Independent Australian and New Zealand distributor Umbrella Entertainment has launched a new streaming service, dubbed Brollie, a free (ad-supported) on-demand platform specialising in Australian film and TV content.
To be honest, the TV content isn't that crash hot, but Brollie launches with over 300 titles including some crackers from Australian and international independent cinema. I'm a horror movie fan, so it was nice to see 'Lake Mungo', 'Dagon', 'Crabs', 'Harpoon', 'Society', 'Audition', 'Amulet', 'A Tale of Two Sisters', 'Suspiria', 'The Third Saturday in October', 'Tunnel' and 'Psycho Goreman' all in one place. You also have your Aussie classics, such as 'Angel Baby', 'Death in Brunswick', 'The Devil's Playground', 'Bad Boy Bubby', 'The Big Steal', 'Cosi', 'Hercules Returns', 'Head On', 'Malcolm', 'Love Serenade', a pre-juiced Hugh Jackman in 'Erskineville Kings' and Claudia Karvan looking fine as hell in 'Dating the Enemy'. Anime fans? Look, there is 'In This Corner of the World' and that's it. You're out of luck. Stick with Crunchyroll or whatever, nerds.
Special collections include 'Australian Nightmares', exploring the best of Aussie horror, and 'All Out Ozploitation', showcasing the best genre films from the 70s and 80s. Special features are also available to watch with these collections. Not only that, but subscribers will also be invited to be part of the Brollie Film Club, in which an in-house team handpicks the best of the catalogue twice a month. There is even a podcast.
So... is Brollie's catalogue strong enough to help it stand out in a streaming landscape that includes free platforms like Kanopy, Beamafilm, ABC iview and SBS on Demand? Possibly. Is it better than the Australian edition of Tubi? IMO, kind of? It definitely has a better hit-to-miss ratio than Tubi, which boasts around 100,000 titles, of which only 100 or so are any good.
If you are curious and want to check Brollie out, I highly recommend that you peruse the SWITCH reviews compiled below to find out what is worth watching...