‘Severance,’ ‘A Different Man’ lead titles streaming in January
‘Severance,’ ‘A Different Man’ lead titles streaming in January
New seasons of ‘Severance,’ ‘The Traitors,’ and ‘Mythic Quest’ make up this month’s best streaming titles and events.
New year, new month, new recommendations!
Get ready to build up your watchlist this January with plenty of incoming additions to top streamers like Netflix, Max, and Disney+. This month, A24’s “A Different Man,” starring newly minted Golden Globe winner Sebastian Stan, will make its SVOD premiere, joining other recent hit thrillers like “The Vourdalak” and “Red Rooms.” But if you’re already caught up on the nominees and winners of last night’s awards ceremony, there is plenty to watch throughout the rest of the month— from major series returns like “The Traitors,” “Mythic Quest,” and the long-awaited second season of Apple TV+’s psychological thriller “Severance.”
Ready to watch? Check out our picks for the best movies, series, and events streaming the rest of January!
WWE: Raw on new home | Monday, Jan. 6 (Netflix)
It’s Netflix’s turn to smell what Peacock’s been cooking. The NBCUniversal streamer has been the streaming home for WWE programming for the past four years, but Netflix now enters the ring for the first year of a 10-year exclusive partnership to bring the weekly “Monday Night Raw” over from USA Network, making it Netflix’s first regular live program (if it can get past the glitches that plagued the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight). Peacock will continue its contract to carry WWE’s premium live events, including “WrestleMania,” “SummerSlam,” and “Royal Rumble,” through March 2026 in the U.S. and other markets when it completes its own five-year deal, but outside the U.S., you’ll be able to catch those on Netflix, as well.
On Jan. 6, the Netflix era begins with a can’t-miss card: the Bloodline saga continuation as OTC Roman Reigns takes on current Tribal Chief Solo Sikoa. Plus, CM Punk and Seth Rollins get their long-awaited match, Drew McIntyre and Jey Uso battle it out, and Liv Morgan defends her Women’s World Championship title against Mami Rhea Ripley. The stream is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.
WWE Raw
A regularly scheduled, live, year-round program featuring some of the biggest WWE Superstars.
‘The Traitors’ Season 3 Premiere | Thursday, Jan. 9 (Peacock)
Both the high road and low road take you back to the Highlands, where host and award-winning mischief maker Alan Cumming has reopened the castle doors to welcome in a whole new cast over for mind games. A double adaptation from the British series of the same name and the Dutch series “De Verraders,” the series is well on the way toward world domination, breaking through in the U.S. in its second season to score a three-season renewal and Emmy wins for Outstanding Reality Competition Program and for Cumming as its host. This season’s contestants include Bob the Drag Queen, Nikki Garcia, Tom Sandoval, Dolores Catania, and more.
The Traitors
America’s most cunning contestants, a mix of famous faces and everyday Americans, play the ultimate murder mystery game. Hosted by Alan Cumming at an ancient castle in Scotland, they will work together on exhilarating missions to build a prize fund worth up to $250,000. But hidden amongst the Faithful contestants are the Traitors, whose goal is to eliminate the Faithful and claim the prize for themselves.
‘Goosebumps: The Vanishing’ Season 2 | Friday, Jan. 10 (Disney+, Hulu)
Halloween comes either a little late or very early, depending on which decorations you still have up. The popular supernatural series gets a subtitle added for its sophomore season and a new cast, including David Schwimmer, Ana Ortiz, Sam McCarthy, Jayden Bartels, Elijah M. Cooper, and more, as this season turns its focus to teen twins who discover a threat hidden in their divorced dad’s home, setting off a chain of events that unravel a profound mystery. Look forward to some of R.L. Stine’s classic storylines popping up throughout, including “Stay Out of the Basement” and “The Blob That Ate Everyone.”
Watch the trailer for ‘Goosebumps: The Vanishing’ below:
Goosebumps
A group of five high schoolers embark on a shadowy and twisted journey to investigate the tragic passing three decades earlier of a teen named Harold Biddle – while also unearthing dark secrets from their parents’ past.
‘Red Rooms’ | Tuesday, Jan. 14 (Shudder)
Curiosity won’t kill the cat, but it will lead her to the darkest parts of the web. Starring Juliette Gariépy, “Red Rooms” follows Kelly-Anne, who becomes obsessed with the high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier, accused of broadcasting the murder of three teenage girls in a dark web chat room. Her obsession sends her on a path of self-destruction as her reality and fantasies blur, sending her on a dark path to find the final piece of the puzzle: the missing video of one of the victims, to whom Kelly-Anne bears a disturbing resemblance. The Canadian psychological thriller from Pascal Plante is two years old at this point, but most audiences in the States didn’t get to see it until it premiered in New York this past September. Whether it’s 2023 or 2024, it has consistently been ranked one of the best horror films of both years.
Red Rooms
The high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the case’s puzzle.
