Netflix high season is here. Sure, the holidays give you more time to sit around in sweats and mainline episodes of You but come January, it's a whole new level of binge-watching. It’s the season I like to call, “Netflix and hole up indoors until the weather outside is less frightful.” Let it snow, but only if I have a new show to sink into.
New year, same self-care strategy! As we curl up on our couches and cross our fingers that any plans we made to leave our houses get cancelled, Netflix has us covered. Here’s what to watch on Netflix Canada in January, plus everything that’s coming and going.
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Uncut Gems
If you follow Vulture writer and prolific tweeter Hunter Harris, you’ve probably heard of Uncut Gems. You might not know anything about it other than that Harris’s gems are, in fact, uncut, or that Adam Sandler is in serious Oscar contention but that’s OK. I’m here to explain the film that already had a loyal and vocal stan base well before its release date.
Sandler plays a fast-talking New York City jeweler who risks it all to pay back debts and angry collectors. It also inexplicably stars NBA superstar Kevin Garnett and Toronto’s own R&B crooner, The Weeknd. I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers so I have no idea how they fit in, but this film by sibling director duo Josh and Benny Safdie is supposed to be one greats. Trust Harris and her still-intact gems. January 31
Photo: Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock.
Definitely, Maybe
Rom-com experts like myself may remember Definitely, Maybe from the pre-rom-com resurgence era. It came out in 2008 and the three biggest movies at the box office were The Dark Knight, WALL-E, and Kung Fu Panda. All of those films are great but rom-coms they are not. Definitely, Maybe came in to fill the void of watching hot and funny people fall in love.
This charming movie is packed with hot/funny people: Ryan Reynolds, Rachel Weisz, Isla Fisher, and Elizabeth Banks, just to name a few. The story goes like this: Reynolds plays Will, a dude trying to explain to his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin with her Little Miss Sunshine-era adorableness), why he’s divorcing her mother. He tells the story of meeting the various leading ladies of his youth as Maya is left guessing which one is her mom. This movie is everything How I Met Your Mother wished it was. January 1
Sex, Explained: Limited Series
They had me at Janelle Monáe. The official Netflix pitch for Sex, Explained is simple enough: “Attraction. Fantasies. Fertility. Discover the ins and outs of sex in this fun and informative series.” But it wasn’t until the kicker, “narrated by singer-actress Janelle Monáe” that I was sold.
The series will tackle the BIG sex questions — from the biology of attraction to the history of birth control. I would listen to Janelle Monáe read the seemingly never-ending insert that comes inside a box of Plan B (so I’ve heard from, um, a friend), so I’m all the way in for her explaining the mysteries and history of one of life’s most important and debated acts. January 2
Photo: Courtesy Of Saeed Adyani/Netflix.
AJ and the Queen
RuPaul as a drag queen starring opposite a feisty 10-year-old. Do I need to go on? I don’t but I will. Coming off the mega success of Drag Race, RuPaul plays Ruby Red, a down-on-her-luck drag queen who is travelling across America in an RV, a mode of transportation unfit for a queen in my opinion. She meets an unlikely companion: a 10-year-old stowaway named AJ.
In this comedic series, “these two misfits, one tall, one small, travel from city to city,” as “Ruby’s message of love and acceptance winds up touching people and changing their lives for the better,” according to Netflix. Entertainment Weekly reports that RuPaul will perform a “killer musical number” in every drag club Ruby and AJ visit. January 10
Photo: Hopper Stone/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock.
Game Night
I am very competitive. Like, scream-at-my-partner-and-break-shit competitive. Please invite me to your game nights. All my friends have stopped inviting me for some strange reason. My intense affinity for playing skill-testing games in pairs may be why I love Game Night so much. It could also be because the cast is STACKED and it’s one of the funniest movies to come along in years.
Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play a married couple, Max and Annie, who meet up regularly with their friends for game night. When Max’s troublemaker older brother (Kyle Chandler) shows up and gets kidnapped, it’s a real-life mystery that the gang needs to solve before it’s too late. Billy Magnussen, Michael C. Hall, Kylie Bunbury, Lamorne Morris, and Jesse Plemons round out the cast. Plemons is so funny he will make your stomach hurt (shout out to the mini Friday Night Lights reunion with Plemons and Chandler aka Landry and Coach Taylor) and this film is so fun, you’ll want to get your friends together for some low-stakes charades, ASAP. January 4
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Photo: Courtesy of Netflix
Cheer
Hello? Hi, yes, I would like this series injected directly into my veins, please. The makers of Last Chance U bring us Cheer, a docuseries about the 14-time National Championship-winning cheerleading squad of Navarro College in Corsicana, Tx.
The synopsis reads like the latest installment in the Bring It On franchise: “the stakes on the mat are high, but for these athletes, the only thing more brutal than their workouts and more exceptional than their performances are the stories of adversity and triumph behind the team members themselves.” Let’s hope they don’t have to go up against the East Compton Clovers because we all know how that goes for the other guys.
Photo: Courtesy Of Sam Taylor.
Sex Education: Season 2
Sex Education star Asa Butterfield was one of my 10 underrated crushes of 2019, but that’s not the only reason to watch this show. Butterfield isn’t even the best part. He plays Otis Milburn, a socially inept high-school student who lives with his sex therapist mother, Jean (Gillian Anderson). Otis is endearing and great, but it’s supporting players like his best friend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), his crush Maeve (Emma Mackey), and her boyfriend Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) who will make you fall in love with this series and pay more attention to it than you ever did in sex-ed class.
