Streaming guide: What to watch on Binge, Netflix, Google this weekend

Blake Lively stars in a pulpy, punishing tale of vengeance, Emma Roberts lightens the mood in a rom-com and Joel Edgerton takes viewers on a torrid journey of mystery. Leigh Paatsch reviews the offerings on Binge, Netflix and more.

THE ONE THE KEEPS THE BEAT

Jude Law and Blake Lively in The Rhythm Section.

THE RHYTHM SECTION (MA15+)

***1/2

FOXTEL; COMING SOON TO BINGE

This gripping and deceptively refreshing take on the action-revenge format was nursed along by the same production company behind the James Bond franchise. However, if you strike The Rhythm Section expecting slick spy high jinks, you will find yourself sorely mistaken. A superb Blake Lively stars as Stephanie Patrick, a former wife and mother who is now a sex worker and drug addict. The reason for her fall from grace? Her entire family was wiped out in an inexplicable plane crash. Make that formerly inexplicable. Once that Stephanie gets word that the aviation disaster was deemed a permissible event by several governments and their intelligence agencies, she decides to even the score with everyone responsible for the sinister conspiracy. Stephanie’s transformation from broken soul to angel of vengeance is a barely credible one, but it doesn’t stop a well-cast Lively from having you believe in her character’s desperate globe-trotting crusade anyway. Just the ticket for action fans who prefer their fare to be pulpy and punishing. Co-stars Jude Law.

THE ONE WHERE LIVES PASS BEFORE YOUR EYES

THE 7 UP COLLECTION (PG)

*****

SBS ON DEMAND

“Give me the child at seven, and I will show you the man.” It was back in 1964 that English filmmaker Michael Apted first decided to test the meaning of this time-honoured phrase. Training his camera on the hopes, dreams and (often sobering) realities of a random group of fourteen children, Apted embarked upon one of the bolder, yet most rewarding and fascinating experiments in cinema history. Every seven years since, he has revisited the group to check in on what life has thrown at them, and how they have responded. All episodes from this landmark project are now housed in the one place on SBS.

THE ONE WITH THE RIGHT KIND OF BITE

Eliza Scanlen and Toby Wallace in Babyteeth.

BABYTEETH (M)

****

RENT VIA FOXTEL STORE, GOOGLE PLAY, APPLE TV

Milla (Eliza Scanlen) is 16 years old, and may not have too much time left to live. It may all come down to when her recurring bout of cancer next recurs. As for Moses (Toby Wallace), he is 23, and has way too much time on his hands. If he’s not taking drugs, he could be selling them. She is no Juliet, and he certainly ain’t no Romeo. Nevertheless, it is the incongruously gentle and sincere romance that takes hold between the pair that proves the making (and not the breaking) of a fine Australian movie. Intelligently written and very creatively directed, Babyteeth carefully avoids becoming the black comedy or the bleak drama that others telling a similar kind of story might have settled for. While the filmmakers push for something that definitely does amuse and move the viewer, they are not afraid to venture into unknown and refreshingly unpredictable territory. As great as Scanlen (last seen in the recent Hollywood adaptation of Little Women) and Wallace (a rapidly evolving talent) are in the lead roles, the glue that holds the whole thing together is the brilliant pairing of Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis as Milla’s concerned, yet supportive parents. Great stuff, this.

THE ONE THAT LOVES TO LAUGH AT LOVE

Luke Bracey and Emma Roberts in Holidate.

HOLIDATE (M)

**1/2

NETFLIX

Somehow, when nobody was looking, straight-to-streaming Christmas movies have suddenly become a big deal. Doesn’t matter about the quality so much. The cheesier the better, in fact. These things magnetise eyeballs. Netflix’s new entry into the race for season’s-greetings supremacy is Holidate, a snarky rom-com which will definitely satisfy the so-bad-it’s-good crowd. The title refers to a social practice wherein two people mutually agree to temporarily hook up for the holiday season to (a) avoid being alone; and (b) avoid being set up by family members with people you would never, ever date. Got all that? Good. The couple making such a cynical pact in Holidate go by the names of Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey). They meet while returning gifts to the same store, bond over their hatred of Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day, and decide to do something about it. This is not the wittiest or funniest rom-com you’ll ever see, but there is something about it that keeps things in the watchable zone throughout.

THE ONE MAKING AN EXHIBITION OF ITSELF

Banksy in Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art. Picture: Vision Films

BANKSY AND THE RISE OF OUTLAW ART (PG)

***1/2

AMAZON

There has been a stack of documentaries about British guerilla artist Banksy, and this new one just might the best of what has been a very mixed bunch. It does have the perfect, attention-grabbing start working in its favour : the simultaneous sale and shredding of the valuable Banksy painting ‘Girl With a Balloon’ during a Sotheby’s art auction on 2018. From here, writer-director Elio Espana backs off and goes looking for the historical and cultural reasons that hoisted the mysterious figure of Banksy up from the underground. Thanks largely to some well-selected interviewees and excellent use of archival footage, Espana finds what he is looking for. Just as importantly, the doco sheds some welcome light on why art buyers are willing to pay ridiculous money for works of seemingly dubious value. About the only real disappointment here is the movie’s unfulfilled promise of “rare” interviews with Banksy himself. All that we get has been sitting on YouTube for years.

THE ONE WHERE TRAVEL BROADENS THE BIND

Felicity Price and Teresa Palmer in Wish You Were Here.

WISH YOU WERE HERE (MA15+)

***1/2

BINGE, FOXTEL

Torrid and genuinely involving contemporary drama, marking a very promising feature directorial debut from Sydney filmmaker Kieran Darcy-Smith. A compelling tale centres on a quartet of thirtysomething Australians, of whom only three have returned from a recent Cambodian holiday. With the truth surrounding the mysterious disappearance of their friend yet to be determined, each character faces a crisis from which they may never recover. Very strong and intriguing stuff for the most part, let down only by a rushed (or possibly ill-conceived?) final act. Stars Joel Edgerton, Felicity Price, Teresa Palmer, Antony Starr.

THE ONE THAT ISN’T A TOP SECRET

Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas in The Secret: Dare to Dream.

THE SECRET: DARE TO DREAM (PG)

**

RENT VIA FOXTEL STORE, GOOGLE PLAY, APPLE TV

The right boost at the right time from the likes of Oprah Winfrey turned the mid-2000s self-help book The Secret into a lifestyle phenomenon that swept the world. This strangely static movie is a dramatised take on the teachings gleaned from author Rhonda Byrne’s writings on the power of positive thought. To further clarify: this is not a documentary. In fact, it is a straightforwardly sappy romance, the kind of which you might find on the Hallmark Channel (or if you consider yourself slightly more refined than that, something that Nicholas Sparks might have dreamt up). Katie Holmes stars as Miranda, a widowed mother of three who just can’t catch a lucky break in life. After a freak storm almost destroys her house, Miranda meets an unusually calm and wise fella named Bray (Josh Lucas). Always at the ready with an upbeat pearl of wisdom and a can-do attitude, Bray sets a not-so-subtle example that ends up turning Miranda’s life right around for the better. As a movie designed to deliver a message, the job gets done efficiently enough here. However, as a three-act drama with a simple story to tell, the whole thing is flat and uninspired as can be.

Originally published as Streaming guide: What to watch on Binge, Netflix, Google this weekend