The Lie

October 9

Carolina Marin

Sons of the Soil: Jaipur Pink Panthers

October 13

Welcome to the Blumhouse: Evil Eye

Welcome to the Blumhouse: Nocturne

October 16

What The Constitution Means To Me

Time

October 23

Mirzapur: Season 2

NOS4A2: Season 2

October 30

The Challenge: ETA

Truth Seekers

Apple TV+

Rashida Jones and Bill Murray in Sofia Coppola’s On The Rocks.

October 2

Tiny World

October 23

On the Rocks

Acorn TV

The cast of Penance, coming to Acorn.

October 5

Capital

Hidden

Suspects: Season 3

Goodnight Sweetheart: Seasons 1-2

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 7

October 12

Penance

Vera: Season 1-2

Worst Week of My Life

Midsomer Murders: Season 15

October 19

Endeavour: Season 1-2

Reilly: Ace of Spies

Shetland: Season 1-2

Changi

Rumple of the Bailey: Season 1-2

October 26

Anthony

Midsomer Murders: Season 16

The Mayor Casterbridge

B&B

Keep going!