Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ)
Amazon, Stan, Netflix, Canva, The Conversation, CC BY-NC In the middle of an unseasonably warm winter, perhaps the couch isn’t where you’re spending your weekends – preferring to enjoy the sun, however concerning its presence may be.
But even as the days get longer, sunset is still early, meaning evenings are the perfect time to sit down with a series that takes you to a different world: with teachers in Korea; with a fortune teller in Japan; or in a retirement village in New Mexico.
Here are our picks for your new favourite film or bingeable series this July. Beast Stan Patton James (Daniel MacPherson) is a retired mixed martial arts fighter. But, facing tough financial circumstances, he finds it impossible to resist when the opportunity arises to earn $150,000 fighting his former nemesis, world champion Xavier Grau (Bren Foster).
Patton returns to his old trainer Sammy (Russell Crowe). And despite some bad blood between them, Sammy and his daughter Rose (Amy Shark) end up helping him get in shape for the fight. Beast has all the expected cliches, and to say the narrative is predictable is an understatement.
But for a feel good “against the odds” sports film, this isn’t necessarily a problem. There can be something pleasurable in watching cliché after cliché unfold, and genre cinema’s capacity to fulfil our expectations is one of the reasons we keep coming back to it.
Despite being soapy and not very convincing, Beast is quite watchable as a kind of sports telemovie – earnest, if a bit lame. Sure, it runs through the motions, but the motions are compelling enough to warrant a watch for fans of Aussie cheese.
There’s something eternally pleasurable about watching an against the odds sporting movie replete with training montages, even if it is Home and Away’s answer to Rocky IV. – Ari Mattes Read more: Beast: Australia’s first MMA film, starring Russell Crowe, is cheesy yet oddly comforting Straight to Hell Netflix Straight to Hell, a nine-episode drama series from Japan, stars Erika Toda, playing the late Kazuko Hosoki, a famous Japanese fortune teller who became popular on television and published a string of best-selling books.
Set in Tokyo, it covers 60 years of her life from post-World War II through to the 2000s. The story is told in flashback via a fictional character, author and journalist Minori Uozumi (Sairi Ito). She is the framing device for the presentation of the non-linear story.
As Hosoki’s authorised biographer, Uozumi is torn over whether to voice her doubts about Hosoki’s integrity. For Japanese audiences the story is well known and mediates public memory of her fame and scandals.
For other cultures, it is not so much a biopic, but an epic tale of gender and power. Beginning with Hosoki’s childhood of poverty and homelessness, the narrative explores how such deprivation and adversity can foster resilience whilst also fuelling a capacity for reinvention.
Eventually, this drive leads her to exploit audiences who, motivated by aspirations of self-improvement, find Hosoki’s fortune telling compelling. Hosoki’s character offers a commentary on gender and celebrity, revealing how transgressive women are commodified.
Although she struggles against structural gender inequalities, she is also ruthless, exploitative and ethically compromised. She isn’t conventional, likeable or stereotypically feminine.
Hosoki is a bad woman, but a fascinating one, and the series makes it difficult not to admire her. – Lisa French Off Campus Prime Video From showrunners Louisa Levy and Gina Fattore, Off Campus explores the devastating impacts of sexual violence on young women with sensitivity, and without gratuitous depictions.
Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) is a college junior, and we follow her fake dating scheme-turned-romance with star hockey-player Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli). In a subplot, we learn Hannah was drugged and raped by a classmate, Aaron Delaney (Quinten James), at a party.
She was 15 when it happened. Hannah’s experience of assault chronologically takes place before the first episode. The incident is only hinted at subtly, through flashbacks. The focus is on her life in the aftermath of sexual assault.
The reality of violence against women is addressed, but not viscerally depicted. Alongside Hannah and Garret’s budding attraction, we get glimpses into Hannah’s post-traumatic stress.
She confides in Garrett about her inability to orgasm, is hesitant to drink at parties, and feels guilty the only result of her legal trial against her abuser was the alienation of her family in their hometown in Indiana.
She also isolates herself, struggles with overwhelming anxiety and avoids Garrett’s calls. Hannah’s beliefs reflect pervasive rape myths and stereotypes that shroud victim/survivors in doubt and shame.
Off Campus successfully touches on these problematic ideologies, before challenging a legacy of storylines that have helped endorse rape myths and minimise the effects of sexual violence. – Bridget Mac Eochagain Read more: What the hit new show Off Campus gets right in its portrayal of sexual violence America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, season three Netflix Season three of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders presents an intriguing portrait of contemporary femininity.
In a mediascape flooded with tradwives, matchmakers and the manosphere, there is a trend towards traditional values and gender roles, often with a smidge of religiosity. In this respect, America’s Sweethearts delivers. The cheerleaders were previously documented in a CMT reality show with a lot more flash and colour.
After transitioning to the global streaming behemoth, everything seems too bright and desaturated. The watchable annual audition and training camp elements still feature but tend to be covered in a veneer of rah-rah sisterhood and lukewarm fourth-wave feminism, rather than bitchiness.
This season focuses somewhat on New-Zealand-born Australian, Faith Ward. The 2025 rookie brings some much-needed cheek. That said, the hilarity often derives from cringy fresh-off-the-plane moments – driving on the right side of the road and subjecting teammates to Vegemite tasting.
The cast’s new-found global fame presents some of the stronger storylines, which follow the young women as they grapple with social media success, while trying to hold down “normal” lives. Director Kelli Finglass often attempts to control the dissemination of more sexualised internet imagery, in a manner reminiscent of Aunt Lydia disciplining the Handmaids.
