A new year often brings good intentions of changing everything about our lives for the better, but things can get in the way. Enjoy this New Year, New You collection of movies and TV shows that have fun with making the most of exactly who we are, or perhaps finding an unexpected new version of ourselves.
The Secret DNA of Us
We all have a story about who we are and where we’re from that defines our identity. But what if we only know half, or even a fraction, of that story, or got the details completely wrong? How would that rewire our sense of self? Mastermind host Marc Fennell’s jaw-dropping revelation of a show provides the answers. Visiting four Australian communities, mass DNA testing the locals and cross-referencing the results with occasionally patchy records, he uncovers just how wildly off-track family histories can be, sometimes deliberately so, in our fabulously multicultural melting pot.
The Secret DNA of Us is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Secret DNA of Us
series • Documentary
M
series • Documentary
M
Queen of F*cking Everything
While New Year’s resolutions are notoriously wobbly, we can confidently predict that our viewers will continue to consume Scandinoir by the bucketload. On the comic end of that scale, Finnish writer/director Tiina Lymi’s fantastic show asks us how much material wealth matters. To Laura Malmivaara’s high-end real estate agent, Linda, it matters a lot. Hence, this hilariously dark show follows just how far she will go when her husband skedaddles, leaving her saddled with his massive debts, as she turns to crime to maintain the lifestyle to which she’s become accustomed.
Queen of F*cking Everything is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Queen of F*cking Everything
series • Dark comedy • Finnish
series • Dark comedy • Finnish
Fallen Leaves
While we’re on the subject of Finnish excellence, filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki’s deftly woven film follows the fluttering trace of hope in dark times. With the Ukraine war rumbling in the background via radio snippets, supermarket worker Ansa (Tove star Alma Pöysti) gets fired for deigning to share expired food with homeless folks and taking some home for dinner. Running into alcoholic construction worker Holappa (The Man Who Died lead Jussi Vatanen) in a karaoke bar suggests a fresh start. But, as new directions are wont to do, the path forward is strewn with all sorts of mishaps.
Stream free On Demand
Fallen Leaves
Comedy drama • 2023
Comedy drama • 2023
Warm Props
Sometimes you need to knock a few heads together and leap over infuriating roadblocks to get to where you need to be. Something that First Nations creatives Jub Clerc (Sweet As) and Kimberley Benjamin (Family Rules) understand. Their acerbically funny show, dipping into their real-life experiences on set, stars newcomer Tehya Makani as an extras wrangler on a Rubibi (Broome) film shoot run by a clueless white director (Peter Docker) and also involving awkwardly estranged family member Aunty Jilby (True Colours’ Rarriwuy Hick). Whip smart stuff with snort laughs aplenty.
Warm Props is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Warm Props
series • Drama
M
series • Drama
M
The Change
BAFTA Award-nominated stand-up comedian Bridget Christie’s ferociously funny feminist hurrah of a show tackles the great unspoken of menopause head-on. Also starring as Linda, she has had enough, and on reaching her 50th birthday, cracking it at her hapless husband, Steve (Omid Djalili), over the 3.5 million minutes of unpaid labour your average mum sucks up while dealing with squealing teenagers. Taking back control on her own terms, and taking to the road, she starts a revolution, reclaiming space in a way that will split your sides with raucous guffaws.
The Change is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Change
series • Comedy
MA15+
series • Comedy
MA15+
Breaking New Ground
What’s more New Year, New You than home renovations? Out with the old and in with the neurological benefits of sprucing up your nest. That nest is a sprawling and somewhat fusty 200-year-old mansion in the Massachusetts highlands with a dark past in the case of sparkling Broadway star-turned-TV host Robert Hartwell’s joyous show. As a proud Black man with an abundant love of interior colour, he snapped up a place once built by enslaved people and set about transforming it into his happy place in a powerful reclamation that should inspire anyone to overcome adversity.
Breaking New Ground is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Breaking New Ground
series • Reality
series • Reality
The Great Escaper
The late, great Glenda Jackson proved we can soar higher than anyone expects. The daughter of a bricklayer and a cleaner, she became a movie star who won two Oscars, for Ken Russell’s masterpiece, Women in Love, and Melvin Frank’s rom-com, A Touch of Class. Going on to become an equally successful politician, she really could have it all. Returning to performance in her later years, her final film pairs her with the also iconic Michael Caine in director Oliver Parker’s real-life story about a couple who sneak out of aged care to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
The Great Escaper is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Great Escaper
Comedy drama • Biography • 2023
Comedy drama • Biography • 2023
Moni
Speaking of escaping, coming home after a long stretch away can also be full on. An upheaval that Western Sydney-based, queer Pasifika-Australian actor and writer Taofia Pelesasa mines for emotionally complex comedy in the gorgeous Moni. Directed by Alana Hicks and starring Chris Alosio as the titular figure, also a proud gay man, the SBS Original series follows his return from the UK for his sister Hanna’s (Ilaisaane Green) wedding. The eruption of a minefield of family secrets that follows also includes a light haunting by his dead mum (Tina Leaitua), who wants answers on why he left and never came back to bury her. A heart-filled reminder to stay true to who you are at all times.
Moni is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Moni
series • Drama • Samoan
M
series • Drama • Samoan
M
CHANGE IS IN THE AIR
Meet a couples therapist with a hidden gift in Swedish rom-com 'Out of Touch'
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