Making up for last week’s relative quiet, this coming week’s streaming release list is stacked with big titles. The new season of video game adaptation The Last of Us headlines, but we also have seven VOD movie releases this week in Nosferatu, Conclave, Mickey 17, Babygirl, Wolf Man, Cuckoo, and Flight Risk, as well as the streaming debuts of The Wild Robot, G20, and the new season of Doctor Who!
SERIES
Doctor Who S2
12 April 2025 – Disney+
After a fabulous first season (well, “first” season on Disney+, as this is the longest-running sci-fi show in history after all), the Doctor is back! Ncuti Gatwa’s Timelord returns for his sophomore season with a brand-new companion after the epic events of the previous season saw Ruby Sunday moving on after finally tracking down her birth mother. As you will soon discover, new companion Belindra Chandra (Varada Sethu) is quite the handful and has a very intriguing link to a different adventure from the Doctor’s recent past. I’ve been fortunate enough to have already seen the season opener and it promises a very fun time ahead.
The Last of Us S2
14 April 2025 – Showmax
The Last of Us is one of the greatest video games ever made in my opinion, and the TV series adaptation from showrunner Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and game director Neil Druckmann totally lived up to that hype, with the show scoring eight Primetime Emmy awards for its first season. But as fans of the game know, adapting The Last of Us 2 is a much more daunting task as the story expands notably in scope – and heartbreaking drama – alongside the inclusion of divisive new co-lead character Abby. Can Mazin and Druckmann manage to work their magic twice? How will the show tackle the game’s jumbled up timeline narrative? How will it handle that moment? (If you know, you know!) Well, we will start getting answers next week as leads Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey return to continue to tell the post-apocalyptic story of Joel and Ellie as they try to survive in a world overrun by fungal zombies.
The Stolen Girl S1
16 April 2025 – Disney+
If you want your drama less post-apocalyptic but still as intense, then have a look at The Stolen Girl. Starring Denise Gough (who was superb as Dedra Meero in Andor) and Holliday Grainger, this tense thriller follows Elisa, mum to two young kids, who finds her world violently turned upside down when her 9-year-old daughter Lucia has an overnight playdate with her new best friend Josie. Elisa meets with Rebecca, Josie’s mum, and immediately takes to her. But when Elisa returns the next day to collect Lucia, her daughter as well as Josie and her entire family is nowhere to be found.
The Handmaid’s Tale S6
9 April 2025 – Showmax
[PLEASE NOTE: The Handmaid’s Tale S6 was included in last week’s Stream Scene, but it has subsequently been pushed back a week to 16 April 2025]
It’s a little crazy to think that The Handmaid’s Tale was once arguably the biggest and best TV series out there and then began running out of steam just as the show’s absolutely chilling alternative timeline version of America started seemingly coming true. But now, after a three-year hiatus, the show is back at what appears to be the most perfectly topical time possible with a sixth and final season, wrapping up the story of Elisabeth Moss’ June and her fight to take down the oppressive Gilead. And I’m intentionally avoiding spoilers here, because if anybody has not seen this show before, now is the perfect time to catch up as Showmax added all five previous seasons at the start of the month.
Government Cheese S1
16 April 2025 – Apple TV+
Okay, that’s enough stress inducing drama. Let’s change things up massively and get a little silly! Starring David Oyelowo and Simone Missick, Government Cheese is described as a “surrealist family comedy set in 1969 San Fernando Valley that tells the story of the Chambers, a quirky family pursuing lofty and seemingly impossible dreams, beautifully unfettered by the realities of the world.” With its lightheartedness, the show feels a bit like a Wes Anderson project, and even features regular Anderson collaborator Jason Schwartzman.
Ransom Canyon S1
17 April 2025 – Netflix
If you’re a fan of Yellowstone and are looking for even more cowboy ranching drama – with an extra big helping of romance – then mosey on down to Ransom Canyon. Led by Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly, this sprawling series follows “three ranching family dynasties locked in a contest for control of the land, [as] their lives and legacies are threatened by outside forces intent on destroying their way of life”. This is a bit more schmaltzy soapie and gritty family drama, but that may be exactly what you’re in the mood for.
