Though a richly textured performance from George Clooney (even if he is essentially playing himself) and some warm support from Adam Sandler (though his overuse of the word “Papi” starts to grate) help bolster Jay Kelly, it’s difficult to entirely find a way into the universality writer/director Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story, White Noise) hopes to…
With Stranger Things entering its long-awaited final season, the first half of Season 5 wastes no time throwing fans back into the chaos of Hawkins. Over a year has passed since the town was torn open and the Upside Down spilled into reality. Hawkins is now under military lockdown, tensions are high, and Vecna’s threat…
This is a spoiler-free article that was originally published 25th June 2025. Less than 18 months after it premiered on the West End, Stranger Things: The First Shadow made its anticipated Broadway debut this April. The play is Netflix’s first production on the stage, and understandably, the production was initially met with skepticism. Could the…
There’s a Pixar-like wonder to In Your Dreams that helps this particularly sweet family adventure film feel like it’s somewhat of a classic – despite the fact that it’s freshly releasing on Netflix as perfect programming for the impending holiday season. Embracing a mentality that likens it to the types of family films we saw…
Crash Bandicoot might have been resting his eyes in recent years, but I’m not sure we would have guessed this kind of return. According to a report from What’s On Netflix, Crash Bandicoot will be getting his own animated series on Netflix, although a release window is not yet known. WildBrain Studios, the same studio…
With a title that can’t be misconstrued in all its obviousness, it makes sense as to why Held Hostage in My House adheres to a melodramatic, campy temperament. Despite the cheapness of proceedings, you have to hand it to writer/director Anna Elizabeth James (who seemingly has a penchant for blatantly titled thrillers, with Sinister Sorority…
Launched from the current Global Top 10 Netflix hit series Building the Band, Midnight Til Morning is a four-piece group blending powerful vocals, emotional vulnerability, and undeniable charisma. On August 6th, they’ll officially launch their music career with anticipated debut single “Bye”, a soaring, bittersweet ballad marking the arrival of a new global music force. Crafted alongside a world-class creative…
Despite the fact that the recent Materialists has been rightfully acclaimed and turned a neat little profit for its US distributor, A24, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Dakota Johnson-led rom-com-dram was one of the worst films to ever grace the screens for the hoards of millennials who were disappointed that it was more…
Love on the Spectrum has captured the hearts of people all around the globe. The Netflix docuseries looks into the very real and honest experiences people on the spectrum go through when it comes to navigating the complex world of dating. Over the last three seasons, the show has created a safe space for participants…
In Los Angeles over the weekend, Netflix Tudum, a global pop culture event that showcases what’s on the slate for the streaming behemoth, was held to mass fanfare – and a Gaga performance – in celebration of all the most anticipated titles for the remainder of 2025. Here at The AU Review we’ve gathered all…
The type of show where the melodrama is ripe, the ranch settings are lush and the aesthetically pleasing cast go by such names as Yancy and Staten, Ransom Canyon has the right temperament to be the next easily digestible Netflix streaming obsession. The type of generic show people put on to not pay attention to,…
Love on the Spectrum is back for their third season on Netflix. The Emmy winning documentary-type series, which fittingly premiered worldwide on World Autism Day (April 2nd), is a reality TV show based off of the Australian version of the same name, created and produced by Karina Holden and Cian O’Clery. It follows the lives…
A queer President. An occasionally profane Kylie Minogue. An unseen Hugh Jackman. A birder-obsessed detective. And a murder most foul. An Agatha Christie-meets-Clue-like mystery series from the Shondaland factory (i.e. Shonda Rhimes, the figurehead behind such TV successes as Grey’s Anatomy, How To Get Away With Murder, and Bridgerton), The Residence is an intelligent, witty…
A starring role with her talents front and centre always suited Kate Hudson, so, immediately, Running Point lands its lay-up, with the Netflix comedy series giving the actress the material needed to flourish. Inspired by Los Angeles Lakers president Jeanie Buss, the Mindy Kaling-produced series subs in the Los Angeles Waves and Hudson’s Isla Gordon,…
It’s no secret that Belle Gibson is one of the most infamous scammers in Australia’s history. In the rise of social media in the early 2010s, she used her platform as a space to promote healing and wellness, speaking of her multiple illnesses, inoperable stage 4 brain cancer, and how alternative medicine and healthy eating…
We’re only a month-and-a-bit into 2025, and it’s possible that Netflix have given birth (pun unintended) to one of the year’s absolute worst filmic offerings in Amy Schumer‘s Kinda Pregnant, an absolutely unfunny “comedy” that wastes the talents of its capable cast. A Happy Madison production – which tells you all you need to know…
The ball appears to be in Kate Hudson‘s court, with the Academy Award nominated actress and singer flexing her “biggest bitch” energy in the first-look trailer for her new comedy series Running Point, premiering February 27th on Netflix. Created by Mindy Kaling, the series follows Isla Gordon (Hudson) who is appointed president of the Los…
It’s been over a decade since we last saw Cameron Diaz grace our screens. Bowing out with a planned retirement from the industry following 2014’s middlingly received musical Annie, Diaz has been lured back to do what she does best, reuniting with Annie cohort Jamie Foxx for Back In Action, a fittingly titled comedic actioner…
Luna Park Sydney officially unveiled its new, highly-anticipated immersive attraction, Squid Game: The Experience, at the grand opening last night, marking a significant milestone in the Park’s transformation into a world-class experience destination. Among the attendees were prominent figures, including the Minister for Arts, Nighttime Economy, Music and Minister for Jobs and Tourism, John Graham….
