Everything That’s Streaming in January 2025

Couch rot, holiday cheese fog, disassociation December, peppermint purgatory, Santaphylactic shock, seasonal affective disorder: whatever you call it, Book and Film Globe is helping burn off that year-end existential haze with a list of January’s ball-droppingest streaming releases. Starting January 6, Netflix will be the home of WWE Raw after the entertainment giants struck a massive deal to deliver live action every Monday night. Netflix also debuts Western adventure series American Primeval, while Hulu brings capitol suspense to political thriller Paradise and Apple reveals season 2 of Severance. Provocative documentary An Update on Our Family (Max) explores the dark side of the family vlogging world, Awkwafina explores a second season of mind-blowing microworlds in A Real Bug’s Life (Disney), and Paramount+ reboots Hollywood Squares, raunchy banter and all.

Netflix

Cunk on Life (Jan 2) – Diane Morgan nibbles idly at life’s toughest existential questions as stuffy yet dim television presenter Philomena Cunk in a new mockumentary from veteran Cunk writer-producer and Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker. The special ponders galaxy-brain concepts like quantum physics, the big bang, meditation and AI via Cunk’s profound misunderstanding of her brilliant and frustrated interview subjects. Filtering history’s loftiest thinkers and nature’s most dazzling phenomena through her flat northern English sensibility, Cunk’s sullen overconfidence, bizarre detours of logic, and outrageous misinterpretations of fact highlight the often-ridiculous ways that humans approach big ideas. 

American Primeval (Jan 9) – Writer-executive producer Mark L. Smith (The Revenant), director Peter Berg (Painkiller) and showrunner Eric Newman (Narcos) join a caravan of creators in a land rush to claim the profit-rich soil of Taylor Sheridanland. The gritty new Western drama series finds a mother (Betty Gilpin) and son fleeing from their past and forming a powerful bond with their traumatized guide (Taylor Kitsch) while traversing the harsh landscape of the American West. The series explores raw collisions of culture, religion and community in the mid-1800s as pioneers, profiteers, cult leaders and warriors fight to survive – and dominate – a gorgeous but grueling wilderness. Berg says the six-episode series promises to bring viewers “into the belly of the beast” with campfire-smoke filters and men hacking at each another with flaming clubs in a bloody commentary on the primordial savagery of “civilization.” 

Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever (Jan 1) – If there’s one thing Death Becomes Her taught me, it’s that the rich will stop at nothing to achieve eternal youth – the perils of vanity be damned. This startling documentary by Chris Smith (Fyre, 100 Foot Wave) follows the controversial wellness practices of entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, a man who puts his body and fortune on the line to extend his life beyond all known limits, and explores the effect of this journey on himself and those around him.

His extreme “anti-aging protocol” featuring 54 pills a day, red light treatments and experimental gene therapy went viral and sparked debate: is he a wellness grifter selling overpriced olive oil and vitamins, or just another rich guy whose money maintains a network of experts and resources who indulge his impractical fantasy? One surreal scene finds three generations of the Johnson men swapping plasma and guffawing wealthily before posing for photos in a golf course sand trap. Money may not be enough to attain eternal life, but it will definitely finance the chutzpah to try.

Fights, Camera, Action (Jan 7) – Fights, Camera, Action goes behind the scenes of The Jerry Springer Show to recount how it became America’s most controversial talk show in the 90s and expose its biggest scandals on both sides of the camera. “It really was the modern version of the American coliseum,” says one crew member about the show’s 27-season run of “bozos, bimbos and brawls.” Packed with first-hand accounts from insiders and former guests, the series explores the show’s darker truths: producers manipulating, ambushing and humiliating guests to provoke chaos, and the broken relationships, crime and death that followed their moment in the arena. Fights, Camera, Action looks at the Springer spectacle through a different lens thirty years later, probing the disturbing question of how far is too far in the name of entertainment.

Also playing:

Back in Action (Jan 17)

The Recruit Season 2 (Jan 30)

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Season 1 (Jan 13)

Visit Netflix for a full list of releases.