MOVIES
G20
10 April 2025 – Prime Video
I’m torn about recommending G20, the new action thriller original from Prime Video. On the one hand, it’s neat because it’s set here in Cape Town during a G20 summit when the global forum of developing and develop countries meet to discuss economic and social initiatives (Especially since there’s an actual G20 summit happening in SA later this year). But on the other hand, this has the potential to be exactly the B-grade direct-to-streaming film its trailers appear to hint at. The first potential saving grace is that the film stars the always great Oscar-winning Viola Davis as U.S. President Danielle Sutton who becomes the number one target when the event is besieged by terrorists. Another potential saving grace being that the leader of the terrorist is played Antony Starr, who has been absolutely killing it year after year as everybody’s favourite bad guy, Homelander, in The Boys. Based on these two leads alone, I will give this one a watch.
The Wild Robot
13 April 2025 – Showmax
I’m not what you may call an overly emotional person. And yet, The Wild Robot, hit me deep in the feels Based on Peter Brown’s bestseller, this three-time Oscar nominated animated sci-fi adventure tells the story of Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), a robot who finds itself shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. As it learns to adapt to the harsh surroundings, Roz gradually builds relationships with the animals on the island, eventually becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling. A gosling that will one day grow up to be a duck which needs to fly south with its own kind. It’s gorgeously animated, boasts a star-studded voice cast (including Pedro Pascal, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy and Matt Berry), and will absolutely having your heart running the full gamut of emotions from elation to despair. Definitely not one to miss!
Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow
15 April 2025 – Netflix
Getting tired of waiting for the next and final season of Stranger Things? Hopefully this can tide you over. Netflix’s hit 80s-inspired sci-fi series has already branched out into all sorts of different media, and in 2023 it made the transition to the theatre stage with Stranger Things: The First Shadow. The show would go on to become a huge hit on West End, but it wasn’t all that easy to accomplish, as you’ll see in this new feature documentary film. Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow takes us, well, behind the curtain as it follows the production’s cast and crew in the lead-up to opening night on 14 December 2023, along with all the drama that entailed.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Nosferatu
Purchase: Apple TV – R170/ Google Play Movies – R171
Rental: Apple TV – R45/ Google Play Movies – R46
When it was announced that acclaimed filmmaker Robert Eggers was doing a remake of classic silent film Nosferatu (itself an unauthorized German adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula), many fans proclaimed it as the perfect fit for his talents. And boy, they weren’t wrong! It may not be as scary as some may have wanted, but as Noelle pointed out in her 8/10 review, Eggers delivers “an enjoyably fresh and exceptionally polished take on the Dracula mythos. It’s gothic horror done right, stylishly paying tribute to its silent movie predecessor and catering to modern audience sensibilities. Personally, it’s my all-time favourite adaptation of the Dracula story, and I loved it from start to finish.
Conclave
Purchase: Apple TV – R161 / Google Play Movies – R170
Rental: Apple TV – R45/ Google Play Movies – R50
Speaking of movies I loved. Although it released internationally last year, Conclave only hit local cinema screens early this year. If I had seen it back then, it would most definitely have been in the running for best movie of the year for me. Nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, and winning Best Adapted Screenplay, this is the perfect movie to enjoy around the upcoming Easter period giving its theological subject matter as it follows Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), Dean of the College of Cardinals in the Vatican, who has to arrange a conclave to elect the next Pope after the current one dies suddenly. However, the administrative nightmare of the event only makes one small part of Cardinal Lawrence’s mounting anxiety, as events leading up to the Pope’s passing may not have happened as reported. As I mentioned in my 9/10 review, Conclave has “a stacked cast operating at their peak” led by an “awards-worthy performance from Ralph Fiennes”, and “this simple-but-attention-grabbing thriller from Oscar-winning German filmmaker Edgar Bergen mixes nail-biting political intrigue and timely religious debate to give us one the best films released in 2024.”
