What to watch on streaming in Australia this Easter long weekend

Hopefully you’re getting a well-deserved mini-break this Easter and Anzac Day, whether it’s the four-day weekend, the 10-day double public holiday confab, or just a regular day-off.

Whether you’re slowly rolling out of a food coma or you’re just trying to escape too much time with the extended family, take advantage of the time off.

The great thing about public holidays is guilt-free watching, a chance to reset your brain and delve into something thrilling, exciting, funny or whatever the mood strikes you.

We’ve compiled five movies and TV shows that’s ideal for this weekend when you’re scrolling through and wondering, as we often do, “What can I watch?”

THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT

That first episode of The Last of Us season two wasn’t enough to satiate our grumbling Pedro Pascal appetites. Of course, you can go back and rewatch the first season, or devour all of his other work (and the man has had a prolific past decade after his breakout in Game of Thrones), so can we suggest The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which is Pascal at his most charming.

The extra-meta movie features Nicolas Cage playing a fictionalised version of himself as an actor on the verge of retiring until he’s offered $1 million for one last gig. He just has to go a birthday party for Javi, a Spanish billionaire in Mallorca. How hard could that be? Easy money, right?

Pascal is that billionaire, a Cage superfan who has a room full of movie memorabilia and he just wants to hang out with his idol, but then the CIA asks Nick to spy on Javi, things get unpredictable.

At its core, it’s a genre-hopping buddy action comedy, and so, so, so much funnier than you’d expect. It’s also family friendly for any lulls while hanging with your rellies.

Not for nothing, but Paul Rudd claimed he saw this movie at the cinema four times, and now he’s filmed a comedic Anaconda reboot with the same director, Tom Gormican.

Watch it: Digital rental

PETER RABBIT

One for the kids, even if the naughty Peter Rabbit does not proffer any chocolate eggs. But it’s kind of on theme, right? He’s a bunny, Easter has a bunny, we all love bunnies!

Even when that rabbit is recalcitrant and a bit rude – and we’re not just talking about James Corden, who voices Peter. If you can get over the Corden ick factor, Peter Rabbit is a decent modern take on Beatrix Potter’s classic stories.

A mix of animation and live action, the movie was filmed in Australia and features Rose Byrne in a human role as well as a cavalcade of local voice talents including Elizabeth Debicki, Margot Robbie and Sam Neill (who we, obviously, claim as one of our own).

The story goes something like this: Mr McGregor’s vegetable patch is inherited by the old man’s city-dwelling nephew who knows nothing about country living, and definitely don’t want any woodland animals around. And certainly not when he is vying for the attention of neighbour Rose, who Peter also has his sights on.

Watch it: Netflix, Stan, Binge

ANDOR S1

The second season of Andor starts on Disney next week, which means now is the time to rewatch the first season in preparation. Don’t think of it as homework, think of it as a treat. What a delight it is too because Andor is that rare Star Wars project that doesn’t mess around with the mythology of the supernatural force.

The series is a proper political thriller, written by veterans of the genre including Tony Gilroy and Beau Willimon, who between them have worked on House of Cards, Michael Clayton, the Bourne movies and Ides of March.

It’s set in the years before the 1977 Star Wars movie when the Rebels take out the Death Star. How did the revolution foment? In the face of oppression, fascism and eroding of rights, which is what Palpatine was doing throughout the galaxy.

Ostensibly centred on Cassian Andor, one of the rebels from Rogue One, this is actually an intricately plotted story that brings together many characters all with their own roles to play in the fate of their world.

Watch it: Disney+

BUNHEADS

You may have heard, there’s a new Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel) show coming out next week. It’s called Etoile and it’s set in the world of elite ballet, between companies in New York and Paris.

But it’s not the first time Sherman-Palladino has stood at the barre. In 2012, she created a show called Bunheads, which was cancelled after one season. But it’s a fun 18 episodes and, in many ways, at the opposite end of the spectrum to Etoile.

The story takes place in a small coastal town where former Vegas showgirl Michelle Simms ends up after she suddenly accepts a marriage proposal. The would-be groom is very quickly killed in a car accident and Michelle ends up staying in the town and teaching at the local ballet school.

It has all the hallmarks of a Sherman-Palladino series – fast dialogue, dramatic looks, characters who can drop a pop-culture reference so fast it’ll make your head spin – and it’s grounded by the performances of Sutton Foster (Broadway star and maybe the future Mrs Hugh Jackman) and queen Gilmore herself, Kelly Bishop.

Watch it: Disney+

SILENCE

If your Easter celebrations are less to do with chocolate bunnies and more to do with the crucifixion, Martin Scorsese has you covered. The final instalment of his loose trilogy of stories of faith (the other two being The Last Temptation of Christ and Kundun), Silence was a 26-year labour of love. Or should that be devotion?

Not for the faint-hearted or impatient, Silence can be a two-hours-and-40-minutes tortured endurance test or a transcendent one.

The story follows two 17th century Portuguese Jesuit missionaries in Japan, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Garupe (Adam Driver), searching for their mentor. Christianity have been outlawed by the rulers and Catholic converts are put to death if they don’t renounce their faith. It’s a dangerous place to be if you wear a cross.

Throughout the film, Rodrigues faces many physical and mental trials, but the real battle is with his faith, and how to maintain that connection.

If you are not of faith, some of the nuances of Scorsese’s film will be missed, but for cinephiles of any belief and non-belief, the filmmaking is something to behold.

Watch it: Stan