Hulu

Paradise Season 1 (Jan 28) – Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction) is reuniting with This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman to play a security chief under fire in the new political drama Paradise. Brown is Xavier Collins, father of two and head of security for President Cal Bradford (played by James Marsden). When Xavier finds Cal dead, he becomes the center of a high-stakes investigation as the last person to see the president alive. He discovers that the murder may be linked to top-level secrets he holds, exposing himself and his children to a devastating threat from the top echelons of power. 

Scamanda (Jan 18) – An unsettling docuseries based on the popular podcast, Scamanda is the true story of wife, mother and blogger Amanda Riley who faked cancer for more than eight years to collect $100,000 in donations from her sympathetic subscribers, including celebrities like LeAnn Rimes. After an anonymous tip to an investigative reporter sparks questions about her health claims, Amanda’s own words on social media may hold the keys to unraveling her deception. The series explores the winding psycho-paths Amanda led her followers down to sell the tragic tale, including shaving her head, forging medical documents and taking selfies during “chemotherapy” – and counts the emotional toll of hope, credulity and generosity.

Going Dutch (Jan 3) – After a rant gets him into hot water, an outspoken Army colonel (Denis Leary) is reassigned to the “least important army base in the world” in the Netherlands. The seasoned warhawk now finds himself in charge of a base with no weapons and no tactical purpose besides processing laundry, but boasts Scandinavian perks like a bowling alley and a fromagerie. The colonel tries to square away his Euro-casual crew with the help of the base’s previous leader— his estranged daughter (Taylor Misiak). Going Dutch also stars Danny Pudi (Community), Joe Morton and Catherine Tate.

Also playing:

Animal Control Season 3 (Jan 3)

Doc (Jan 8)

Visit Hulu for a full list of releases.

Amazon Prime

On Call (Jan 9) – A new Dick Wolf cop drama stars Troian Bellisario (Pretty Little Liars) and Brandon Larracuente (The Good Doctor) as a veteran officer and rookie duo who patrol the streets of Long Beach, California. Incorporating bodycam, dashcam and cellphone footage into a TikTok-friendly POV, the innovative series co-created by Tim Walsh and Elliot Wolf explores the morality of protecting and serving a diverse community that has a complicated history with law enforcement. Director and executive producer Eriq La Salle (Logan) also joins the cast as veteran Sergeant Lasman and Lori Loughlin (Fuller House) returns in her second television role since the college admissions scandal as hardnosed Lieutenant Bishop.

The Rig Season 2 (Jan 26) – The second season of eco-vengeance drama sees the surviving crew of the Kinloch Bravo arrive at a secret offshore facility in the Arctic Circle after deep-sea mining triggers an ancient seismic defense system deep beneath the ocean. The trapped crew must deal with the fallout of the tsunami that destroyed the Bravo and presumably killed thousands on the coast while grappling with conspiracies, corporate conflicts, and new threats from the abyss. The second season will continue drilling into global themes like mining, conservation and corporate malfeasance.

Unstoppable (Jan 16) – Born with one leg, Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome) defies the odds to become a champion wrestler in college, competing against the school that rejected him. The inspiring true story celebrates Robles’s spirit and unbreakable resolve to pursue his dreams, with Jennifer Lopez tackling her most challenging role yet: a kind poor person. Co-produced by Ben Affleck and filmed a few months before the rebooted couple announced their separation, Lopez finds moments of authenticity in frazzled, unhappy scenes while her inspiring momma bear lines fizzle. The movie also stars Bobby Cannavale as Robles’s unsupportive stepfather, Michael Peña and Don Cheadle as his coaches, and Robles himself acting as Jerome’s stunt double for wrestling scenes.

Also playing:

You’re Cordially Invited (Jan 30)

Visit Amazon Prime for a full list of releases.

Max

The Pitt Season 1 (Jan 9) – 15 years after Noah Wyle hung up his white coat as ER’s Dr. Carter, he’s back in scrubs (and creative cahoots with ER producer R. Scott Gemmill) in a new medical drama about the daily lives of healthcare workers in a Pittsburgh hospital. Each episode follows one action-packed hour of Dr. Michael Robby’s 15-hour shift as the chief attendant in a trauma emergency room as he deals with coding patients, fainting interns and his own PTSD from the Covid epidemic. The show examines hospital workplace politics and inequities, the resilience of healthcare workers, and the emotional challenge of treating life-threatening emergencies every day. 

