Hamnet: Blu Ray Review

Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson
Director: Chloe Zhao

Director Chloe Zhao's take on Maggie O'Farrell's acclaimed novel about the birth of Hamlet the play is an intriguing story, albeit one that occasionally feels a little too aloof to feel fully immersed in.

But it's nothing without its outstanding performance by Jessie Buckley, who stars as Agnes Hathaway, a woman who tries to resist the allure of the mysterious William Shakespeare, the new Latin tutor in town. (Played by Paul Mescal, this Shakespeare is more a supporting role than anything more succinct or central to proceedings.)

However, unable to stay away from the allure, the pair begins a passionate relationship which results in the birth of children, but which sees Shakespeare heading to London from Stratford to take up his writing career - despite the protestations of Agnes.

As Agnes juggles a life without her husband and with young children, she faces tragedy when their youngest daughter becomes stricken with the plague raging through Stratford-Upon-Avon. 

Cloaked in oppressive gloom, Hamlet keeps its audience aloof in parts, crafting a slow-burning tale which may get under your skin, depending on how hard-hearted you are.

Mescal is fine as Shakespeare, but given the distance in the narrative, he's barely there throughout. It leaves the film to Buckley, who more than compensates, delivering a towering performance that commands every second she's on screen.

Zhao does much to build an atmosphere but rarely ventures out if the confines of Hathaway's entrapment, both physically and mentally.

Curiously, much of Hamnet feels beholden to its actors,with only one scene truly capturing something close to organic emotion, the rest feeling like it's a play with its actors, rather than fully immersing audiences in their roles.

The play may be the thing for Shakespeare as he's oft remarked, but without Jessie Buckley's commanding screen presence, Hammett never quite reaches the highs it aspires to.

Amazon launches the new Fire TV Stick HD and Fire TV Stick 4K Select in New Zealand

• Amazon’s slimmest, fastest HD streaming stick yet, the all-new Fire TV Stick HD is now available for pre-order in New Zealand for $89, with shipping from April 29.
• Amazon also introduces the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, now available in New Zealand for $99, delivering affordable 4K Ultra HD streaming to Kiwi households

Finding something good to watch at home or on a trip shouldn’t feel like work. That’s why Amazon has today launched its newest and most portable ever streaming device, the Fire TV Stick HD, that comes with a new Fire TV user interface. Whether looking to upgrade a TV at home or planning for an upcoming trip, this new device is small enough to fit in a bag and ready to deliver a full entertainment experience on any TV its connected to. 

 

The all-new Fire TV Stick HD – part the world’s most popular streaming media player family – is now available for pre-order from $89 to New Zealand customers, with shipping beginning April 29, 2026. The new Fire TV Stick HD is Amazon's slimmest streaming device, both smaller in volume and width than previous models. It’s optimised for Direct Power through a TV’s USB port, so it fits more neatly behind a TV without requiring a separate power adapter.

 

Fire TV Stick HD also delivers noticeable speed improvements compared to previous HD models, more than 30% faster on average than the last-generation HD stick, which means it turns on and opens apps more quickly. It comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 support to help ensure a stronger, more reliable connection for customers.

 

The Fire TV Stick 4K Select is also now available in New Zealand, bringing affordable 4K streaming to Kiwi households. It offers everything customers need to enjoy brilliant 4K Ultra HD content with High Dynamic Range 10+ (HDR10+), making any TV smarter with instant access to a wide range of content, personalised recommendations, Alexa and fast performance. 

 

Redesigned experience

The Fire TV Stick HD is an easy way to upgrade any TV with a cleaner, faster, and more intuitive experience. Featuring the latest Fire TV update and a modern design, it helps Kiwis find what they want to watch quickly with well-organised categories for movies and TV shows.

 

Users can pin more of their favourite apps directly to the home screen for quicker access, while smarter recommendations and streamlined navigation mean less time scrolling and more time enjoying entertainment. 

 

A Fire TV stick built for portability and travel

About 30% narrower than the previous generation HD stick, the new device is designed to not only fit easily into a carry-on bag or pocket but also more easily into an HDMI outlet alongside other plugs and cords on the back of a TV. Its Direct Power feature lets customers power the device using a TV's USB port using the included cable. If a TV doesn’t have a USB port or you forgot the included power cord at home, the device can always be powered with a USB-C cable and a wall adapter.

