An Eye for Arovision

What to watch on Welly’s local streaming service

2025 was the first year I properly attended the New Zealand International Film Festivall—and I didn’t hold back. Volunteering as an usher meant I could catch films on shift and score a handful of comped tickets. Across two weeks, I watched 17 films… a respectable effort. 

While some of my favorites haven't hit streaming yet (I cannot WAIT to recommend Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s A Useful Ghost), here are a few standout  NZIFF 2025 titles that you can scream right now on Arovision. Go to ondemand.arovideo.co.nz and get watching!

Sorry, Baby (2025) — $8

dir. Eva Victor, USA

“They’re calling Eva Victor “America’s answer to Phoebe Waller-Bridge”” — _hawz, Letterboxd

I haven’t laughed this much in a long time—which is mind-blowing from a film exploring the aftermath of sexual assault. Eva Victor is a powerhouse: writing, directing, and starring in this deliciously well balanced dramedy that manages to maintain its softness while ripping your heart out. 

Victor plays Agnes, a literature professor dealing with the fallout of a bad thing that happened. The plot is non linear, jumping back and forth between the current day to her postgraduate days, around the time of the bad thing. Her close (and at times sapphic) friendship with Naomi Ackie’s Lydia, who lived with her through postgrad and visits in the present day, really grounds viewers through the switching timeline. 

The exploration of trauma in this film is unlike anything else I’ve seen. There are moments of tenderness so rich I felt my heart would pop. The mood is quietly devastating, though I’ll reiterate that this was also the funniest movie I watched last year. Beyond its content, Sorry Baby is also just gorgeous to look at (though I am a sucker for anything New England).

This is one to watch with friends; you’ll want people to laugh with, and need shoulders to cry on. The biggest Oscar snub of 2025. I don’t really know how else to sell this movie to you… it's just so itself. Go on! Go watch it!

Mistress Dispeller (2025) — $8

dir. Elizabeth Lo, Hong Kong

“babe wake up new dream job just dropped” — aarnwlsn, Letterboxd

This documentary explores the Chinese profession of “mistress dispelling.” If a wife suspects infidelity, she can hire a specialist to befriend the mistress and persuade her to end the affair—often under a fabricated identity.

The film follows a dispeller as she works with one particular couple. It's honestly shocking how much access director Elizabeth Lo had to the process; we get to see every part of this dispelling—from private discussions between the married couple, to the first meeting of husband and dispeller, to the final interactions with the mistress. 

Beyond the hooky premise, the film approaches relationships and infidelity with such overwhelming sensitivity. Mistress Dispeller is one of the better documentaries I’ve seen. I watched it at the Roxy after a Tinder hookup, who tagged along to kill some time before their flight… WILD experience to say the least. Would not recommend. 

I reckon much more fun to rent this on Aro and live-commentate with your flatties. 

Nouvelle Vague (2025) —

dir. Richard Linklater, USA

“avengers: endgame for people subscribed to mubi notebook” — garbaggio, Letterboxd

This is a based-on-a-true-story film that dramatises the production of Jean-Luc Godard’s movie Breathless, one of the most influential proponents of the French New Wave (hence the title… which is just “new wave” in French). 

For those who don’t GAF about film history—this movement embodied a DIY ethos, setting out to subvert the norms of filmmaking at the time (high budgets and soundstage sets). Think of it as the indie filmmaking of 60s France. 

Nouvelle Vague exhibits some of the defining features of Breathless; handheld cameras, choppy editing, and the same 1:37 aspect ratio. Not only does Linkelater show you how the sausage got made, he evokes the feeling of eating it, too. This movie will remind you of the innate creativity baked into all of us. 

You don’t have to be well versed in the New Wave—or even know what it is—to enjoy Nouvelle Vague. Outside of its context, it’s still very funny, very fresh, and very French. But don’t worry, cinephiles! There’s plenty of fun easter eggs for you to feel proud about noticing.

Breathless (1960) — $6

dir. Jean-Luc Godard, France

“I'd be pretty damn Breathless too if I smoked that many cigarettes.” — leviyoung572, Letterboxd

This movie is more about form than content, so I’ll let you go in blind. Mandatory precursor to Nouvelle Vague.

NOTE FOR JIM - Nouvelle Vague and Breathless are sister recs so maybe you can group together somehow? Thanks!

Honorable Mentions

The President's Cake and Exit 8 are two more NZIFF films that aren’t yet on Arovision but are currently screening at Lighthouse Cinema on Cuba Street. The first is an intimate Iraqi drama (my third fav film of the fest!), the second a Japanese horror videogame-adaptation. Each film excels in its genre and either one would be worth a trip to the movies!