Let’s not beat about the bush: January is a terrible month. The holidays are over, work resumes in earnest and summer is still *checks notes* half a year away. 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.
Leading the charge in 2023 is The Menu, which arrives on HBO Max in the US and Disney Plus in the UK less than two months after its theatrical debut. The Bad Batch season 2 also begins streaming on Disney Plus this weekend, 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? Dig in!
The Menu (HBO Max / Disney Plus)
Acclaimed kitchen-drama-cum-mystery-thriller The Menu is now available to stream on HBO Max in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
Directed by regular Succession collaborator Mark Mylod, the film stars Ralph Fiennes as a celebrity chef whose exclusive tasting menu leaves diners Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Judith Light, and John Leguizamo getting more than they bargained for.
To say more about The Menu’s plot risks ruining its biggest surprises, but rest assured that this riotous black comedy features more twists and turns than a rotating 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, Star Wars animated spin-off (and one of the best Disney Plus shows) The Bad Batch returns for its highly anticipated second season.
Continuing the intergalactic adventures of Clone Force 99, The Bad Batch season 2 finds Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, Echo, Crosshair, and the group’s young sidekick – Omega – grappling with the fallout of Emperor Palpatine’s plans for dispossessed standard-model Clone troopers.
The new season’s first two episodes are available to stream now on Disney Plus, with the remaining 14 installments set to arrive every Wednesday through March 29.
Now available to stream on Disney Plus.
The Pale Blue Eye (Netflix)
Christian Bale dons an older (and slightly less high-tech) detective get-up in new Netflix movie The Pale Blue Eye.
Based on the novel of the same name by Louis Bayard, this 1830s-set crime thriller stars Bale as Augustus Landor, a veteran clue-hunter who enlists the help of a young Edgar Allen Poe (Harry Melling) to solve a series of murders at the United States Military Academy. Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones, and Charlotte Gainsbourg also feature.
Despite the quality of its cast, The Pale Blue Eye has thus far received a lukewarm reception from critics, so we don’t expect to see this bleak Victorian drama break onto our list of the best Netflix movies any time soon.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
The Rig (Prime Video)
Prime Video is churning out new action shows on the regular 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 series follows a group of Scottish oil rig workers whose plans to return to the safety of the mainland are scuppered when a mysterious fog cloaks them in darkness.
If we’re being honest, we didn’t think The Rig looked all that exciting on first viewing of its trailer, but critics have hailed the show as “high-purity binge-TV nirvana”. Here’s hoping it earns a spot on our list of the best Prime Video series.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
Copenhagen Cowboy (Netflix)
Not to be confused with fellow Netflix productions Cocaine Cowboy, Concrete Cowboy and Cowboy Bepop, Copenhagen Cowboy marks only the second TV project from Drive director (and Hideo Kojima favorite) Nicolas Winding Refn.
This six-episode Danish-language series focuses on Miu (Angela Bundalovic), a mysterious woman with supernatural abilities who embarks on a perilous (and neon-drenched) odyssey through Copenhagen's criminal underworld.
Critical reception to Copenhagen Cowboy has been decidedly mixed so far, but Refn’s movies and series have been known to gain traction slowly but surely. Might it become one of the best Netflix shows of 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.
Adapted from the book of the same by The Lost Daughter author Elena Ferrante, this six-episode Italian-language series follows a brash and bold aunt (Valeria Golino) who takes her sheltered 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 available to stream on Netflix now.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street (Netflix)
This week’s documentary pick is Netflix's Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street.
A four-part look at the life of Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, this Joe Berlinger-directed docuseries features the usual combo of talking heads, real-life footage, and fictional reconstructions to illustrate how Madoff managed to defraud investors of $64.8 billion.
Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street has been described by critics as “grubby and jaw-dropping”, suggesting it could find a way onto our list of the best Netflix documentaries very soon.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
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