 

Adaptive Display – coming soon

In the coming months, Amazon will introduce a new Adaptive Display setting to the Fire TV Stick HD. This accessibility feature will make text, menus, and content easier to see and navigate on screen. When turned on, the feature increases the size of smaller items like text and menus while scaling up larger items like content artwork, creating a more balanced and customisable browsing experience for all customers.

  

Pricing and availability– from NZ$89

The all-new Fire TV Stick HD is available for pre-order today at $89 and will begin shipping on April 29, 2026. The Fire TV Stick HD is available to pre-order now from Amazon.com.au and will be available in leading New Zealand retailers JB Hi-Fi, Noel Leeming and PB Tech. 

 

99% of Fire TV Stick HD's packaging is made of wood fibre-based materials from responsibly managed forests or recycled sources. 

 

The Fire TV Stick 4K Select is available now to order and ship in leading New Zealand for $99 from today.

Mercy: Blu Ray Review

Cast: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Annabelle Wallis
Director: Timur Bekhmambetov

In a near-future, justice has taken a new form.

Faced with spiralling crime and an increasing need to see punishment doled out, those in charge have brought in an AI judge (Silo's Ferguson) to help.

But when officer Chris Ravens (Pratt) finds himself accused of the murder of his own wife, he's hauled up before her.

Now, with time running out, he must clear his name within 90 minutes - or be executed by the very system he created.

There's s kernel of a good idea here - a real-time story in which a man fights for his life against a system he created and with his own injustices laid bare. Unfortunately, what emerges appears to be a mixture of 24 meets reality show Cops, as a series of previous encounters via various tech from the cloud or video feeds to officers within the field reveals the reality of Pratt's character's sins.

As digital tech unfurls around the largely static Pratt, the acting limitations become clear. Whereas Ferguson is content to use subtle twitches or sly smiles to show how this case is creating a degree of humanity in her, the final act's desire to make her fully human feels like a leap too quick and too far.

And for Pratt himself, being largely confined to a chair doesn't quite help him hit the mark. Usually an a actor who's blessed with physicality for a performance, the gaps here begin to show. Even the presence of True Detective: Night Country's Kali Reis as Raven's partner doesn't elevate proceedings.

Bekhmambetov has previously been involved in the likes of static films such as Searching and Unfriended and there's much the same MO at work here - but the end results actually leave the audience pleading for Mercy, rather than feeling blessed it's only 100 minutes long.

Armageddon Expo 2026: Talking Resident Evil's Lady Dimitrescu with Maggie Robertson

Lady Dimitrescu and Baldur's Gate 3 actress Maggie Robertson is just one of the talents appearing at the Armageddon Expo in Auckland over Anzac weekend. She talked to us about the game she'd love to make, the reaction to THAT character and how gaming changed her life.

Hi Maggie, how are you? Have you ever been to New Zealand before? 

I have never been to New Zealand before, but as a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan, it has been a dream destination of mine for years! Needless to say, I am very excited to get a chance to visit and fully plan on being that guy spouting all the useless facts from the movie (did you know that Viggo really broke his toe!??!) and crying over the beautiful world of Tolkien made real in wonders of New Zealand. 

You've had an incredible run of years in the gaming world, how has that felt?

Being a part of the gaming industry changed my life. I am forever grateful to be a part of such a wonderful community of, not just the creators & actors making the games, but also the fans that love and support them. I think the gaming community is a very special place and I’m so honored to be a part of it. 

How did you get started in the industry and were there any particular titles that really inspired you?

I kinda fell into the world of gaming by accident when I booked the part of Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village. I didn’t grow up playing video games and had no intention of getting into games because I didn’t really know they existed. But Resident Evil changed my life, set me on a completely different path, and built a career for me overnight. I never expected any of this to happen— I was just happy to be working & paying the bills!

You've obviously become known for Lady Dimitrescu. Could you please just talk us through how you approached that role, and how you felt first seeing the script and the realisation of the character?

I had just come from finishing a grad program in classical acting (think Shakespeare) and doing theatre, so a lot of Lady Dimitrescu felt familiar to me. She lives in similarly heightened spaces and I was drawn to her use of language and the way she’s able to really weaponise language to exert control over everyone around her. So, it was important for her to have that outward elegance, but we also needed to be able to sense the true potential for violence and danger running underneath that polished exterior, and I think it’s those contradictions that make her so dynamic as a character. 

She obviously went viral - from erotica to memes, what's your take on the life she achieved and why do you think that it was that it happened - was it ever something you imagined would become a reality?