Arriving just in time for Christmas – though the holiday setting ultimately has no bearing on the show’s intrigue-heavy plotting – Netflix’s British action-thriller series Black Doves has all the surface-level expectation of a classic government conspiracy narrative, before revealing itself as something far deeper, darker, poignant and, surprisingly, humorous. Toplined by Keira Knightley –…
A murder case that remains unsolved some near-three decades on, the slaying of 6-year-old beauty pageant phenomenon JonBenét Ramsey still can’t but help earn speculative interest today. And it’s through Joe Berlinger‘s three-part docuseries, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?, that new theories, old wounds and investigative frustrations come to light, resulting in an enveloping, oft-unsettling…
Yet again, the amazing Alice Oseman has teamed up with director Euros Lyn to create the third season of Heartstopper. Previously, the Netflix series was well-known for its gradual approach regarding topics of queerness, health, growing-up, the experiencing of firsts, family dynamics and relationships for a teenage and young-adult audience. However, season 3 takes a…
After tarnishing the one-two punch of 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop and it’s 1987 sequel with the 1994 threequel – one that even the film’s stars have turned against over the years – the Eddie Murphy-led franchise seemed permanently laid to rest. Though there’s been considerable chatter in the three decades since its release, the third…
Australian director Mark Molloy has taken on no mean feat when it comes to announcing himself as a feature filmmaker. After rumblings of a fourth franchise film in the Beverly Hills Cop series for the better part of three decades now, Molloy has finally brought Eddie Murphy’s loveable wisecracking detective Axel Foley back into the…
As the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) gears up to welcome local and international film lovers to its fine city across September 5th to 15th this year, the Gala and Special Presentation programmes have announced six titles that will be premiering ahead of the Festival’s official program selection. The six titles announced thus far include…
The blending of genres isn’t as easy as Richard Linklater makes it look in the deliciously fun Hit Man, a-sexy-romantic-comedy-cum-philosophical-action-film that the School of Rock helmer and lead charmer Glen Powell have co-scribed together in a seamless fashion. Given that Linklater has so often deviated from the expectation put forward in some of his films…
Following the death of her estranged father, Iris learns she has inherited a run-down, centuries-old pub. She travels to Berlin to identify her father’s body and then discuss the estate. Little does she know, when the deed is signed she will become inextricably tied to an unspeakable entity that resides in the pub’s basement –…
A lost father, a mute brother, a recovering addict mum, a heroin dealer for a stepfather, and a notorious criminal for a babysitter. Eli Bell is just trying to follow his heart and understand what it means to become a good man, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way. Based on Brisbane author Trent…
There comes a point in Boy Swallows Universe – Netflix’s splashy adaptation of Trent Dalton‘s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name – where you beg for the creators to let the show’s lead feature, 13-year-old Eli Bell (a standout Felix Cameron), earn a moment to catch his breath. Sure, it’d let us as viewers do…
Within the opening minutes of May December, small-town mother Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore) is throwing a community BBQ with all the social niceties we come to see over the future 113 minutes she shrewdly projects. In hoping she has enough food to feed the masses, she opens the refrigerator and questions if she has enough…