The new streaming releases will definitely be heading to infinity and beyond as Pixar’s Lightyear hits Disney+, while Netflix’s sees the debut of highly anticipated local drama Justice Served. Meanwhile Showmax debuts a bunch of new high profile HBO shows such as The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Gilded Aged, The Baby, and more.
MOVIES
Spontaneous
Netflix – 1 August 2022
Based on Aaron Starmer’s novel, this quirky romantic comedy is the classic tale of girl meets boy, girl and boy like each other, fellow high school students around girl and boy suddenly start spontaneously exploding like balloons. Sounds like fun!
Wedding Season
Netflix – 1 August 2022
Looking for a more traditional rom-com than one about spontaneous combustion? That’s where Wedding Season comes. I don’t even think I need to do a story synopsis here as this one follows that classic romantic comedy script as old as time of two people who pretend to be in love to make others happy only to find themselves really falling for each other.
Lightyear
Disney+ – 3 August 2022
Hey, it’s the new movie about a character from another movie which was a toy taken from this movie… Confused yet? Well, hopefully you will also be entertained by Pixar’s “origin story” of Buzz Lightyear which hit cinemas last month, but is now making its streaming debut on Disney+ for those who missed it.
SERIES
Paper Girls
Amazon Prime Video – 29 July 2022
Looking for something to scratch that Stranger Things itch? Well, Paper Girls could be just the thing. Adapted from writer Brian K. Vaughn and artist Cliff Chiang’s Eisner Award-winning comic book series, Paper Girls follows four girls who are out delivering newspapers on Halloween morning in 1988, when they inadvertenly get caught up in a way between time travelers, sending them on adventures in the past, present, and future – with the latter seeing them meet up with their grown up selves!
Justice Served
Netflix – 29 July 2022
Recently, Netflix has been doing some great local South African productions, and Justice Served is the latest. This buzzy new drama is set during the trial of a white police officer who allegedly shot and killed a black man. The already charged situation is escalated massively when a band of freedom fighters invade the trial, triggering a hostage situation that plays out on national TV in which the public gets decide who is really innocent.
The Gilded Age
Showmax – 1 August 2022
Confession time: I’m yet to watch a single minute of Downton Abbey. With all the seasons and movies, I think it’s too late for me. But maybe I should get in early for Oscar-winning Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes’ new show, The Gilded Age. Set in the late 19th century, this one follows a rural girl who moves to New York City after her father’s death and gets caught up in a social war.
The Baby
Showmax – 1 August 2022
When all your friends around you start having babies, it’s natural to get broody. If you’re Faraz Shait’s Natasha in new British horror-comedy show The Baby, you should also get very suspicious. That’s because a strange toddler literally drops into her life one day and turns it all upside down… and bloody!
The Time Traveller’s Wife
Showmax – 1 August
Adapted once before as a feature film, Audrey Niffenegger’s beloved 2003 novel The Time Traveler’s Wife is getting the TV series treatment courtesy of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat. Starring Rose Leslie and Theo James, the new series was unfortunately cancelled after just one six-episode season, but you can still check out all the sci-fi romantic drama that was released.
The Responder
Showmax – 1 August 2022
Martin Freeman is best known for stealing from dragons and helping a barely sociable savant solve puzzles. In The Responder, he is doing neither of these things. What he is doing though, is turning in one hell of a dramatic performance as a troubled urgent response police officer tackling both crime and his personal issues on a series of night shifts.
La Brea
Showmax – 1 August 2022
I am a sucker for two things: Big, dumb disaster movies, and mysteries stories where people get transported to strange places. And NBC’s sci-fi mystery series La Brea ticks both those boxes as it sees a giant sinkhole opening up in the middle of Los Angeles, with the people who fall in finding themselves waking up in a world of primeval danger! La Brea originally debuted in the US late last year and has already been renewed for a second season.