With video-on-demand streaming platforms popping up here and there, it can get pretty overwhelming when deciding where to subscribe and what to watch.
In the sea of video-on-demand streaming apps, Netflix continues to dominate with over 60 million subscribers in the United States alone while numbers in Asia, Europe, and Latin America continue to grow, according to a study by research firm Nielsen.
The streaming app Hooq may have unfortunately closed recently, but good thing there is still a lot of streaming apps to choose from!
So aside from Netflix, here are other streaming platforms you can check out with some movies and shows to start you off.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video has also been making a name for themselves lately when it comes to producing original content. Here are some shows that you can consider streaming on the streaming platform.
The Office: Take a peek into the day-to-day happenings in the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company office in this classic and beloved sitcom featuring a group of rowdy and diverse employees as they pull pranks, compete in office competitions, flirt with receptionists, and deal with their eccentric, over-the-top manager.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Set in the 1960s, this series centers around housewife Midge Maisel who decides to pursue a career in stand-up comedy, a male-dominated field, during a period when women face enormous roadblocks to succeed, all while dealing with her sudden divorce and her overbearing parents.
This is Us: Revolving around three people born on the same day – twins Kate and Kevin and their adoptive brother Randall, This is Us shows moments both from their childhood and in their adult life, weaving the two periods together to tell a captivating story that manages to make you laugh and cry in every episode. Plus, the cast includes Mandy Moore!
Other noteworthy shows are Fleabag, Good Omens and The Man in the High Castle or try movies like Guava Island and Beautiful Boy.
HBO Go
HBO Go streams shows from American premium network, HBO, the home of several award-winning and high-budget shows such as Game of Thrones and The Sopranos. Here are some series that are definitely worth trying.
Westworld: Set in the far future where people the rich frequently visit a high-tech amusement park with a Wild-West theme called Westworld, which is populated by robots called “hosts”. Its guests visit the park looking to live out their wildest fantasies without any repercussions or retaliation from the hosts.
Euphoria: Critics lauded this brutally honest teen drama and praised leading actress Zendaya’s performance. It focuses on recovering drug addict, Rue, and a group of high school students as they navigate the pleasures and perils of high school life.
Chernobyl: As the name suggests, this show is a dramatization of the horrifying events of the nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union in 1986. It revolves mostly on the clean-up after the disaster, showing both the people responsible for it and those who responded to it. The miniseries also sheds light on some of the lesser known facts surrounding the disaster.
If you’re looking for more shows to watch after, you can also try Big Little Lies, Barry, and Watchmen. It was also announced that the controversial “Snyder Cut” of the 2017 film Justice League will be released in HBO Max in 2021 (Read: Zack Snyder’s Justice League is finally flying to HBO Max).
Disney+
Disney+ is where you can find all your nostalgic childhood content as well as all the MCU movies and series. But Disney+ also has dozens of original contents in their line-up including several new Avengers series, the Hamilton Broadway show, and the recently announced Percy Jackson series in the works. As we wait for Disney+ to launch in Southeast Asia, here are some series that we can look forward to seeing.
The Mandalorian: We are forever grateful to this series for gaving us Baby Yoda. The Mandalorian is a Star Wars spin-off series that follows a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Din Djarin and his journey outside the New Republic.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: This show is a mockumentary set in the school where the original High School Musical films were filmed and follows a group of students who are cast in their school’s High School Musical: The Musical production.
The World According to Jeff Goldblum: “I know nothing. That’s the premise.” These were the words of Jeff Goldblum himself in the trailer of this new docuseries where he delves into the culture and history of various random and seemingly ordinary topics, Jeff Goldblum-style, from sneakerhead culture to ice cream to tattoos.
You can expand your list of shows to watch by also adding Agent Carter and the 90s show Boy Meets World.
iFlix
iFlix offers a wide variety of shows and movies from all over the world. It has all the K-Dramas, Western TV shows, and Filipino movies that you can choose from. Here are some content you can watch now!
Mr. Robot: This suspenseful and intriguing series starring Rami Malek will give you major Fight Club vibes. He portrays a brilliant hacker suffering from social anxiety disorder and clinical depression and working in a large corporation. He approached by an activist known as Mr. Robot and offers him to join “fsociety”, a group of hackers that want to take down capitalist corporations.
Unreported World: There are plenty of news around the globe that that is overlooked by media and this show turns their camera on those. In Unreported World, reporters travel to dangerous and far-flung locations and uncover these stories to show to the world.
Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon: This Korean 2017 commercial hit is about a woman who was born with a hereditary superhuman strength. She is hired by a rich heir as a bodyguard when he starts receiving threats and kidnappings occur around his neighborhood.
Other content you can watch are The Good Place, On the Wings of Love and LSS.
iWant
iWant is the streaming app from ABS-CBN that houses their news programs, teleseryes and a wide selection of local films from Star Cinema, Cinemalaya Film Festival, Cinema One Originals, and more. iWant has been upping their game recently by producing more original and exclusive content.
John Denver Trending: This movie drew buzz from movie lovers last year’s Busan International Film Festival and Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. It is about an elementary student in Antique, Philippines who is accused of stealing his classmate’s iPad and becomes a viral subject on social media.
Saving Sally: This movie was part of the much-talked about 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival. It combines live action and animation as it follows an aspiring comic artist who falls for a gadget inventor and decides to be her protector when he finds out has abusive parents and an obnoxious boyfriend.
Rainbow’s Sunset: The late Eddie Garcia stars in this drama film about an 84-year old grandfather who comes out as gay to his family so that he can take care of his true love who is battling cancer. It was the winner in the 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival where it bagged a total of 11 awards.
You can also watch classics That Thing Called Tadhana, Kita Kita and One More Chance to more new ones like Momol Nights, Call Me Tita, and Vince & Kath & James.
Viu
Viu is a Hong Kong-based streaming platform with shows from all over Asia. K-drama lovers are sure to not run out of shows to watch here and its Southeast Asian shows and original content are also worth the try!
World of Married Couple: One of the most watched K-dramas in Korean cable television of all time, World of Married Couple follows the story of a couple whose seemingly perfect marriage is shattered by a betrayal that leads to revenge and grief. It deals with complex aspects of married life and is ultimately a story of healing. It became extremely popular because of its unexpected turns, plot twists, and cliffhanger endings.
Rewrite: Set in Jakarta, this Viu original series is about a woman who gets left in the altar on her wedding day in 2024. The couple’s relationship has been troubled for a while and when the woman wishes she could start over again with her fiancé, the universe grants her wish and transports her to the very same day they met in 2019.
Jibril: Another Viu original, Jibril is a series set in Malaysia about the titular lawyer with autism spectrum disorder who, with his high cognitive skills and unparalleled intelligence, has never lost a case in his career. When a prominent AI expert in Southeast Asia is murdered, Jibril is hired to solve the case and discovers the involvement of a notorious organization known as Zerkala.
Other shows you can try on the streaming platform are When the Weather Is Fine, Switch, Viu Shorts, Devoted, and Salon.
What will you be watching next? Share your pick in the comments below!