Mickey 17
Purchase: Google Play Movies – R170
Rental: Google Play Movies – R212
If there’s one thing consistent about acclaimed Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho’s, whether he’s making Oscar-winning fare like Parasite, monster movies like The Host, or dark science-fiction like Snowpiercer, they’re always going to be a wild merging of different genres, tones, and social messages. And while, for the most part, Bong is the master of this, sometimes it doesn’t quite come together perfectly. That appears to be the case for his latest, Mickey 17, an absurdist sci-fi comedy starring Robert Pattinson as a down-on-his-luck 22nd century everyman whose desperate situation forces him to enroll to become an Expendable. No, he’s not blowing up stuff with Stallone and Statham, but rather it’s Mickey’s job to die. Given the most dangerous menial tasks that almost always results in death, he just gets a new body reprinted from DNA, his memories re-uploaded, and sent back out on the next job. When his 17th iteration is accidentally believed dead, the system prints up a new Mickey. The problem is that multiple living copies are illegal, kicking off all sorts of trouble for him. And as Noelle says in her 7/10 review, there’s lots of “energy and entertainment value” in the film and it’s “an excellent showcase for the acting talents of Robert Pattinson. However, a scattershot approach to themes and story means its final impression is a bit superficial, and unsatisfying as a result.” Maybe because of that Mickey 17 has been a dismal failure since releasing in cinemas just a little over a month ago. As a result, WB has made the call to give it a very early VOD release, so now you can grab it at home to watch for the price of just one movie ticket.
Babygirl
Purchase: Apple TV – R170 / Google Play Movies – R161
Rental: Apple TV – R45/ Google Play Movies – R50
Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman has seemingly been in a crazy amount of productions lately (TV series Holland just debuted on Prime Video a few weeks back). And possibly the most high-profile of the bunch is Babygirl. Written, directed, and produced by Dutch actress/filmmaker Halina Reijn, this erotic thriller sees Kidman star as a high-powered CEO who puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much-younger intern (Harris Dickinson). The film has received widespread critical acclaim and became a box office success. And now you can check it out at home.
Wolf Man
Purchase: Apple TV – R170/ Google Play Movies – R171
Rental: Apple TV – R45/ Google Play Movies – R46
Writer-turned-director Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man is one of the greatest horror movies of recent years. Thus, it came as no surprise when production studio Blumhouse tapped Whannell to also helm their new modern incarnation of classic Hollywood movie monster the Wolf Man. This version stars Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Sam Jaeger and follows Blake Lovell, a family man who sees a chance to reconnect with his wife and daughter when his long missing father is finally declared deceased, and Blake inherits his father’s remote home in the mountains of Oregon. But the very curse that originally resulted in his father’s disappearance is waiting for Blake and his family, leading them to a nightmarish confrontation.
Cuckoo
Purchase: Apple TV – R170 / Google Play Movies – R182
Rental: Apple TV – R45/ Google Play Movies – R46
And keeping things nightmarish, Cuckoo is a wild (and I mean WILD) horror from German filmmaker Tillman Singer. Hunter Schafer stars as Gretchen, a 17-year-old teen forced to move with her father, stepmother, and mute half-sister to a German resort where her architect father has been hired by the enigmatic Herr König (Dan Stevens) to help build a new hotel. But as weird events escalate and resort guests start going missing, Gretchen realizes that something sinister is happening at the resort, and she may be right in the centre of it all.
Flight Risk
Purchase: Apple TV – R160 / Google Play Movies – R160
Rental: Apple TV – R45/ Google Play Movies – R45
Directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, and Topher Grace, Flight Risk has a neat little concept: U.S. Marshal Madolyn Harris (Dockery) has managed to arrest former mob accountant Winston (Grace) after a long chase, and has to hurriedly transport him from Anchorage, Alaska to New York City so that he can testify against his erstwhile bosses in an ongoing trial. The quickest way there is by chartering a small flight piloted by local Daryl (Wahlberg), who guarantees he can get them there in time. Except, Daryl is actually a mob hitman sent to make sure Winston never makes it back alive. Cue the claustrophobic cat-and-mouse games in a tight compartment. Except the movie has not had very positive buzz with many people finding several bafflingly stupid character decisions and sometime cheap visuals ruining what could be a fun B-movie thriller. It’s me. I’m “many people”. Your mileage may vary.