A new year means a batch of new movies on your favorite streaming service, and this month brings a mountain of new releases and originals in addition to terrific library additions. Below we’ve put together a curated list of some of the best new movies streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock and beyond this month, from streaming debuts of some of 2024’s best films to starry rom-coms to a good old fashioned Western.
Check out our list of the best new movies streaming in January below.
“Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever”
Netflix – Jan. 1
The latest must-see Netflix documentary centers around Bryan Johnson, a tech millionaire who is on an eternal quest to turn back the clock. Chris Smith, the filmmaker behind “Wham” and an executive producer of “Tiger King,” directs the new film, which Netflix says, “dives deep into his psyche, revealing the drastic shifts that took the entrepreneur from his own personal struggles to dedicating his time and energy — and a considerable amount of his fortune — to living long beyond even the most ambitious human life expectancy.” Sounds weird as heck! We’re in! – Drew Taylor
“The Fall Guy”
Prime Video – Jan. 2
One of the year’s most entertaining (and oddly overlooked) movies, “The Fall Guy” deserves your time. Based on the 1980’s television series that starred Lee Majors, it concerns a Hollywood stuntman (Ryan Gosling), who is injured on the job but reluctantly returns to help a first-time director and his one-time love interest (Emily Blunt) solve a mystery on the set, involving a missing actor (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Of course, from there, the intrigue significantly deepens. And all the while Gosling and Blunt’s chemistry sparks. “The Fall Guy” was directed by David Leitch, a former stuntman and stunt double, who gives the entire production a sense of authenticity and reverence that would have been missing had any other filmmaker attempted it. Fun of fun supporting performances (from Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke, Stephanie Hsu and Teresa Palmer), wonderfully staged action set pieces and a nicely twisty script (by Drew Pearce), “The Fall Guy” is, yes, a love letter to moviemaking but more specifically a celebration of the stunt community, an often-overlooked group that make the movies you love possible. “The Fall Guy” is a total joy. – DT
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”
Netflix – Jan. 3
Wallace and Gromit are back. In their latest adventure – their first full-length feature since 2005’s “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (see below) – absentminded inventor Wallace (now voiced by Ben Whitehead) and his silent pooch Gromit find themselves on the wrong end of a revenge plot, orchestrated by villainous penguin Feathers McGraw. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because Feathers McGraw, who disguises himself as a rooster with the help of a red rubber glove, was the antagonist of the Oscar-winning 1993 short “The Wrong Trousers.” Feathers gains access to Wallace’s latest invention – Norbot, a helpful gardening gnome that promises to revolutionize lawncare. (And, yes, there is definitely some additional commentary here, with a movie about the dangers of AI being made in the most lovingly handcrafted animated form.) Nick Park, who created the characters for his 1989 short “A Grand Day Out,” returns to direct alongside Merlin Crossingham, and they bring all of the visual wit and wonder that you’ve come to expect from the characters and their associated films, ending with a climactic chase that is every bit as exciting and hilarious as the train chase from “The Wrong Trousers,” and just as unexpected. – DT
“Look Into My Eyes”
Max – Jan. 10
A24’s “Look Into My Eyes,” which was named one of the top five documentaries of the year by the National Board of Review, follows an eclectic group of psychics as they perform readings in New York City. As directed by Lana Wilson, director of “After Tiller” and the Taylor Swift doc “Miss Americana,” “Look Into My Eyes” is nonjudgmental, resisting the urge to very into anything too sensational or manufactured. Instead, both the psychics and their clients, come across as complicated and, yes, a little bit sad. They are, ultimately, human beings desperate to form a connection – with each other, with themselves and with something beyond. It’s fascinating and odd and heartbreaking. In other words: it’s a must-watch documentary for these troubled (and troubling) times. – DT
“Unstoppable”
Prime Video – Jan. 16
Ready for an inspirational, based-on-a-true-story sports drama? Here we go! In “Unstoppable,” based on the nonfiction book “Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion” by Anthony Robles and Austin Murphy, Jharrel Jerome plays a one-legged wrestler. Jennifer Lopez plays his single mother. If you aren’t sold already, you should probably know that the cast also includes Bobby Cannavale, Don Cheadle, Michael Peña and Shawn Hatosy. Unstoppable, right? – DT
“A Real Pain”
Hulu – Jan. 16
“A Real Pain” is hilarious and moving, a small-scale character study that is still as dazzling as any Hollywood blockbuster. Jewish cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg, who also wrote and directed) and Benji (recent Golden Globe winner Kieran Culkin) travel to Poland to go on a Holocaust tour and to see where their recently deceased grandmother once lived. Benji is more outgoing and gregarious, David more reserved and interior. As the cousins start to learn about themselves and some of the other members of the tour (a wonderful Jennifer Grey is also on the trip and Will Sharpe from “White Lotus” plays their guide), sparks will fly. The less you know, the better. But you will be utterly charmed and quietly wrecked by this wonderful film. And the best part? “A Real Pain” clocks in at 88 minutes. You’ll have your whole night ahead of you! – DT
“Back in Action”
Netflix – Jan. 17
If it’s one thing streaming movies can’t resist, it’s the story of a former spy who is called back into duty, upending their new identities. “The Union.” “The Family Plan.” “Ghosted.” The list goes on and on. And now, to add to that list – “Back in Action.” Perhaps most notable as being the movie where Jamie Foxx suffered his medical emergency that landed him in an Atlanta hospital for months. (He recently revealed, in his Netflix special, that he suffered a stroke.) In fact, this very scary element of the film’s production was enough to obscure the fact that this is Cameron Diaz’s first starring role since “Annie,” more than a decade ago (which also starred Foxx). That alone is a very big deal. In “Back in Action,” Diaz and Foxx are a married couple whose secret identities are exposed, forcing them back into (you guessed it) action. As you can imagine, their kids are very surprised. Featuring a surprisingly stellar supporting cast that includes Glenn Close, Kyle Chandler, Andrew Scott and Jamie Demetriou and a solid creative team led by director Seth Gordon (“Horrible Bosses,” “The King of Kong”), could “Back in Action” rise above the rest of the former-spies-brought-back-into-the-fold streaming movies? Only one way to find out. – DT
“A Different Man”
Max – Jan. 17
A24’s “A Different Man” has been a darling of sorts on the critical and awards circuit this year, and writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s film is certainly unique. Sebastian Stan stars as a man with a disfigurement who undergoes a procedure to alter his face so that he looks, well, like Sebastian Stan. But after the transformation, he finds a man who looks exactly like he used to (played by Adam Pearson) living a full, happy life. It’s a darkly comedic trip. – Adam Chitwood
“Memoir of a Snail”
AMC+ – Jan. 17
Australian filmmaker Adam Elliot returns for his first film since 2009’s wonderful “Mary and Max.” Stop-motion feature “Memoir of a Snail” stars Sarah Snook as Grace, a woman with a cleft lip, who befriends a snail at a young age and starts to collect snail artifacts in adulthood. She sees herself as something of a snail and is looking for somewhere to escape, from the cruel realities of her life – her failed relationships, her twin brother being taken away from her (and raised in an environment that tries to change who he is) and more. And just when you think “Memoir of a Snail” can’t get any sadder, it hits you with the most strangely uplifting ending – something you won’t expect but will totally obliterate you anyway. Odd, adult and esoteric, “Memoir of a Snail” proves that animated features don’t have to be slick kiddie fair; they can be sophisticated and hand-made. And they can break your little heart. – DT