The most interesting narrative arc is “dancing for Jesus” Reece Weaver. She married quite young and her partner seems keen to move back to Alabama and settle down.
No spoilers, but what do you think the outcome of that pressure point is? – Phoebe Hart NZ Spy TVNZ (coming to ABC in later 2026) The retro James Bond parody NZ Spy asks what if the greatest threat to New Zealand was actually… Australia?
It’s the mid-1970s, and New Zealand is in economic turmoil. Brand new spies Michael (series creator Paul Williams), Michael #2 (Joe Thomas) and Sue (Rose Matafeo) got the job because no one else applied.
After a quick training montage and a supportive nod from their boss (Bret McKenzie), they are off to save the country from the Australian Intelligence Service, who have a secret plan to ruin the country.
The best spy gets a meat pack at prizegiving. This is the latest in a long line of absurd Kiwi comedies about awkward, childlike adults failing forward. Williams’ leading man is a hapless dolt who can barely remember his own name, let alone the details of each episode’s well-constructed espionage set piece.
Thank goodness hypercompetent Sue is always there to bail him out; Matafeo is in great form. The season’s six episodes run back-to-back, and they take a while to get going despite an excellent alpine set piece in episode one.
At times the deadpan humour is more sluggish than dry, but overall the show is a charming period fantasy with a great eye for detail. There’s stunning location work and some beautifully brown and orange mid-century interior design, as well as an incredible list of Australasian and international comedians in supporting roles.
The martini needs more chilling, but it’s still a nice drop. – Erin Harrington Teach You a Lesson Netflix Teach You a Lesson is about a government-backed vigilante unit trying to fix the wrongs in schools.
It depicts a version of Korean society in which rising school violence and declining teacher authority have pushed the educational system to breaking point. Education minister Choi Gang-seok (Lee Sung-min) establishes the Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB) after his daughter, a teacher, tragically dies at the hands of a student.
The ERPB unit is granted extraordinary legal powers to intervene in troubled schools. Leading the unit is Na Hwa-jin (Kim Mu-yeol): the action hero, the minister’s son-in-law, and a former Special Forces captain turned inspector.
Each episode tackles a new case involving bullying, corruption, academic misconduct, juvenile crime, gambling, drug trafficking or exploitation. Victims seek help when institutions fail them, and the ERPB steps in with swift, cathartic justice.
The cases range from the spoiled son of a powerful politician being shielded from the consequences of his bullying, to a vocational school where violence is valued, and a student influencer who weaponises social media against teachers (with tragic results).
At its heart, the series is about standing with victims.
One of its most striking lines comes as Hwa-jin reflects on collapsing authority in schools: “If adults become afraid of children, the world is doomed.” Beneath its action, drama and satisfying takedowns lies a question troubling parents, educators and policymakers everywhere: what is education for, when the classroom itself is in crisis? –Yanyan Hong Read more: What is education for?
Why new Korean drama Teach You a Lesson is topping the charts Matt and Mara Mubi Led by a stellar lead of Matt Johnson and Deragh Campbell, Matt and Mara is an intimate relationship drama rich with subtlety and melancholy.
The 2024 film, directed by Kazik Radwanski, follows Mara (Campbell), a creative writing professor at the University of Toronto who is struggling with the routine of her academic career, as well as marital life.
Her husband, Samir (Mounir Al Shami), is an experimental musician, a space Mara feels wholly estranged from – proclaiming at a dinner party that she doesn’t listen to music, nor feel an intellectual response from it.
Tensions begin to surmount when Mara unexpectedly reconnects with Matt (Johnson), an outgoing and successful writer from her past. As the two glacially rekindle what they perhaps once shared – or could have shared – Mara is forced to confront her existential unrest.
The fourth feature by Canadian filmmaker Radwanski, Matt and Mara shines within its ambiguity, dry humour and nuanced articulation of those undefinable relationships that teeter between the romantic and the platonic. Johnson, in particular, captivates with his hilarious, and impressively improvised take on the charismatic – albeit narcissistic – free-wheeling writer.
Through the pair’s dynamic, Radwanski’s indie triumph poignantly captures not only the complexity of human relationships, but a range of broader reflections pertaining to one’s creative ambitions. – Oscar Bloomfield The Boroughs Netflix The eight-part paranormal adventure The Boroughs offers a fresh take on the trope of unruly seniors.
Set in a fabulous mid-century modern inspired retirement village in New Mexico, with its low-slung homes, geometric lines and desert landscaping, it features an outstanding ensemble cast. The show’s reputation precedes it, with the Duffer brothers (Matt and Ross), of Stranger Things fame, among the executive producers.
The narrative is scary right from the get-go. But it also has a gentle humour, a rich set of characters that audiences can invest in, and at its heart, celebrates community. The Boroughs playfully challenges stereotypes that ageing diminishes sexuality and desire.
Some of the retirees are banned from the Community Centre for having orgies; two neighbours are having an affair; and the youngest of the group, at 70, has a 40-something lover. Themes include feminist commentary flagged by a Thema & Louise homage, and the character of Renee (Geena Davis), who is experiencing economic hardship following divorce.
Director Roger Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors plays on background television, signalling a key ethical dilemma of the series: what might you sacrifice to live a longer life? The retirees are collectively dismissed as senile, so their account of alien monsters sucking brain fluid is disregarded.
This enables those who know the truth to keep it secret, that is, until the residents are confronted with a choice for community, ethics and humanity, and form an unexpected alien alliance. – Lisa French The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/06/30/unruly-seniors-dallas-cheerleaders-and-russell-crowe-as-an-mma-trainer-what-were-streaming-this-july/