Menu
© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 50 movies from Television New Zealand
Based on the autobiographical work of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, this production depicts the author at various stage of her life. Afflicted with mental and emotional issues, Frame grows up in an impoverished family and experiences numerous tragedies while still in her youth, including the deaths of two of her siblings. Portrayed as an adult by Kerry Fox, Frame finds acclaim for her writing while still in a mental institution, and her success helps her move on with her life.
Sep 1990
A scientist in New Zealand has a secret lab where experiments are performed on humans. When he is assassinated, opposing forces rush to his hideaway to suppress or expose his secrets.
Jan 1993
Spin off from the classic 1946 Jimmy Stewart film "It's A Wonderful Life" finds his protecting angel, Clarence, again returning to Earth to help another human.
Nov 1990
When Melanie goes home from the pub with a handsome stranger, she’s captivated by his charm and attentiveness. He sails her away to his ‘castle’- a rundown shack on a deserted island. But when seduction becomes deception and passion becomes possession, Melanie realizes that she has been kidnapped. Torn between fear and desire, Melanie must escape – but her ardent admirer has other plans.
Oct 2003
Jess is a solo mother and reluctant parking warden. Tom is a self-obsessed greetings cards salesman with an addiction to competitions who will do anything to win. Together they are just two of the competitors in a gruelling endurance contest to win a car - whoever keeps their hand on it the longest wins. As the sleepless days wear by, what price will they pay for winning this competition?
Oct 2008
An island in spectacular Sydney Harbour. Summer sun, top international artists, and tens of thousands of music fans from across the world! Idyllic...until unimaginable disaster strikes.
Jan 2011
Safe House is the story of a struggle for survival in an unfamiliar and threatening world, based on the true life experience of a woman in the early days of the witness protection programme in New Zealand. TV Movie
Jun 2012
On the 7th of May 2009, Senior Constables Len Snee, Grant Diver and Bruce Miller arrived at 41 Chaucer Rd in Napier to serve a search warrant on Jan Molenaar for the growing of cannabis. This was just a routine warrant, something they had done countless times. What was meant to be an ordinary procedure turned into three of New Zealand’s darkest days and ended with one police officer dead, two officers critically injured and a member of the public fighting for his life. In some fifty hours Jan Molenaar made a permanent and devastating imprint upon the national psyche of New Zealand as he changed the lives of individuals, families, a police community, and a city. The siege was one of the worst and unexpected cases of violence both Napier and New Zealand had witnessed and it was all the more shocking because of its ordinary suburban backdrop.
Adapted from Renee's 1995 novel Does This Make Sense to You?, the TV movie lays bare the pain caused by forced adoptions inflicted on unwed and teenage mothers in 1950s and 60s Aotearoa
Nov 2009
When an attack on a Palmerston North fraud detective made headlines in October 1996, the New Zealand public followed the media reports with fascination. They read like a plot of a Hollywood film or detective novel. Poison pen letters, satanic worship, a police hate crime, and a mysterious and violent pyromaniac. But little did the public know that as the truth emerged, the story was going to get far more bizarre, and the police would turn the focus of their investigation on one of their own.
Aug 2015
In 1999, the largely conservative Wairarapa district in New Zealand elected a former cabaret performer/actress named Georgina Beyer to the country's House of Parliament -- a seemingly unremarkable event in that country's history except for the fact that Beyer is a transsexual and may very well be the first transsexual in the world to be elected to a national office. In their 2002 biographical documentary Georgie Girl, co-directors Peter Wells and Annie Goldson highlight the popular Member of Parliament's rapid rise through local government to prominence in the New Zealand national government.
Feb 2001
There are 20,000 New Zealanders currently eligible for detention and deportation from Australia. Meet the 501 deportees fighting for their lives and rights in a place they don’t call home. Made with support from NZ on Air.
0
Lou explains that growing is inevitable.
Apr 2022
In November 1947 forty-one people died in a massive blaze that gutted the huge Ballantynes Department Store complex in the heart of Christchurch’s business district. This is the tragic story of New Zealand’s worst fire disaster.
Sep 2019
Indigenous farmers in Peru, Nicaragua, Italy, France, Australia and New Zealand share their intimacy with the land and the seeds they have nurtured for generations; global corporations attempt to 'own' the intellectual property of seeds.
Jul 1985
Darcy, a composer, sees colors when she plays musical notes. When she notices her usually subtle colors changing, she realizes a profound change is upon her. Over a summer month, Darcy creates a time of music and reflection that help her make a final choice.
Nov 2018
When an academic unearths a forgotten history, residents of the small township of Pukekohe, including kaumātua who have never told their personal stories before, confront its deep and dark racist past.
Oct 2022
On Christmas Eve, a nameless little girl reads 'The Monster's Christmas' storybook to her teddy bear, as something sneaks around in the trees outside her window. She hears a noise in the other room, and thinking that it's Father Christmas, she goes to investigate. She finds one of the monsters, who has come seeking help to defeat an evil witch that has stolen all the monsters' voices.
Dec 1981
Discovered to be using illegal drugs by a local policeman, the members of the commune kill him and bury him in their garden. After this pivotal event, distinctions between reality and fantasy become increasingly blurred.
Jan 1975
The little birds receive some sage motherly advice - Look before you poo.