2023’s hottest eat-the-rich thriller, Lee Tamahori’s final film, a searing Aussie historical tale of vengeance, and two certified classics are available for your viewing pleasure right now on free New Zealand streaming services.
Saltburn
It’s taken the internet by storm, so if you’re one of the few human beings online who hasn’t seen it, Emerald Fennell’s button-pushing aristocracy romp, where a bland outsider infiltrates the asphyxiating inner sanctum of an English manor, is streaming on Prime. Come for the gorgeous actors consuming each other’s bodily fluids (yes, it happens more than once) stay for the ludicrous and perfectly delivered satirical quips—namely from queen Rosamund Pike. RORY DOHERTY
Streaming free on TVNZ+
The Convert
The great Lee Tamahori delivered perhaps NZ film’s heftiest production of 2024 with this historical epic. Headed by Guy Pearce, who plays a lay preacher in 1830s Aotearoa, The Convert illustrates the bloody horror of The Musket Wars with its fictional tale of warring iwi, powered by excellent performances from Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Antonio Te Maioha and Lawrence Makoare. LIAM MAGUREN
Streaming free on Māori+
The Nightingale
Jennifer Kent’s sophomore feature, following The Babadook, is a stunning piece of Australian cinema that isn’t afraid to confront the country’s violent and oppressive colonial past head on. From its brutal beginning, which demonstrates the horrific treatment received by Irish convict Clare Carroll (Aisling Franciosi) at the hands of British soldiers, The Nightingale doesn’t waver in tone or intensity—or in its exceptional performances by Franciosi and Indigenous dancer-turned-actor Baykali Ganambarr. SARAH WARD
Streaming free on Beamafilm (with valid library card)
Heathers
A comedy so dark the prefix “black” barely begins to cut it. Michael Lehmann’s cult movie is up there with Election and Mean Girls as one of the great high school-set comedies—but with a more potent air of irreverence. Winona Ryder joins a clique of students called the Heathers while Christian Slater plays the demon on her shoulder, encouraging her to commit dastardly deeds. LUKE BUCKMASTER
Streaming free on Brollie
Glengarry GlenRoss
David Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a group of increasingly desperate real estate salesmen was an electric stage experience. By the time James Foley (At Close Range) directed Mamet’s adaptation in 1992, actors who’d played roles onstage wanted back in and more were asking to be added. Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, and Alan Arkin headlined the cast, delivering the pithy, self-incriminating dialogue with the perfect mix of bravado and unease. It’s a cloistered, combative male realm—30 years on, it looks and sounds prescient. CRAIG MATHIESON
Streaming free on Tubi
