The Flash, Netflix’s Extraction 2, new Indiana Jones among June’s must-see movies

Kiwi movie lovers have plenty to look forward to over the next four weeks.

While the Doc Edge and French film festivals continue to entertain arthouse audiences across Aotearoa, a bunch of blockbusters are set to light-up our multiplexes.

Among the new films scheduled for a cinema release in June are horror The Boogeyman (June 1), New Zealand thriller The Tank (June 8), Julia Louis Dreyfus-headlining dramedy You Hurt My Feelings (June 15), cycling documentary The Last Rider (June 23), Transformers sequel Rise of the Beasts (June 22) and animated adventure Cats in the Museum (June 29).

Meanwhile, Netflix’s line-up includes Succession star Sarah Snook’s new thriller Run Rabbit Run (June 28) and documentary King of Clones (June 23), Disney+ boasts the Eva Longoria-directed based-on-a-true-story Flamin’ Hot (June 9) and Prime Video has fantasy comedy Mack and Rita (June 11), UK comedy The Honeymoon (June 16), fact-based football drama The Defenders (June 23) and the latest installment of The Grand Tour – Eurocrash (June 16), which sees Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond take a 1400-mile journey through Central Europe.

However, after looking through the schedules, Stuff to Watch has come up with this list of the 12 movies we believe are most worth checking out (and where you can watch them), as well as one so bad, it might have to be seen to be believed.

The Covenant (June 16, Prime Video)

Kiwi actor Antony Starr features alongside Jonny Lee Miller, Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim in British writer-director Guy Ritchie’s (Wrath of Man, The Gentlemen) latest action-thriller.

Set during the war in Afghanistan, it’s the story of a local interpreter (Salim) who risks his own life to carry an injured sergeant across miles of gruelling terrain.

“One of Ritchie’s finest films that’s made all the better by two extraordinary performances,” wrote San Jose Mercury News’ Randy Myers.

Elemental (June 22, Cinemas)

Pixar’s latest animated feature is a rom-com that could have been subtitled – When Wade Met Ember. He is a laid-back water resident employed as an inspector, she is a quick-witted and tempered fire element who works at her family’s convenience store.

The vocal cast includes Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Catherine O’Hara.

“A flawed, but big-hearted tale of forbidden love,” wrote The Times’ Ed Potton.

Extraction 2 (June 16, Netflix)

Chris Hemsworth is back as former Australian SAS operator turned black ops mercenary Tyler Rake in this sequel to the hit 2020 action-thriller. After going off-grid as a result of being presumed dead, Rake is pressed back into service to help rescue a ruthless Georgian gangster’s family from the prison where they are being held.

The new cast members include Quantum of Solace and Black Widow star Olga Kurylenko.

The Flash (June 15, Cinemas)

Attempting to travel back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) instead finds himself trapped in an alternate reality which has no metahumans. In order to save that world from General Zod (Michael Sheen), he’ll have to enlist the help of his younger self, a Kryptonian castaway and an older version of a certain Caped Crusader.

Beset by controversy that has surrounded its leading man and an overhaul of the once much-vaunted Warner’s DC Extended Universe, the Covid-delayed release has not been kind to this multiverse-baiting adventure.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 29, Cinemas)

Harrison Ford’s “man with the hat” is back for one last hurrah, this time without Steven Spielberg directing (Logan’s James Mangold stepping into the breach).

Joining the now 80-year-old Ford for this adventure are Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Toby Jones and Antonio Banderas.

“It feels like a fitting goodbye to cinema’s favourite grave-robber,” wrote Empire magazine’s John Nugent.

Mad Heidi (June 7, iTunes and other rental services)

Hot on the heels of the deeply disappointing Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey comes this reimagining of Johanna Spyri’s beloved Swiss Miss.

Set in a dystopian Switzerland that has fallen under the fascist rule of an evil cheese tyrant, this comedic action-adventure sees our heroine (Alice Lucy) transform herself into a kick-ass fighting force hell-bent on liberating her country.

“The gonzo action movie lover should find much here to appreciate, while those versed in independent film production will likely find themselves admiring its technical soundness,” wrote Paste magazine’s Jim Vorel.

Moving On (June 28, Neon and other rental services)

Fans of Netflix’s Grace & Frankie should definitely check out this black comedy which reunites the two female stars of that series – Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.

The latter plays Claire, who travels to the funeral of her old college pal Joyce with only one thing on her mind – revenge. Fully intending to kill Joyce’s widower Howard (Malcolm McDowell) for an incident that both ruined her marriage and her friendship with Joyce, she’s diverted by reconnecting with their mutual friend Evvie (Tomlin) and her own ex-husband Ralph (Richard Roundtree).

Writer-director Paul Weitz (About a Boy) fills his story with memorable moments and dialogue, offering plenty of opportunities for his fabulous cast to shine.

No Hard Feelings (June 22, Cinemas)

Jennifer Lawrence stars in this adult comedy about a feckless 20-something Uber driver who, in a desperate move to stave off bankruptcy, answers an ad from two parents keen for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before he attends college. In exchange for a Buick, she agrees to “date his brains out”.

Written and directed by Good Boys and Jury Duty creator Gene Stupnitsky.

Pearl (June 7, Neon and other rental services)

Perhaps the best thing to come out of New Zealand’s Covid isolation hotels (it was conceived during director Ti West and star Mia Goth’s downtime after arriving in our country), this 1918-set prequel to X was shot immediately after filming wrapped in the Wairarapa on the ‘70s-set horror.

Using the same backdrop, the pair have crafted a very different tale – a Technicolour psychological horror to evoke memories of the likes of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? or Mommie Dearest.

Kiwi actor Tandi Wright is magnificent as the eponymous character’s strict German mother, but Goth is truly mesmerising in the title role, whether delivering an incredible nine-minute monologue, or providing a truly haunting final impression.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (June 1, Cinemas)

Miles Morales returns for an all-new animated adventure which sees him team up with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People for a multiverse-spanning battle against a powerful villain.

Hailee Steinfeld, Shameik Moore, Daniel Kaluuya, Brian Tyree Henry, Oscar Isaac and Issa Rae are among the featured vocal artists.

Stan Lee (June 16, Disney+)

Arriving on the Mouse House’s global streaming service just a week after it debuts at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival, David Gelb’s (Wolfgang, Jiro Dreams of Sushi) documentary chronicles the life and times of the comic-book Marvel who helped create such legendary characters as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Black Panther, The Incredible Hulk and Thor.

When he died in November 2018, Lee left behind a treasure trove of personal footage and recorded recollections that had never been seen by the public – until now.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (June 8, Cinemas)

Jim Broadbent headlines this British drama based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Rachel Joyce.

He plays the eponymous pensioner, who embarks on a more than 500-mile hike from Kingsbridge in Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed, after discovering that one of his old work colleagues is dying from cancer.

“This politely unassuming little film builds into a wrenching examination of grief, guilt and eventual closure,” wrote The Observer’s Wendy Ide.

The One to Avoid

One True Loves (June 21, Neon and other rental services)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ Simu Liu, Hamilton’s Phillipa Soo and Point Break’s Luke Bracey star in this adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s 2016 novel of the same name. After a helicopter crash on their first wedding anniversary robs her of husband Jesse (Bracey), Emma (Soo) eventually finds happiness with Sam (Liu), until Jesse suddenly reappears on the eve of her wedding.

“The bland proficiency on display throughout One True Loves is galling in a story that calls for ripe emotional excess, conceived as it is in the tradition of vintage, unfashionably heart-on-sleeve Hollywood melodrama,” wrote Variety magazine’s Guy Lodge.