An Update on Our Family (Jan 15) – A provocative three-part series exposes the dark side of the unregulated family vlogging industry through the story of Myka and James Stauffer, who adopted a special needs boy from China, named him Huxley (possibly the biggest crime here), and built a vlogging empire around his life in their home. But when Huxley disappeared from the family’s cheery videos, the Stauffers were forced to reveal their controversial decision to “rehome” the child – and became globally derided symbols of white-privileged baby tourism. The documentary revisits the events leading up to Huxley’s move to a new family and the online backlash that followed, as the couple has wisely decided to stay off social media for the past four years.

The Flip Off (Jan 13) – The anticipated HGTV series that reunites Flip of Flop exes Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa (and their current spouses!) in a house-flipping competition is swerving left after Haack revealed her split from third husband Josh Hall during filming. Newly single Haack will solo-lead her team to buy, renovate and flip houses for the biggest profit – and of course, bragging rights against El Moussa and current wife Heather. The show features guest judges evaluating each week’s renovations while the intense couple dynamics add drama and boost the creative stakes. 

Also playing:

Cult of Fear: The Asaram Bapu Story (Jan 15)

A Different Man (Jan 17)

Przesmyk (Jan 31)

Visit Max for a full list of releases. 

Disney+

Goosebumps: The Vanishing (Jan 10) – Real life teen dad David Schwimmer stars in a slightly less kid-friendly horror tale that weaves elements from several different Goosebumps books. As teenage siblings investigate the 1994 disappearance of their uncle and his high school friends, they begin to question what their father knows. When a sinister organism overtakes him, his mood turns dark and their friends start to go missing. Can they rescue their father from the force that controls him before a terrifying entity is unleashed on Brooklyn? 

A Real Bug’s Life Season 2 (Jan 15) – The adorable Nat Geo nature series is back for a second season, grafting adventure narratives onto real (but CG-enhanced) footage of insects who rely on their remarkable skills and behavioral strategies to survive. Narrator Awkwafina showcases insect antics from nine micro bug worlds around the globe including a femme fatale firefly, a bachelor luna moth, a real-life assassin bug and the botany bay weevil. A special behind-the-scenes episode will demonstrate the mix of science and artistry that goes into creating the dazzling close-up looks at insect activity for the show.

Visit Disney+ for a full list of releases.

Apple TV+

Severance Season 2 (Jan 17) – Three years after season one dropped, Lumon manager Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and his coworkers are facing the consequences of breaking the company’s severance barrier: a neurosurgical wall that separates their work memories (and identities) from their personal ones. As they delve deeper into the unsettling power structure of Lumon and the true purpose of the severance procedure, the team also begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding their personal lives— including the revelation that Mark’s seemingly deceased wife is actually alive and working within the company. 

Prime Target (Jan 22) – Jason Bourne meets Will Hunting in this brainy British conspiracy thriller from Sherlock writer Steven Thompson and Top Boy director Brady Hood. Brilliant postgrad Edward Brooks (Leo Woodall, The White Lotus) is working on a mathematical breakthrough that will allow him to access any computer system in the world. But when he realizes that a mysterious enemy is trying to destroy his research from the shadows, Edward teams up with an NSA agent (Quintessa Swindell) originally assigned to spy on him to unravel the plot against him. The eight-episode series also stars Stephen Rea, David Morrissey, Martha Plimpton, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Harry Lloyd.

Mythic Quest Season 4 (Jan 29) – The team of dysfunctional game developers at Mythic Quest reunites to confront new challenges in a changing video game landscape as stars rise, egos clash, relationships bloom and everyone tries to have a little more work-life balance. They’re back in the studio to deal with devastating developments: players are leaving in droves, and a major movie deal has fallen through. If the next expansion isn’t successful, it may be their last. Mythic Quest will also be accompanied by a new anthology series debuting in March called Side Quest, which will explore the lives of people impacted by the game.

