It’s 2017, and unless you’re into live sports, do you really need to be paying a premium for Foxtel? Or is this the question you should be asking: “Netflix or Stan?”
Although we want to cheer for Aussie contender Stan, he still has some ways to go in terms of catalogue and original content. In 2016, Netflix spent a whopping US$5 billion on developing and acquiring original programs. This year, they plan to spend $6 billion on 1000 hours of new content. Basically, Netflix is no longer just a streaming service competing with television– it is television.
With new shows and films popping up every week, we’ve rounded up a few of July’s best. Thank us later.
Castlevania (series)
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Vampire lore has been getting rinsed in recent years (see: Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, or the final two seasons of True Blood), but Netflix is aiming to Make Vampires Great Again with its new animated series Castlevania. Inspired by the classic video games, the show follows a vampire hunter’s efforts to save Eastern Europe from the tyranny of Vlad Dracula Tepe.
Don’t be fooled by the show’s animated format. Executive producer Adi Shankar has compared it to Game of Thrones, and says it’s “going to be R-rated as fuck.”
Stakes and garlic cloves at the ready – the first four episodes air on 7 July.
Chasing Coral (documentary)
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It’s no shock to anyone that years of unheeded warnings on climate change have led to irreparable damage to our world’s coral reefs. Using state-of-the-art time-lapse cameras that capture coral degradation in real time, Jeff Orlowski’s documentary Chasing Coral is a poignant reminder of just what is at stake. It premiered at this year’s Sundance Festival, and won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award category. Filmed over three years, with 650+ hours spent underwater, and footage from over 30 countries, this is a must-see modern epic.
Chasing Coral airs on 14 July.
Friends from College (series)
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Has Facebook’s “On This Day” feature got you down? Are you pouring one out for friends that have moved interstate? Friends From College is the show for you. Director and Executive Producer Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Neighbors) leads a stellar comedic cast that includes Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele) and Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother). The show follows a group of 40-something ex-Harvard mates as they navigate old friendships and new dilemmas, and try to balance adult life with nostalgia for the past.
All eight episodes of season one will air on 14 July.
To The Bone (film)
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Marti Noxon’s film follows Ellen (Lily Collins), a 20-year-old anorexic girl who has attended various recovery programs, to no avail. Her family’s last resort is to send her to a group home led by the unorthodox Doctor Beckham (Keanu Reeves). Ellen must embrace her new relationships and surroundings in order to find self-acceptance and confront her demons.
Some are concerned that To The Bone glamourizes self-destructive behaviour among teens – a criticism that also dogged Netflix’s 2017 series Thirteen Reasons Why. Whichever stance you take, these productions encourage conversations about societal expectations and stigmas, which can only be a good thing.
To The Bone airs on 14 July.
Ozark (series)
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It’s hard to not draw similarities between Ozark and AMC’s Breaking Bad. Both shows' lead actors starred as hapless dads in sitcoms (Arrested Development, Malcolm in the Middle), only to be later recast as dads thrown in the deep end, at the mercy of drug cartels. Financial-advisor-by-day-and-money-launderer-by-night Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) is forced to uproot his family and operation to the Ozarks (Missouri highlands) after things go awry. After bluffing that he can turn $8 million into $500 million, Marty needs to actually find a way to keep this promise – or his family gets it. Along the way, he pisses off bikies and meth heads, steps on many drug lords’ toes, and catches the unwanted attention of the FBI.
Season one airs on July 21.
Last Chance U (documentary series)
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Season one of Last Chance U followed a group of former Division I players, each vying for a second chance at their college football dreams. Still set in the sleepy town of Scooba, Mississippi, season two documents the 2016 season at East Mississippi Community College (EMCC), an unassuming school that has won three national championships in the past three years. It plucks players with bad academic performance from larger universities, and coaches them to be better sportsmen as well as students. Returning for season two, director Greg Whiteley gives a gut-wrenching behind-the-scenes look at the intense football program that can launch NFL careers.
Season two airs on 21 July.
Daughters of Destiny (documentary)
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We all know how easy it is to butt heads with our parents and grandparents on certain topics. It’s just a generation gap, we tell ourselves. But try throwing poverty, an ancient caste system and prescribed gender roles in the mix – it makes it a lot harder to agree on anything.
Academy Award winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth explores this in her documentary Daughters of Destiny, which chronicles the lives of five Indian girls from the “Dalit” caste – one of the most impoverished communities in the world. Over four episodes, we see them grow up at Shanti Bhavan, a unique co-ed residential school. They, along with all the other children at school are expected to support themselves, create positive change in their families and communities, and contribute to the larger world.
Airs on 28 July.