In Season 2, the gang will face a new challenge: “Moordale Secondary is in the throes of a chlamydia outbreak, highlighting the need for better sex education at the school and new kids come to town who will challenge the status quo.” January 17
Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images.
Tyler Perry's A Fall from Grace
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Tyler Perry movies, but when the epic and history-making Tyler Perry studios was unveiled in 2019 and Perry’s lasting impact on Black entertainment in Hollywood became undeniable (and on full display so the industry could see what Black-owned art could achieve), I had no choice but to stan.
In his latest Netflix original film, Crystal Fox plays Grace, a pillar of her community and all-around good woman who has to hold it together when her ex marries his mistress and her son leaves the nest. Her best friend Sarah, played by the inimitable Phylicia Rashad, encourages her to move on with a handsome stranger. He turns out to be trash, as men do so often, and Grace ends up on trial for his murder. Before you yell at me, I don’t think that’s a spoiler! It was in the synopsis! Bresha Webb and Cicely Tyson also star in this film that is sure to deliver a WILD ride. January 17
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Part 3
Full disclosure: I couldn’t make it through the first season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina because I was too scared. Judge me. Word is that Kiernan Shipka is great as our beloved Sabrina Spellman and Part 3 is supposed to be the most chilling season yet.
My research tells me that my decision not to watch the show based on my tendency to be a scaredy cat was the correct instinct. Here’s how we described the Part Two finale: “[Sabrina] learned that her dad isn’t a Spellman at all, but the actual devil. And while our heroine eventually defeated Lucifer, the Dark Lord remains trapped in her boyfriend Nick Scratch’s (Leatherwood) body.” Right. Good luck with this one, you brave souls! January 24
Everything New On Netflix
Avail. 1/1/20
Ghost Stories (Netflix Film)
Messiah (Netflix Original)
Nisman: Death of a Prosecutor (Netflix Documentary)
Spinning Out (Netflix Original)
The Circle (Netflix Original)
American Graffiti
Curious George
Definitely, Maybe
Drugs, Inc.: Season 6
Line of Duty: Season 5
Mamma Mia!
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Maze Runner: Death Cure
Saint Seiya: Season 4-5
The 15:17 to Paris
The Imitation Game
The Post
Vikings: Season 1-2
Avail. 1/2/20
Sex, Explained: Limited Series (Netflix Documentary)
Thieves of the Wood (Netflix Original)
Avail. 1/3/20
All the Freckles in the World (Netflix Film)
Gotham: Season 5
Avail. 1/4/20
Game Night
Go! Go! Cory Carson (Netflix Family)
Avail. 1/7/20
Rust Valley Restorers: Season 1
Avail. 1/8/20
Cheer (Netflix Documentary)
Avail. 1/10/20
AJ and the Queen (Netflix Original)
Giri / Haji (Netflix Original)
Harvey Girls Forever!: Season 4 (Netflix Family)
The Inbestigators: Season 2 (Netflix Family)
Medical Police (Netflix Original)
Scissor Seven (Netflix Anime)
Titans: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Until Dawn (Netflix Original)
Avail. 1/13/20
The Healing Powers of Dude (Netflix Family)
Avail. 1/14/20
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix Family)
Avail. 1/15/20
Grace and Frankie: Season 6 (Netflix Original)
Quien a hierro mata (Netflix Film)
Avail. 1/16/20
NiNoKuni (Netflix Anime)
Avail. 1/17/20
Ares (Netflix Original)
Hip-Hop Evolution: Season 4 (Netflix Original)
Sex Education: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Tiny House Nation: Volume 2
Tyler Perry's A Fall from Grace (Netflix Film)
Vivir dos veces (Netflix Film)
Wer kann, der kann! (Netflix Original)
Avail. 1/20/20
Family Reunion: Part 2 (Netflix Family)
Good Time
Avail. 1/21/20
Fortune Feimster: Sweet & Salty (Netflix Original)
God's Own Country
Word Party: Season 4 (Netflix Family)
Avail. 1/22/20
Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak (Netflix Documentary)
Avail. 1/23/20
The Ghost Bride (Netflix Original)
October Faction (Netflix Original)
The Queen
SAINT SEIYA: Knights of the Zodiac: Season 1/ Part 2 (Netflix Anime)
Avail. 1/24/20
A Sun -- NETFLIX FILM
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Part 3 (Netflix Original)
The Ranch: The Final Season (Netflix Original)
Rise of Empires: Ottoman (Netflix Original)
You Cannot Hide (No te puedes esconder) (Netflix Original)
Avail. 1/25/20
Captain America: The First Avenger
Avail. 1/26/20
Vir Das: For India (Netflix Original)
Avail. 1/28/20
Alex Fernández: El mejor comediante del mundo (Netflix Original)
Legend
Avail. 1/29/20
Frères Ennemis (Netflix Original)
Next In Fashion (Netflix Original)
Night on Earth (Netflix Documentary)
Omniscient (Netflix Original)
Avail. 1/30/20
Ainori Love Wagon: African Journey (Netflix Original)
The Stranger (Netflix Original)
Avail. 1/31/20
37 Seconds (Netflix Film)
Bojack Horseman: Season 6 (Part B) (Netflix Original)
Diablero: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
I AM A KILLER: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Luna Nera (Netflix Original)
Ragnarok (Netflix Original)
Star Trek Beyond
Uncut Gems (Netflix Film)
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