Each month, lots of new films and TV shows are added to Stan‘s library. Critic Claire White surveys each month’s selections and picks for titles most worth watching. For the full list of everything arriving on the platform, scroll down.
Top Picks: TV
Bad Behaviour (February 17)
Forget Picnic at Hanging Rock. This month sees the arrival of an all-new thrilling Aussie drama Bad Behaviour, about an elite all-girls boarding school in the wilderness, where girls are left mostly to their own devices. Written by Pip Karmel (New Gold Mountain) and Magda Wozniak (The Heights) and directed by Corrie Chen (New Gold Mountain), the Stan Original Series spans across two timelines, as the effects of the psychological brutality 25-year-old Jo Mackenzie (Jana McKinnon) experienced 10 years before rise to the fore.
Hell is a teenage girl—worse, a school of them—and this four-part series promises to be an intense exploration of bullying, burgeoning sexuality, friendships that are more like alliances, and what you do in order to survive. Sign me up!
Broad City: Seasons 1—5 (February 17)
Every season of Broad City hits Stan soon: your next great sitcom with which to while away the hours. Starring comedians Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, Broad City is a testament to best friendship and, like many sitcoms, the highs and lows of living in New York City in your 20s with little money. Whether they’re blazing up or trying a new money-making scheme, what Glazer and Jacobson have created is a wild and unpredictable ride that keeps you guessing. Special shout out to Season 5, Episode 1 ‘Stories’ which is told entirely through the format of Instagram stories. Innovation!
Party Down: Season 3 (February 24)
Some of you may remember the short-lived workplace comedy of caterers trying to make it in Hollywood which first aired back in 2009. While only running for two seasons, the show has remained beloved, which has worked in its favour as it’s back with its star-studded cast for an all-new season.
With Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Ken Mariano, Martin Starr and Megan Mullally returning, this season occurs 10 years after the events of season two, when the original gang find themselves at a surprise reunion. Jennifer Garner, Tyrel Jackson and Zoë Chao also join the cast with James Marsden as a recurring guest star. If you want to catch up, the first seasons are currently streaming on Stan.
Top Picks: Movies + Specials
Crimes of the Future (February 6)
Veteran auteur David Cronenberg is known for his…experimentations with the human body. In his latest feature, the excellent Viggo Mortensen stars as a performance artist who can grow synthetic organs in his body, which are then harvested via live surgery by his partner (Lea Seydoux). If body horror is not your thing, I’d probably steer clear, but there is no denying Cronenberg is an expert at expanding the sick possibilities cinema can offer.
Exploring the intersection between the human body, technology, and the sensuality of things going in and out of a body (??), the film also stars Kristen Stewart as a bureaucrat at the National Organ Registry who utters the words “surgery is the new sex.” So, there’s that.
The Humans (February 19)
Single-setting films always promise a delicious playground for familial tensions to build and rise until everyone reaches breaking-point, which probably sounds like many of our family dinners around the holidays. Based on his Tony Award winning one-act play, writer and director Stephan Karam makes his feature film debut with a star-studded cast in this family drama. Set entirely within a cramped and nearly condemned apartment building in New York, the film focuses on the Blake family, who have gathered for Thanksgiving at the youngest daughter’s apartment.
In addition to the likes of Richard Jenkins, Beanie Feldstein and the always brilliant Steven Yeun, Jayne Houdyshell (who you may know as Bunny in Only Murders in the Building) reprises her role from the Broadway production as the family’s matriarch Deirdre. The film also features Amy Schumer in the comedian’s most dramatic role to date.
John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum (February 11)
With both existing sequels joining the first John Wick film on streaming, this is your sign to indulge yourself in a complete Wick marathon, especially with Chapter 4 hitting Australian cinemas March 23. This high-octane, neo-noir series stars Keanu Reeves as a retired assassin who first sets out to seek revenge on a group of Russian gangsters for stealing his car and killing his dog.
In the ultimate “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,” Chapter 2 sees Wick forced out of retirement again, but this time for a Rome excursion to honour a debt. Although 2019 seems like an Age ago, the image of Reeves riding a horse down a neon-lit city street in Chapter 3 is an image that few can top.
All titles arriving on Stan in February
February 1
Hidden Assets: Season 1
February 2
Groundhog Day
The Dazzled
Charlotte Rampling: The Look
February 5
Maigret
Formula E Unplugged: Season 1
February 6
I’m Gilda
Crimes of the Future
February 8
Unique Brothers
All Our Desires
Loveland
February 9
If I Were Rich
Panama
February 10
Workaholics: Seasons 1-6
February 11
A Good Man
John Wick Chapter 2
John Wick 3: Parabellum
February 12
Asene Wenger: Invincible
The Insult
February 13
Blue Valentine
February 14
To Chiara
Clean
February 15
Wu-Tang: An American Saga: Season 3 Premiere
The Lego Movie: The Second Part
February 16
The Holy Family
The Survivor
February 17
Bad Behaviour: Season 1
Broad City: Seasons 1-5
February 18
Animaniacs (2020): Season 3
We’ll Be Young and Beautiful
The Giants
February 19
Respect
The Humans
February 20
Evil: Season 3
The Adopters
Welcome
February 21
Black Site
February 22
Six Acts
February 23
Show Me the Money II
The Missing: Season 1—2
Suzanne
February 24
Bel Air: Season 2 Premiere
Party Down: Season 3 Premiere
February 25
The Desert Bride
February 26
Candyman (2021)
February 27
Custody
Bra Boys
February 28
Killing Eve: Season 4
See also
* Best new movies and TV series on Netflix Australia
* Best new movies and TV series on Amazon Prime
* Best new movies and TV series on Disney+
* All new streaming movies & series
