Top 10 in New Zealand

Faraway Downs: Miniseries
Faraway Downs was always going to be a strange beast, but in teasing out the most compelling threads from the tangle that was Australia, Luhrmann has managed to turn a forgettable film into a flawed but dazzling piece of television.

BlackBerry
An origin story about a now-defunct device doesn’t sound like a hoot a minute. But Johnson makes it bouncy and funny, balancing character-oriented comedy with, in its own modest way, authoritative drama that before you know it creeps into serious messaging, as if arriving there organically.

Palm Trees and Power Lines
Quietly riveting and deeply upsetting, Jamie Dack’s directorial debut goes to far darker places than most would dare, with an unsparing, chillingly realistic approach. Neither sexually explicit nor graphically violent, the film depicts a banal and somehow more brutal horror.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Judy Blume’s story of girlhood and growing up is a classic for a reason, and this heartwarming adaptation a crowdpleaser. Abby Ryder Fortson as the titular Margaret is wonderful, bringing all the agony and joy of tweendom to life with earnestness and authenticity.

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)
Heartfelt and often hilarious tribute to Hipgnosis, the British creatives behind some of the 1970s most iconic record covers. This rock-star-studded trip is perfect for fans, and anyone fascinated by the collision of art and commerce that occurs when a round record is popped into a square sleeve.

Scrublands: Season 1
What drove an attractive, popular young preacher to gun down local men from the church steps? This is the question this new Australian drama, set a year after a massacre in a small NSW town, explores - a complex, pacy drama that weaves real-life headlines into its clever storytelling.