Let’s not beat around the bush: January is a terrible month. The holidays are over, work resumes in earnest, and summer is still *checking notes* in six months. That said, the doom and gloom of the New Year hasn’t stopped the best streaming services from serving up plenty of new movies and TV shows to enjoy over the coming weekend.
In 2023, The Menu is leading the way, arriving on HBO Max in the US and Disney Plus in the UK less than two months after its theatrical debut. Bad Batch season 2 also kicks off this weekend on Disney Plus, while Christian Bale returns to detective mode in The Pale Blue Eye on Netflix.
Below, we’ve rounded up more of the biggest new movies and shows to watch on streaming services in the coming days. So what are you waiting for? Bury!
The acclaimed kitchen-drama and mystery-thriller The Menu is now available on HBO Max in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
Directed by: regular Inheritance From collaborator Mark Mylod, the film stars Ralph Fiennes as a celebrity chef whose exclusive tasting menu leaves guests Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Judith Light and John Leguizamo getting more than they bargained for.
Saying more about Menu’s plot risks ruining the biggest surprises, but rest assured that this tumultuous black comedy has more twists and turns than a spinning helter skelter.
Now available to stream on HBO Max in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 (Disney Plus)
After an 18-month hiatus, the animated Star Wars spin-off (and one of. the best Disney Plus shows) The Bad Batch returns with the highly anticipated second season.
Continuing Clone Force 99’s intergalactic adventures, Season 2 of The Bad Batch Hunter sees Tech, Wrecker, Echo, Crosshair and the group’s young sidekick Omega grapple with the fallout of Emperor Palpatine’s plans for dispossessed standard-model clone troopers.
The first two episodes of the new season are now available to stream on Disney Plus, with the remaining 14 episodes scheduled to air every Wednesday through March 29.
Now available to stream on Disney Plus.
Pale Blue Eye (Netflix)
Christian Bale dons the older (and slightly less tech-savvy) detective outfit new Netflix movie Pale blue eye.
Based on Louis Bayard’s novel of the same name, this 1930s US Military Academy crime thriller. The film also stars Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Despite the quality of the cast, The Pale Blue Eye has received a lukewarm reception from critics so far, so we don’t expect this bleak Victorian drama to make it onto our list best Netflix movies in the near future.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Platform (main video)
Prime Video regularly produces new action shows these days, and Amazon’s latest offering, The Rig, takes the streamer in a refreshingly supernatural direction.
Starring Iain Glen (Game of Thrones) and Martin Compston, this six-episode thriller follows a group of Scottish oil rig workers whose plans to return to the safety of the continent are thwarted when a mysterious fog envelopes them in darkness.
If we’re being honest, we didn’t think The Rig looked all that exciting when we first saw its trailer, but critics hailed the series as “high-purity TV nirvana.” We hope it earns a spot on our list best prime video series.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
Copenhagen Cowboy (Netflix)
Not to be confused with other Netflix productions Cocaine Cowboy, Concrete Cowboy and Cowboy Bepop, Copenhagen Cowboy is only the second television project from Drive director (and Hideo Kojima favourite) Nicolas Winding Refn.
This six-episode Danish-language series follows Miu (Angela Bundalovic), a mysterious supernatural woman who embarks on a dangerous (and neon-soaked) odyssey through Copenhagen’s criminal underworld.
So far, critical reception to Copenhagen Cowboy has been overwhelmingly mixed, but Refn’s movies and series are slowly but surely gaining ground. It may become one of the best Netflix shows from 2023?
Now available to stream on Netflix.
The Lying Life of Adults (Netflix)
The second of two foreign language dramas in this week’s roundup is The Lying Life of Adults on Netflix.
Based on the book by the same author of The Lost Daughter, Elena Ferrante, this six-episode Italian-language series follows a brash and courageous aunt (Valeria Golino) who takes her niece on a journey through 1990s Naples.
All six episodes of The Lying Life of Adults – which critics have described as “impeccable” and “hypnotic” – are now available on Netflix.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Madoff: Wall Street Monster (Netflix)
This week’s documentary pick is Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street from Netflix.
Directed by Joe Berlinger, this four-part docuseries chronicles the life of Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, featuring the usual combination of talking heads, real life footage and fictional reenactments to illustrate how Madoff managed to scam investors on 64, $8 billion.
Madoff: Wall Street Monster has been described by critics as ‘dirty and stunning’, suggesting it could be on our list best Netflix documentaries soon.
Now available to stream on Netflix.