‘Harley Quinn’ Season 5 Premiere | Thursday, Jan. 16 (Max)
Unspecified production delays have kept “Harley Quinn” away for longer than planned, but you can’t keep a kind-of-mostly-good girl down for long. In Season 5, Harley and Ivy head to Metropolis for new work opportunities as Gotham gets a makeover following Season 4’s destruction. But big foes get in the way, including Red X, The Enchantress, and Brainiac, who will need a supersized alliance to take him down. Kaley Cuoco returns to lead the voice cast with Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches, James Adomian, Diedrich Bader, Briana Cuoco, Harvey Guillén, J.B. Smoove, James Adomian, and more.
Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn has finally broken things off once and for all with the Joker and attempts to make it on her own as the criminal Queenpin of Gotham City.
‘SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night’ | Thursday, Jan. 16 (Peacock)
In 1975, cameras clicked on live from New York and changed TV around the world. As “Saturday Night Live” gets ready to officially celebrate 50 years on Feb. 16, Peacock will first premiere a four-part behind-the-curtain docuseries. Executive-produced by Emmy and Oscar winner Morgan Neville, the special takes a deep dive into different aspects of the beloved sketch comedy show, from auditions to the writers’ room, offering rare footage from more than 60 former cast members and writers. All four episodes of the miniseries will be available to stream on Jan. 16
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
This docuseries explores the iconic Saturday Night Live, showcasing the audition process, writing, infamous sketches, and the pivotal 11th season that cemented the show’s DNA under Lorne Michaels’ leadership.
‘Severance’ Season 2 Premiere | Friday, Jan. 17 (Apple TV+)
Time to turn the automatic reply off and get back to the office for the first highly anticipated TV premiere of the year. It’s been nearly three years since Apple TV+’s hit sci-fi thriller debuted, but there’s no real love lost between the show and its fans, which speaks to just how good the first season was. Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette clock back in for Season 2 as the Lumon Industries team face the consequences of interfering with their work-life balance, with new hires including Gwendoline Christie, Bob Balaban, Merritt Wever, and Alia Shawkat. New episodes will be released through March 21.
Watch the trailer for ‘Severance’ Season 2 below:
Severance
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.
‘Close Your Eyes’ | Friday, Jan. 17 (MUBI)
Before “Close Your Eyes,” Víctor Erice hadn’t completed a fiction feature film since 1983’s “El Sur” (and a feature-length film in general since 1992’s “El sol del membrillo.”) Turns out when you make a masterpiece like “The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena),” you’re allowed to spend a few decades doing other things. But Erice returned with a glorious swan song on movies and memory that makes the absence of one of the world’s best filmmakers make sense— with a look inward. Set in contemporary Madrid, Manolo Solo stars as Miguel Garay, an aging filmmaker who is called upon to recount his memories of working on his final and still unfinished film, “The Farewell Gaze,” on which the lead actor and Miguel’s close friend, Julio Arenas, disappeared without a trace during production. Approached by a sensationalist investigative TV program, Miguel reconnects with his past to find closure.
Close Your Eyes
Years after his mysterious disappearance, Julio Arenas, a famous Spanish actor, is back in the news thanks to a television program.
‘A Different Man’ | Friday, Jan. 17 (Max)
Between Demi Moore for “The Substance” and Sebastian Stan, this year’s best Musical/Comedy performances at the Golden Globes were all about the body. In “A Different Man,” Stan plays aspiring actor Edward, who undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance, but his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare and he loses out on the role he was born to play, he becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost. Where Moore had Margaret Qualley, Stan has the captivating Adam Pearson, co-starring as the confident and charismatic Oswald. To borrow a phrase from the former movie, the pair respect the balance on disability representation, neither taking it too seriously/handling it too carefully nor too flippantly and creating two of the best and most surreal performances in this film season.
A Different Man
Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.
‘Harlem’ Season 3 Premiere | Thursday, Jan. 23 (Prime Video)
You must take the A train for one of Prime Video’s best-cast comedies and best-kept secrets. Heading into its third season, the series from Tracy Oliver revels in being relatively low stakes, allowing its excellent ensemble to shine in a love story among friends. Meagan Good, Grace Byers, Shoniqua Shandai, and Jerrie Johnson lead the cast as a quartet of thirtysomething friends navigating love, life, and work with recurring and guest appearances from Whoopi Goldberg, Jasmine Guy, Lil Rel Howery, Sherri Shepherd, and more.
Harlem
Four stylish and ambitious best girlfriends in Harlem, New York City: a rising star professor struggling to make space for her love life; a savvy tech entrepreneur always dating someone new; a no-filter singer; and a hopeless romantic fashion designer. Together, they level up into the next phase of their careers, relationships, and big city dreams.
‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 | Thursday, Jan. 23 (Netflix)
Espionage and conspiracy thrillers are having a moment again— look as far as “The Day of the Jackal,” “Slow Horses,” “Black Doves,” “The Agency,” and the recently canceled “The Old Man.” But don’t leave out “The Night Agent,” which for all its flaws still hit its mark from the start, quickly becoming one of Netflix’s most-watched original series and landing a loyal audience, and a quick Season 2 renewal. Gabriel Basso plays FBI agent Peter Sutherland, who is thrown into a vast conspiracy about a mole at the highest levels of the United States government and is sent on a desperate hunt for the traitor. All 10 seasons of the second season will be released at once.