Lady Dimitrescu is very special to me— I often call her “my first born.” And one of the beauties of creating art is witnessing how audiences change and deepen and continue to breathe life into a character you’ve created. So, to me, Lady D really does feel like this living, breathing thing that’s ever-changing, ever evolving, and ever growing as we, the fan base, continue to grow and deepen our relationship to her. To have a character that has been able to have such a lasting impact on fans and bring new people into the franchise, has been really special. 

What's the craziest fan mail you've ever had after one of your characters were released? 

Oooh, I don't know, but I will say that I have some insanely creative and talented fans out there and I always love seeing the ways they bring their unique creativity to these IPs. 

Have you ever actually found yourself dropping spoilers for the games you've been part of? And what's been the hardest secret to keep for the titles you've been in?

Oof— I sure hope not! That would be my nightmare. Video games are notorious for their NDAs so we have to be pretty tight-lipped about everything that we work on. But it certainly was challenging to still be under NDA for Resident Evil while witnessing Lady Dimitrescu become this viral sensation taking over the internet. That one was definitely hard to keep quiet about, ha!

Obviously, there's been a lot of talk about game artists not quite getting the recognition they should - can you talk to us a little about your feelings on that?

Ultimately, we are actors and voice acting is still Acting. And with that comes craft and training and artistry. But I think we’re seeing a shift in gaming as a whole where, as our games become more story & narrative centered, it relies on better and better performances to tell those stories, so both developers and actors are starting to receive recognition for the real artistry that goes into making a game. It is truly a collaborative process, so it’s great to see everyone’s hard work get recognized. 

You've interviewed other gaming actors as well - has there been an interview you've loved doing and is there a talent you'd love to chat to?

I haven’t ever interviewed anyone officially, but David Hayter and I had a fun time interviewing each other for the Future Games Show last year. I always find it fascinating to hear how different people get into video games or even just into acting/voiceover as a whole. There are so many different pathways one can take in this industry and I always find it inspiring to hear from someone who arrived here from a different path than my own. 

What games are you playing at the moment and looking forward to?

Sadly, I’m not a gamer myself (I just run into walls, I’ve tried), but I do love watching the cutscenes of games when they come out. 

Who do you admire in the gaming industry?

So many people, so many of my amazing co-stars and cast-mates! It feels like everyone who makes games truly loves it. Ahhhh  - don’t make me choose!!

Obviously, the God of War TV series is filming at the moment, do you have any part in that at all that you can share?

Ha, no, but excited to watch once it comes out!

What game would you love to have been a part of - and conversely, what would be your ideal game pitch to make?

Ha, well I suppose, being the LOTR dork that I am, anything in relation to that franchise would be a dream for me. And as for a game pitch… I actually do have one that I’d like to make, but I’m not going to share it here!

Do you enjoy the conventions and seeing people embrace the characters you've created - and what's been your most favourite interaction and why?

I really don’t think Lady Dimitrescu would be who she is today if it weren't for the fans, nor any of my  other characters. The fans are what make the video game industry so great— there’s so much passion and love for the genre that it inspires me every day. It is my honor to steward these beloved characters like Lady Dimitrescu or Orin the Red from Baldur's Gate 3 and be able to give back to the fans for what they’ve given me. 

So bring on the cosplays! And bring me your dogs!

Armageddon Expo runs in Auckland over Anzac weekend from April 25 to April 27. For more info, head to armageddonexpo.com

What's on Neon in May

Here's everything that's streaming on Neon in May 2026.

Stalked (May 4)

Powerful new Sky New Zealand Originals documentary series Stalked will air over three consecutive nights next month on Sky Open, premiering on Monday, 4 May at 8.30pm, with all episodes available on NEON from this date.

 

Across three gripping episodes, Stalked presents the experiences of women from across Aotearoa whose lives were profoundly affected by stalking, shining an unflinching light on the early warning signs of stalking, the patterns of obsession and escalation, and the systemic failings that have left victims unprotected, often until violence erupts.

 

When series presenter, mental health advocate and content creator, Jazz Thornton (The Girl on The Bridge) receives obsessive messages from a stranger overseas, she initially dismisses them as harmless until the man travels to New Zealand and appears outside her home. As she frantically calls police, she discovers a chilling reality: in New Zealand, stalking is not a criminal offence. In Wellington, Zeni recounts how a brief teenage encounter escalated into over a decade of harassment and threats, while on Great Barrier Island, Tessa reflects on a relationship that descended into extreme coercive control and kidnapping.

 

As these women take their experiences into the public sphere – from social media to Parliament – Stalked tracks how growing awareness translated into public and political momentum, contributing to the upcoming reform of the nation’s Crimes Act, which will see stalking introduced as a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment this May.

