Leigh Paatsch streaming guide: Seven things to watch this week

From the failed Fyre Festival that duped the filthy rich with its lavish social media spin, to a nerve-shredding, spellbinding, impossible to turn away from thriller that should have been in Oscars contention, here’s what you should stream this week.

John Krasinski starred in and directed A Quiet Place, streaming on Foxtel Now.

If you plan on spending the long weekend on the couch, Leigh Paatsch has got you covered with seven movies or docos you need to see.

From the failed Fyre Festival that duped the filthy rich with its lavish social media spin, to a nerve-shredding, spellbinding and compellingly impossible to turn away from thriller that should have been in Oscars contention, here’s what you should be watching.

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Fyre is a “jaw’dropping” doco about the super lavish musical festival that never happened. Picture: Netflix

THE ONE WHERE THE CON GOES ON AND ON

FYRE (M) — NETFLIX

4.5 stars

This jaw-dropping doco about the high-end music festival that become a low-ball debacle is an absolute must-see. This is the strange, strange story of the ill-fated Fyre Festival, a two-day event that was supposedly to happen in the Bahamas in April 2017. Attendees were sucked in by a spectacular social media campaign that promised supermodels, superstar bands and DJs, and super-lavish accommodation on a small remote island that once belonged to a notorious Mexican drug lord. A second wave of Instagram influencers jumped aboard to hype the event, and in a flash, the whole thing was a sellout (no mean feat for an event where tickets were priced between $750 and $15,000). However, the rich stargazers, hipsters and tastemakers who arrived at the Fyre site soon discovered this event was a non-event. How this ever happened — and how so many with-it people were without a clue they were being scammed — stands as a warning to all who choose to believe what see on their social-media feeds.

John Krasinski stars in and directed The Quiet Place.

THE ONE WHERE ALL DECISIONS MUST NOT BE SOUND

A QUIET PLACE (M) — FOXTEL NOW

4.5 stars

See A Quiet Place ‘cold’ and brace yourself for a lasting, powerful chill. If you do get to experience this brilliant apocalyptic thriller with nothing more than your guard down, eyes up and ears open (trust me, this last condition is of utmost importance), then you will witness one of the most unforgettable and best movies of the past year. (How it missed any Oscars contention is kinda ridiculous.) The movie is set in a near future where some kind of catastrophic event has all but emptied our planet. Those few that remain alive do so by strictly observing a vow of complete silence. The slightest noise is a certain death sentence. A close-knit family of survivors is about to face an absolute day of reckoning in a world where a single sound can seal several fates: the mother (Emily Blunt) has fallen pregnant, and will soon be giving birth. What follows is nerve-shredding, spellbinding and compellingly impossible to turn away from. You might be able to handle what you see, but what you hear will take some time to get over. Co-starring (and impressively directed by) John Krasinski.

Jessica Chastain stars as the biggest illegal poker game organiser in America in Molly’s Game.

THE ONE THAT WANTS YOU TO GO TO BET

MOLLY’S GAME (M) — FOXTEL NOW

3.5 stars

A selectively intriguing and downright entertaining true story of high-stakes gambling, high-risk career choices, and the lows to which they will inevitably drag you. Too clever for her own good and too broke to think clearly, Molly Bloom (played by Jessica Chastain) was in the right place at the wrong time to become the host of the biggest illegal poker game in America. The regulars at her secret table were A-list actors, sportsmen and captains of industry. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin (TV’s The West Wing). Co-stars Idris Elba.

Rampage is more fun that it should be due Dwayne Johnson.

THE ONE THAT WANTS YOU TO GO APE

RAMPAGE (M) — FOXTEL NOW, NETFLIX

2.5 stars

A formulaic action-adventure affair starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as Davis Okoye, the world’s finest ape-whisperer, tasked with saving Chicago from a certain trashing by a giant albino gorilla named George. George is assisted in the wrecking spree by a flying wolf, and an alligator the size of a nuclear sub. The whole movie is as dumb as a brick, sillier than words can say, and a smidge more fun that it really should be due to the irrepressible enthusiasm of Johnson.

Walking Out may be low on dialogue but has a steel spine.

THE ONE THAT TAKES ONE HELL OF A HIKE

WALKING OUT (M) — FOXTEL NOW

4 stars

A little movie unfolding on an incongruously large stage, adapted from a short story with a long tale to tell. With such an unorthodox pedigree, it is immediately apparent this is no ordinary screen experience. A bare-bones plot centres on a father (Matt Bomer) and his estranged son (Josh Wiggins), painfully trudging their way back to safety after a hunting accident on a remote mountain range. With its spare use of dialogue and a brusque manner, Walking Out is not going to accommodate the tastes of all viewers. However, there is a steel in its spine and a glint in its eye that will draw the full attention of those who appreciate these rare qualities in films such as The Revenant and Wind River.

Anthony LaPaglia and Julia Blake star in A Month of Sundays film.

THE ONE WHERE A LESSON NEEDS LEARNING

A MONTH OF SUNDAYS (M) — SBS ON DEMAND

3 stars

A quiet, tender-hearted Australian-made affair takes its own time getting on your good side. However, once there, it won’t be budged. It all comes down to your personal take on Frank (Anthony LaPaglia), an ornery, yet sensitive chap who really shouldn’t be working in real estate. After a recent divorce and his mother’s death, feeling so much truth with no-one to say it to is driving Frank to frustration. Just in a nick of time, an elderly woman named Sarah (Julia Blake) appears, ready to listen, and careful not to judge. A magnificent, effortlessly graceful performance from Blake snaps the film and its leading man into proper focus just when both seem primed to drift off on a foggy-minded flight of fancy. Co-stars John Clarke.

Oasis: Supersonic charts the rapid rise and slow-motion fall of Oasis in the 90s.

THE ONE WHERE THEY FLEW IT THEN BLEW IT

OASIS: SUPERSONIC (MA15+) — STAN

3.5 stars

A deliriously enjoyable documentary charting the rapid rise and slow-motion fall of 1990s Britpop superstar band Oasis. In the space of a year, they ascended from pub-rock obscurity to topping charts and filling stadiums. The doco good-naturedly reminds us that hitting those heights without adequate oxygen will mess with the heads of anyone. However, when the two most important craniums of Oasis belonged to the famously mercurial Gallagher brothers — Noel (lead guitar, songwriter and chief riff stealer) and Liam (lead vocals, tabloid media taunter and not-so-deep thinker) — the ticking of a time bomb destined to blow the band apart just grew louder and louder.