Streaming guide, TV listings.
SWAGGER OF THIEVES (Vimeo)
Julian Boshier’s 2017 documentary charts the turbulent trajectory of notorious Kiwi rock outfit Head Like a Hole. A decade in the making, Swagger of Thieves has been hailed as one of the most insightful music documentaries ever made and a Kiwi film-making gem. The Wellington group quickly earned a reputation in the 90s for their wild ways and recklessly unhinged live shows. HLAH eventually burned out through substance abuse and infighting before frontman Nigel “Booga” Beazley and guitarist Nigel Regan worked to reform the band in 2009. Swagger of Thieves takes an engrossing and unflinching look at both their unique place in the music industry and the effects of drug addiction throughout the band’s rise, fall and eventual return to prominence. Available to rent now for $5.49.
AMERICAN SON (Netflix)
Based on Christopher Demos-Brown’s acclaimed Broadway play, American Son tells the story of Kendra EllisConnor (Emmy-nominee Kerry Washington), who is waiting for a report on the whereabouts of her missing son, Jamal, in a South Florida police station. She asks a rookie policeman for help but he is unable to assist her, before her estranged husband, FBI agent Scott Connor (played by Steven Pasquale), arrives and demands to know where their son is. Directed by Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon, Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee also reprise their roles in the film adaptation, which presents four distinct viewpoints, while also exploring the unique dynamic of an interracial couple trying to raise a mixed-race son. Available now.
JACK IRISH (Lightbox)
Emmy Award-winner Guy Pearce stars in this sixpart thriller as a self-styled detective tasked with tracking down a missing man.
It all goes wrong when the man is executed in front of Jack before he learns the job was elaborately designed to frame him for murder. Meanwhile, in the Philippine city of Manila, Jack’s on-again-off-again lover Linda Hillier (Marta Dusseldorp) is working as a foreign correspondent for an Australian newspaper. Her journalistic instincts tell her she is on to something big, but when her expose´ is quickly quashed, the opportunity of a lifetime shapes like a dead-end job — until a mysterious meeting with a criminal in hiding. Streaming now.
THE CULT OF THE FAMILY (Neon)
The apocalyptic Australian group “The Family” and their guru, Anne Hamilton-Byrne — a rare female cult leader — captured international headlines throughout the 80s and 90s. From her base in the hills above Melbourne, HamiltonByrne recruited wealthy professionals to join her cult, including psychiatrists, doctors, lawyers, nurses, architects and scientists. Drawing on police interviews, movie footage and interviews with survivors, the three-part series spans over half a century, digging deep into the cult and its typically alluring but ultimately deceitful leader. At the heart of her cult was a dark and terrible secret — a bizarre experiment to raise a “master race” of children who would save the world after Armageddon. Available from Saturday.