Watch the trailer for ‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 below:
The Night Agent
While monitoring an emergency line, a vigilant FBI agent answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House.
‘Star Trek: Section 31’ | Friday, Jan. 24 (Paramount+)
Fresh from a trip to Oz, Michelle Yeoh is back to work with Section 31. “Star Trek” gets its first TV film (and its 14th franchise film overall) with the “Star Trek: Discovery” spinoff, which follows Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou as she works with the title division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets while facing the sins of her past. Co-starring are Omari Hardwick, Kacey Rohl, Sam Richardson, Sven Ruygrok, and more.
Star Trek: Section 31
Emperor Philippa Georgiou joins a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past.
‘The Vourdalak’ | Friday, Jan. 27 (Shudder)
Before “Nosferatu,” last year’s “The Vourdalak” was your one-stop shop for freaky undead gothic horror. Adapting A.K. Tolstoy’s 1839 novella “The Family of the Vourdalak,” Adrien Beau’s feature debut follows Marquis Jacques Antoine d’Urfé, a noble emissary of the King of France who is attacked and abandoned in the remote countryside and finds refuge at an eerie, isolated manor awaiting the return of its even stranger patriarch Gorcha. If your holiday family dinners weren’t off-putting enough, try adding an unsettling French puppet.
The Vourdalak
Lost in a hostile forest, the Marquis d’Urfé, a noble emissary of the King of France, finds refuge in the home of a strange family.
‘Paradise’ (Two-Episode Premiere) | Tuesday, Jan. 28 (Hulu)
It’s utopia for “This Is Us” fans as creator Dan Fogelman and actor Sterling K. Brown reunite in “Paradise.” The drama series takes place in a serene, wealthy community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals, but when a shocking murder occurs, the peace is upended and a high-stakes investigation begins. Brown plays Xavier Collins, head of security to the soon-deceased President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) and suspect number one in his death after it is discovered he is the last person to have seen the president alive.
Paradise
The tranquility in a serene, wealthy community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high stakes investigation unfolds.
‘Mythic Quest’ Season 4 Premiere | Wednesday, Jan. 29 (Apple TV+)
“Mythic Quest” gets its servers back up and running for Season 4 as the reunited team fights against an ever-changing video game landscape, clashing egos, blooming relationships, and a work-life balance that is not quite balanced. Created by Charlie Day, Megan Ganz, and Rob McElhenney, the series is perfect for those looking for the tight writing and ensemble work of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” just with a slightly less unhinged cast of characters. (Slightly.)
McElhenney, Charlotte Nicdao, David Hornsby, Danny Pudi, Ashly Burch, Imani Hakim, Jessie Ennis, and Naomi Ekperigin return for the fourth season. New episodes will air through March 26, but Apple TV+ will then premiere the anthology expansion series “Side Quest” exploring the lives of the employees, players, and fans impacted by the game. McElhenney leads the cast opposite Anna Konkle, Derek Waters, William Stanford Davis, and more.)
Mythic Quest
Meet the team behind the biggest multiplayer video game of all time. But in a workplace focused on building worlds, molding heroes, and creating legends, the most hard-fought battles don’t occur in the game—they happen in the office.
‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ (Two-Episode Premiere) | Thursday, Jan. 29 (Disney+)
Spider-Man is not done playing with alternate universes and timelines in MCU’s Phase Five. The new Disney+ animated series explores Peter Parker’s origin story and early days using the Spider-Man persona in an alternate timeline where Norman Osborn becomes Parker’s mentor instead of Tony Stark. Hudson Thames voices Peter with Colman Domingo voicing Norman opposite Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Zeno Robinson, Hugh Dancy, Charlie Cox, Kari Wahlgren, and Paul F. Tompkins. A second season is already in development.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Follow Peter Parker on his way to becoming Spider-Man, with a journey unlike any we’ve ever seen.
‘Mo’ Season 2 | Friday, Jan. 30 (Netflix)
It’s not entirely surprising given the current global landscape that Netflix’s “Mo,” co-created by Mo Amer and Ramy Youssef, is only getting two seasons; it’s a surprise it got made at all if we’re being honest. But a relief it got made at all: the heartfelt comedy series, inspired by Amer’s own life as a Palestinian refugee living in Houston, is equal parts compelling, frustrating, and hilarious, balancing both the heaviness of trying to secure asylum and the weightlessness of hope. Teresa Ruiz, Farah Bsieso, and Omar Elba co-star in the final season as Mo, stranded across the border, must get back to Houston before his family’s asylum hearing and before a new guy in town steals his longtime love (and falafel taco recipe).
Mo
In Texas, Mo straddles the line between two cultures, three languages and a pending asylum request while hustling to support his Palestinian family.