Breaking hearts & cracking jokes.

With the deluge of content put out by the platform, it’s easy to forget the benefits that being on Netflix can offer the content itself. Quite frankly, without the service, little nuggets of indie joy like The Breaker Upperers just wouldn’t get the worldwide exposure they warrant.

With an irreverent, dry wit The Breaker Upperers is a charming, quirky and hilarious slice of oddball Kiwi comedy that follows in the the hallowed footsteps of the likeminded What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

Brilliantly straight-faced and wonderfully bonkers, director-writer-star duo Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek’s comedy could’ve only come from New Zealand. It’s lo-fi, low key, and colloquial but The Breaker Upperers possesses the same kind of universal charm as Taika Waititi’s output and it’s this kind of easy-going, relatable affability that makes the film tick.

As a couple of morally ambiguous mates making a living from breaking up relationships, Sami and van Beek are an effective comedy duo and their chemistry plays a huge part in their movie’s success. Around them is a small collection of eccentrics - including a brief but hilarious cameo by Jermaine Clement - that all play their part and approach the film’s comedy with an admirable, straight-faced enthusiasm.

The plot and humour are often a bit patchy, while the whole thing often feels like a patchwork of comedy sketches, Sami and van Beek hold things together to ensure the whole thing lands, even finding the time to toy with issues of gender and sexuality in clever ways.

Funnily enough, it was thanks to Netflix that I discovered both What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople and here we are again. It was thanks in no small part to Netflix that those two Kiwi comedy gems became the international successes they were and hopefully that’s once again the case with The Breaker Upperers. Charming, witty, and wonderfully deadpan, with the help of Netflix’s worldwide reach, both the film and its talented stars will hopefully find the international recognition they deserve.

The Breaker Upperers is available to stream on Netflix now.