Visit Apple TV+ for a full list of releases.

Paramount+

Star Trek: Section 31 (Jan 24) – Michelle Yeoh brings the glamour to deep space villainy in a return to her iconic Star Trek: Discovery role as the ruthless and divinely wardrobed Emperor Philippa Georgiou. The film takes place during the “lost period” before the events of TNG, where she lives in exile from her kingdom under an alias and runs a nightclub outside Federation space. When a secret Starfleet division called Section 31 recruits Georgiou on a covert mission to protect the Federation from a destructive new threat, the Emperor is forced to reckon with the sins of her past. 

Hollywood Squares (Jan 9) – The splashy 1960s game show is coming back with Nate Burleson replacing the late Peter Marshall as host and Drew Barrymore taking Paul Lynde’s seat in the center square. The reboot finds two contestants competing in a game of human tic-tac-toe as celebrities answer questions to win the square and net cash and prizes. The remake stays faithful to the naughty zingers and thirsty innuendo of the original show. “It got spicy from the jump,” admitted Burleson. Tyra Banks, Kristen Schaal, Whitney Cummings, Kevin Nealon, Jimmy O. Yang, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jo Koy, Jay Leno, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, RuPaul and Tiffany Haddish are among the celebrity guests appearing in the upcoming revival.

Also playing:

Slingshot (Jan 1)

Murder Company (Jan 1) 

Visit Paramount+ for a full list of releases.

Peacock

Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (Jan 2) – Grieving father Dr. Jim Swire (Colin Firth) searches for answers in the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed his daughter along with 269 others in the deadliest terror attack in Britain. Inspired by the true-life story, Swire becomes an advocate for the UK victims’ families and embarks on a relentless pursuit of the truth that not only jeopardizes his family, mental stability, and very life, but completely upends his trust in the justice system. Lockerbie: A Search For Truth explores events from the disaster and its aftermath through an intimate account of a man willing to risk everything in memory of his daughter.

Also playing: 

Critics Choice Awards (Jan 13) 

Here Come the Irish Season 1 (Jan 16)

Visit Peacock for a full list of releases. 

AMC+

Grafted (Jan 24) – “Re-Animator meets Mean Girls” in director Sasha Rainbow’s (Tar) incredible body horror project Grafted. Chinese scholarship student Wei travels to New Zealand to study biology at a prestigious university. Socially awkward and hiding a facial birthmark, Wei is shunned by her popular cousin and her glamorous friends. Hungry for acceptance, Wei immerses herself in her late father’s research on a revolutionary skin graft that could erase her birthmark. As her experiments take a dark turn, she becomes more unhinged, willing to eliminate anyone who threatens her secret. “The obsession with beauty and changing our bodies has a certain Frankenstein nature to it which has been so fun to explore,” Rainbow told Variety recently.  

Get Away (Jan 10) – Nick Spicer and Nate Bolotin (Mandy, Tusk) team up with writer/star Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) on a freaky new slaycation tale that follows the Smith family on holiday to a remote Swedish island, but it’s their bum luck to visit during preparations for a local festival that celebrates a very dark history. Weirded out by the hostile locals and strange rituals, the Smiths nevertheless stubbornly swim and selfie through their vacay (tourists gonna tour) but as the festival nears the family realizes something even more sinister is unfolding: a serial killer is on the loose.

Dark Match (Jan 31) – Writer-director Lowell Dean (WolfCop) rings the bell on a gory Satanist schlockfest starring WWE legend Chris Jericho as a bloodthirsty cult leader. Dark Match centers on a small-time wrestling company who travel to a well-paying private gig in a backwoods town only to learn too late that a death cult runs the community… and their event is now a pay-per-view fight to survive. The grindhouse gem also stars real-life Brazilian jiu jitsu brown belt Ayisha Issa (Transplant), Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries), Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead, Snowpiercer) and Michael Ecklund (Antlers).

Also playing:

Skincare (Jan 3) 

Visit AMC+ for a full list of releases.