Stan: quick links
Stan: new this week
The Carters: Hurts To Love You (2 July)
Docuseries. An emotional look at a family ravaged by fame. We follow The Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter and his younger brother Aaron Carter as the darker side of success unfolds. As told by their sister Angel, struggles with mental illness, addiction and neglect are revealed.
Such Brave Girls Season 2 (4 July)
Series. This award-winning British comedy follows single mother Deb and her daughters, Billie and Josie. They’re vain, selfish, heavily in debt, desperate for affection and armed with nothing but poor judgement. Watch the trailer.
Stan: recent highlights
Hal & Harper (26 June)
Series. Hal and Harper are two codependent siblings living in LA, and are doing their best to navigate long-term relationships, friendships, and situationships. When their dad makes a big announcement, the two are forced to consider the current state of their lives and their complicated childhood.
Starring Mark Ruffalo, Lili Reinhart and Cooper Raiff. Watch the trailer.
Revealed – Joh: Last King of Queensland (22 June)
Documentary. A feature-length documentary about the divisive leader, conservative icon and former Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and a timely examination of progress, power, corruption, and Joh’s complex legacy.
Starring Richard Roxburgh. Watch the trailer.
From ScreenHub’s review:
‘Joh: Last King of Queensland opens with a flurry of present-day faces in black & white, intercut with archival footage of the late Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Immediately there’s a contrast: Joh is a solid, constant presence, shaking hands and waving at various political events, while those commenting on him can’t even agree on the basics.
‘Was he a political innovator or (as one person calls him) ‘a deadshit’ bumbler who couldn’t string three coherent words together or a savvy operator who reflected the will of his state?
‘Director Kriv Stenders has a secret weapon in his attempt to nail down the man who ruled Queensland for 19 years: Richard Roxburgh, who here plays Joh in his final days in power – a period, we’re told, that ended with him being voted out by his own team, after which he locked himself in his office and wouldn’t come out.‘ Read more …
The Surfer (15 June)
Film (2024). When a man returns to Australia to buy back his family home after many years in the US, he is humiliated in front of his teenage son by a group of local surfers who claim ownership over the secluded beach of his childhood.
Wounded, he defies them and remains at the beach, demanding acceptance. As the conflict escalates, he is brought right to the edge of his sanity and his entire identity is thrown into question.
Starring Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Nic Cassim and Miranda Tapsell.
From ScreenHub’s review:
As the unnamed surfer of the title, Cage’s vibrantly dyed ginger lead plays a man determined to reclaim his roots after decades away in California, where his accent presumably got lost. Wanting to reconnect with his teenage son (Finn Little) – despite his ex-wife (on the phone) being pissed he pulled him out of school – he hopes to snap up his childhood home, newly on the market.
But the surfer falls foul of the overheated Australian market, forced to beg for more financing with Rahel Romahn’s real estate shark unwilling to buy him time. Read more …
This City Is Ours (4 June)
Series. This City is Ours is the story of Michael, a man who for all of his adult life has been involved in organised crime. But for the first time, Michael is in love. Now he sees a future: something to win and something to lose – Diana.
Starring Sean Bean, Saul Dibb, John Hayes and Eshref Reybrouck. Watch the trailer.