 

Reform may be here, but for Jazz, Zeni and Tessa, the price should never have been this high.

 

Stalked is a WORKPARTY production made with the support of NZ On Air, directed by Justin Hawkes (Dark Tourist, Patrick Gower: On…), and Executive Produced by Hayley Cunningham (The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Dancing with the Stars NZ), Charlotte Hobson (Live and Let Dai, The Traitors NZ), Ian Hart (Dark Tourist, Taranaki Head), and Jazz Thornton.

 

Stalked will air on Sky Open across three nights: 4th, 5th and 6th May, with all three episodes available to stream on NEON and Sky Go from 4 May.

Good Boy: Blu Ray Review

Cast: Indy the dog, Shane Jensen
Director: Ben Leonberg

Pushing a concept as far as it can go works wonders for indie horror Good Boy.

But if you're averse to open-ended films that are reliant on your own interpretation, perhaps this won't be the film for you.

Told from a dog's-eye level (not a point of view or perspective), it follows a dog who accompanies his owner to a cabin in the woods after his owner's unspecified medical issues and an apparent rift in his owner's relationship.

However, once the pair arrives at the cabin, the pup begins to see and hear things, and fears his owner's life is in danger from something other than illness.

Good Boy is an incredible piece of film-making thanks to its lead performance of Indy. For a creature that can have no direct understanding that it's in a movie, the work done by the dog is just second to none, and utterly intuitive.

At its heart, the film appears to be an exploration of the impact of illness, dressed up in a supernatural elements story. As his owner is consumed by sickness, the house becomes more active and the supernatural jolts more pronounced. And while some will complain there are only so many times you can show a dog upset by a bump in the night, with a lean 72 minute run time, director Leonberg more than delivers.

Wtih themes of loyalty and friendship, and some genuinely terrifying moments thanks to a carefully constructed delve into fear (at one point, the dog wets itself), Good Boy has an interesting trajectory at heart - what if the person you care most about can't be saved?

It's perhaps pertinent that by setting the film at a dog level and also by hearing things that humans can't, the film gets more out of the haunted house premise than a simple fright-night flick may have done. Plus, making the hero a dog immediately brings audiences on side and emotionally invested.

However, director Ben Leonberg isn't interested in throwing that care and commitment away with just easy and cheap thrills. There's a real heart here that's given beating life by Indy's performance and a human story that cries out for exploration.

If you buy into the premise and the exploration of an animal's loyalty, plus the very real fear of losing that, Good Boy is an utterly compelling and original film that demands to be seen. It's a singular experience given life by its main actor - a very, very good boy.

Good Boy is now streaming on Shudder

Lee Cronin's The Mummy: Movie Review

Cast: Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, with Veronica Falcón.
Director: Lee Cronin

The latest iteration of the horror franchise takes on new meaning with the director of Evil Dead Rise at the helm.

The young daughter Katie of a journalist disappears into the Egyptian desert without a trace. Eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she is returned to them, as what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.

There's a vicious nastiness in Lee Cronin's vision for the return of The Mummy and its something that's as insidious as it is upsetting.

But Cronin deploys a devilishly slow build-up to events that uses a plethora of nightmarish imagery, tropes and ancient mythology to create an atmosphere of extreme unease throughout.

From child-catcher grooming to Exorcist moments and Evil Dead homages, the film revels in its horror edges and its desire to take things seriously and studiously pays off in swathes.

Creaking, cracking sounds, a teeth-chattering husk of a seemingly locked-in child - this is a movie that employs a soundscape that's at another level in setting you om edge.

Yet once again Cronin uses the fracture between sisters (as he did in Evil Dead Rise) to make for truly upsetting moments and tensions throughout.

With dry, arid vistas and an oppressive palette mixing with extreme close-ups, there's no way to escape the claustrophobia of what's on screen. And thankfully, the film stays away from the camera excesses of the Brendan Fraser boys' own style romps that spawned a swathe of nostalgia.

It's not all perfect - a wake teeters very closely on going OTT rather than using chills and Jack Reynor's performance as the dad who was the last to see his daughter isn't quite as compelling as it could be.

But for the large part, the 'We need to talk about Katie' mentality works terrifically well and the idea of how a family curse manifests is fascinating and horrifying to behold.

Dark, disgusting and devilish, Lee Cronin's The Mummy is an absolute frightfest that will haunt your early morning hours long after you've seen it - whether you want it to or not.