What’s coming to streaming in April 2019 in Australia

From political thrillers to farcical comedies and gripping nature docos, there’s a ton of new TV shows and movies coming to streaming.

You may have heard — Game of Thrones is back this month for its final stretch.

But for those of you who couldn’t give two flying dragons about Westerosi politics, there are loads of shiny TV shows and movies about to hit our ever-expanding roster of streaming platforms.

Check out what else you should be watching this month with these highlights, as well as the full selection below in the tables.

The Good Fight (SBS on Demand, April 17): The spin-off from The Good Wife enters into its third season and it just keeps getting better. Christine Baranski, Cush Jumbo, Delroy Lindo and Rose Leslie star in this seemingly legal drama, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a sharp, insightful and occasionally burlesque show about the strangeness of the Trump era. Plus, Michael Sheen joins the cast, so you know it’s going to be a wild time. Woo!

The Good Fight is one of the most gripping shows out there.

Veep (Foxtel Now, April 2): Selina Meyer wants to be president again, but can she? And, honestly, should she? No, the answer to that is no. Julia Louis-Dreyfus returns for the final season of the hilarious and caustic political satire that captures the ineptitude of politicians better than anything else on TV — yes, even White House press conferences.

The Death of Stalin (Stan, April 1): Acerbic, absurd and riotously, pee-your-pants funny, Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, Veep) directs and co-writes this political satire about, well, the death of Joseph Stalin, mining the dictator’s demise for Python-esque farce. It’s political satire of the highest order.

Barry (Foxtel Now, April 2): Barry is an under-watched gem co-created by the hugely talented Bill Hader about a remorseful assassin who finds a second family and a second chance in a LA acting class. Wonderfully written and performed, Barry finds the humour and humanity in the darkest of corners.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina part 2 (Netflix, April 5): The kooky, macabre and slightly campy Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is back after a surprisingly well-received debut last year (you just never know with reboots, you know?). The closest heir to Buffy the Vampire Slayer we’ve had these past 20 years, Sabrina is not here to play with its mischievous malevolence.

Umm... demon...

Game of Thrones (Foxtel Now, April 15): The most talked-about TV show in the English-speaking world bows out with its final six episodes after a two-year break. Who will sit on the Iron Throne, will Jon and Dany discover they’re related, and will the White Walkers turn everyone into ice zombies?

Our Planet (Netflix, April 5): Our Planet is Netflix’s first proper foray into nature programming and it went straight for the big gun: David Attenborough. The renowned British documentarian will narrate the expansive series, which has the support of princes William and Harry. If you fancy listening to it in Spanish, you can tune into Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek’s voices instead.

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (Stan, April 11): Hollywood goddess Annette Bening plays real-life film icon Gloria Grahame in a biographical film based on the memoirs of a young man who had an affair with Grahame during the production of The Glass Menagerie in Liverpool. It’s a lovely tale, but it’s Bening’s faultless performance that makes this movie unmissable.

What We Do in the Shadows (Foxtel Now, April 2): Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clements have rebooted their cult classic vampire comedy but now as a TV show, moving the action from sleepy Wellington to the slightly-less-sleepy New York. But, hopefully, with Waititi and Clement still involved behind the camera, it’ll still have that same dry Kiwi wit of the original.

Where did you think vampires bought their canned veg? Picture: John P Johnson/FX

About Time (Netflix, April 17): The very charming About Time should be near the top of “best rom-coms”, but the dramedy was a small release that’s managed to escape most people’s attention. Starring Rachel McAdams, Domhnall Gleeson and Bill Nighy, it’s about the story of Tim and Mary, mixed in with tall the men in Tim’s family being able to time travel.

The Tick S2 (Amazon, April 5): Amazon’s offbeat superhero series doesn’t have the self-serious mission of its comic counterparts, the never-ending roster of heroes in tights splashed across TV and cinema screens. Instead, this little series is a parody world in which the big blue saviour is a giant insect with a literal understanding of everything. And that’s rather refreshing in this overstuffed genre.

Special (Netflix, April 12): Produced by Jim Parsons, Special is unique in two ways – it’s Netflix’s first 15-minute sitcom (the short format is quite the departure for a service that wants to suck up all your time), and it’s also based on the memoirs of Ryan O’Connell, a gay man with cerebral palsy. O’Connell plays himself as a 20-something trying to sort out his identity and sexuality.

Special is Netflix’s first short-format experiment.

BlacKkKlansman (Foxtel, April 5): Spike Lee’s Oscar-winning drama about an African-American cop who infiltrates the local chapter of the KKK with his Jewish partner is terrifying and comical at the same time. Starring Adam Driver and John David Washington, Lee taps into the current rage of our time, delivering a searing story that’s frighteningly relevant.

The Nice Guys (Netflix, April 30): Whoever told director Shane Black to team Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe together in a 1970s LA-set buddy cop action-comedy was a casting genius – that unlikely chemistry is very, very watchable. The pair play a couple of sad sacks forced together in the case of a missing girl and a dead porn star.

Suspiria (Amazon, April 26): Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Dario Argento’s horror classic is a mad, visceral experience that defies logic and sense. If you try to think too hard about it, you’ll miss the sensory demands of the film about a young American girl who finds herself trapped among the literal horrors of a German dance academy.

The nightmare-inducing Suspira

You vs. Wild (Netflix, April 10): Netflix is really going down the choose-your-own-adventure path with its second interactive series following hot on the heels of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. This time, instead of trying to dictate what a video game programmer should do, it’s Bear Grylls’ fate in your hands. The power is going to go to your head.

Borgen S1-S3 (SBS on Demand, April 26): All three seasons of this gripping Danish political drama will soon be available to stream. It tells the story of the fictional Birgitte Nyborg Christensen, Denmark’s first female prime minister, set in the corridors of power, manipulation and service.

Beautiful Boy (Amazon, April 6): The emotionally grim Beautiful Boy is the story of a father and son struggling with the younger man’s drug addiction. It’s a brutal picture of how a middle-class suburban kid falls into the depths of despair and how his father tries to save him. It features a wonderfully calibrated performance from Timothee Chalamet.

Share your TV and movies obsessions: @wenleima