You know what time it is? It’s time to update your winter watchlist.
Here’s 10 great films newly added to streaming in Australia that you can watch now.
With such a stacked line-up, there’s no excuse not to bunker down with a heated blanket and hit play!
10 great films just added to streaming:
Biosphere (2023) – Streaming on Prime Video
- Director: Mel Eslyn
- Cast: Sterling K. Brown, Mark Duplass
- Genre: Sci-fi, Comedy, Drama
- Runtime: 107 mins
Synopsis: Two men – seemingly the last humans on Earth– live inside a self-contained biosphere where survival depends on their ability to adapt … in more ways than one.
Why watch it?
This offbeat sci-fi chamber piece takes an unexpected dive into masculinity, evolution, and human connection with humour and grace. It’s high-concept indie that goes surprisingly deep, and if you didn’t catch it at MIFF a couple of years ago, now’s your chance to watch this hidden gem.
Beautiful Boy (2011) – Streaming on Prime Video
- Director: Shawn Ku
- Cast: Michael Sheen, Maria Bello, Alan Tudyk
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 100 mins
Synopsis: A married couple must navigate the emotional fallout after their son commits a mass shooting and takes his own life.
Why watch it?
It’s certainly no light affair, but it’s an affecting film that you should see anyway. Devastating in its emotional honesty, this lesser-known drama offers a raw, unflinching portrayal of grief from a rarely explored angle.
Force Majeure (2014) – Available to buy or rent on Apple TV
- Director: Ruben Östlund
- Cast: Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli
- Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy
- Runtime: 120 mins
Synopsis: A controlled avalanche during a ski holiday causes a father to flee, abandoning his family –shattering their trust and his own sense of masculinity.
Why watch it?
Before Triangle of Sadness, there was Force Majeure. A razor-sharp satire on gender roles, cowardice and moral panic, this Cannes hit cemented Östlund as a master of social discomfort. We are eagerly awaiting his next film, The Entertainment System is Down.
Playland (2023) – Available to buy or rent on Apple TV
- Director: Georden West
- Cast: Lady Bunny, Travis Decker, Will Lyman (voice)
- Genre: Documentary, Experimental
- Runtime: 72 mins
Synopsis: An experimental ode to the now-defunct Playland Café in Boston, blending archival footage, theatrical reenactments, and imagined histories of the LGBTQIA+ elders who frequented it.
Why watch it?
Playland blurs lines between fiction and fact in a haunting and poetic way – perfect for viewers drawn to the intersection of queer history and avant-garde cinema.
Arrival (2016) – Streaming on Prime Video
- Director: Denis Villeneuve
- Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker
- Genre: Sci-fi, Drama
- Runtime: 116 mins
Synopsis: A linguist is recruited by the military to communicate with aliens after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.
Why watch it?
Arrival is hands-down one of the best sci-fi films of the century. Introspective and philosophically rich, this is thinking-person’s sci-fi at its finest – with a gut-punch ending and a career-best performance from Amy Adams.
In My Blood It Runs (2019) – Streaming on DocPlay and Netflix
- Director: Maya Newell
- Cast: Dujuan Hoosan
- Genre: Documentary
- Runtime: 84 mins
Synopsis: A portrait of 10-year-old Arrernte/Garrwa boy Dujuan, a child-healer and a budding activist, navigating school and cultural identity in Alice Springs.
Why watch it?
In My Blood It Runs is essential viewing for Australians. This documentary is a powerful reminder of the systemic challenges faced by First Nations children – and the strength they must carry within.
Queer (2024) – Streaming on Stan
- Director: Luca Guadagnino
- Cast: Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 138 mins
Synopsis: Adapted from William S. Burroughs’ novel, Queer follows a troubled American expat adrift in 1950s Mexico City, where obsession and alienation take centre stage.
Why watch it?
Luca Guadagnino and Daniel Craig? Say no more. This long-gestating passion project of Guadagnino’s is lush, brooding, and quietly devastating.
Ablaze (2022) – Streaming on ABC iView
- Directors: Alec Morgan, Tiriki Onus
- Genre: Documentary
- Runtime: 87 mins
Synopsis: Artist Tiriki Onus uncovers the story of his grandfather, Bill Onus, an activist and possible Australia’s first Aboriginal filmmaker.
Why watch it?
A stirring reclamation of erased history, Ablaze doubles as both family story and national reckoning, rich with pride and resistance.
I Like Movies (2023) – Streaming on SBS On Demand
- Director: Chandler Levack
- Cast: Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo
- Genre: Comedy, Coming-of-Age
- Runtime: 99 mins
Synopsis: A socially awkward teenage cinephile lands a job at a video store and stumbles through first love, friendship, and his own ego.
Why watch it?
I Like Movies is a heartfelt and delightfully nerdy coming-of-age tale that’s tailor-made for movie obsessives, especially those who came of age in the DVD era.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) – Streaming on Netflix
- Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
- Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac
- Genre: Animation, Action
- Runtime: 140 mins
Synopsis: Miles Morales teams up with a multiverse of Spider-people to face a new threat that could unravel all realities.
Why watch it?
Spider-Verse is such a banger of a film. Visually dazzling and narratively bold, this sequel upped the ante on superhero storytelling with style, heart, and an edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger (that is still yet to be resolved!).
