Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Happy New Year! After the year we’ve had, we’re desperate for a change of pace, and luckily, Netflix is happy to oblige. This month, the streaming giant will be kicking off its 2021 movie slate with a plethora of new options. From documentaries to original dramas to cinematic classics, there’s no shortage of new movies coming to Netflix in January 2021, and we’re here to help you find the best of the best!
Die-hard Eddie Murphy fans will find themselves in good company this January, as the actor and comedian’s classic Raw special is now available to stream on Netflix. Afterwards, keep the laughs going with Spring Breakers and Catch Me If You Can, two crime dramas with darkly comedic underbellies. Nothing says LOL quite like a good caper, right?
In the mood for something a bit more serious? Netflix is doubling down on its awards season push this month with the release of Pieces of a Woman, a drama starring Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) and Shia LaBeouf as a young couple who experience a tragedy during their home birth. Kirby has already earned a Best Actress award at the Venice International Film Festival for her performance, so expect her to be a major contender when Golden Globes and Oscars nominations are announced in early February and mid-March, respectively.
What else will be part of your Netflix movie marathon this month? Here are the best new movies coming to Netflix in January 2021.
Catch Me If You Can
Released January 1
Leonardo DiCaprio is at his most charming in Catch Me If You Can. Steven Spielberg’s classic crime caper stars DiCaprio as real-life con artist Frank Abagnale, who successfully forged millions of dollars in checks right under the FBI’s nose, all before his 19th birthday. Over the course of a few months, Frank poses as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer, raking in cash (and girlfriends) along the way.
The Departed
Released January 1
More Leo? No problem. In 2006, DiCaprio partnered with Martin Scorsese, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson on The Departed. The cop drama stars DiCaprio as Billy Costigan, a young cop who finally gets his shot when he goes undercover with a local crime syndicate. As Billy encounters various shady figures and learns that there may be a mole in the department, he realizes he’s bitten off way more than he can chew.
Eddie Murphy: Raw
Released January 1
If you watch just one title on Netflix this month, make it Eddie Murphy’s Raw. The 1987 comedy special, a follow-up to Delirious, was a box office phenomenon, and it went on to gross $50.5 million in the United States and Canada. While Delirious hasn’t fared very well under a modern microscope, Raw is certainly the less offensive of the two, so viewers interested in a more PC special should do with that what they will.
Goodfellas
Released January 1
There’s more than just Scorsese movies and crime dramas coming to Netflix this month, we swear. However, we’d be remiss not to mention Goodfellas, Scorsese’s sprawling crime epic starring Robert De Niro as an Irish gangster who recruits a high school kid (Ray Liotta) to work as a low-level moneyman. As the years pass, their relationship becomes complicated by constant mafia drama, and eventually, the men are forced to make fateful decisions to stay alive.
Mud
Released January 1
A Cannes and Sundance darling, Mud stars Matthew McConaughey as Mud, a fugitive living in a boat stuck in a tree. When two teenage boys (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland) discover Mud, they agree to protect him from bounty hunters and reunite him with his ex-girlfriend, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Alright, alright, alright!
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Released January 5
Did the news about Amazon’s Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series make you feel some type of way? If so, make it a point to re-watch the 2011 American adaptation, which comes to Netflix on January 5. Before Claire Foy stepped into Lisbeth Salander’s hoodie in the 2018 sequel, the character was played by Rooney Mara; the critically-acclaimed performance served as Mara’s breakout, and she went on to earn a Academy Award nomination for Best Actress at the 2012 Oscars.
Pieces of a Woman
Released January 7
It wouldn’t be a new month without some new Netflix Original movies, and January’s got them in spades. First up is Pieces of a Woman, starring The Crown alum Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Molly Parker, Iliza Shlesinger, and Ellyn Burstyn. After a young couple (Kirby and LaBeouf) suffer a great tragedy during their home birth, they embark upon an arduous legal battle while also attempting to come to terms with their immense grief.
Spring Breakers
Released January 10
“Spring Break” isn’t quite its own genre, but Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers is trying its best to make it one. Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine star as a group of reckless college students who rob a local store to fund a spring break trip to Florida. There, they party their asses off and meet Alien (James Franco), a local rapper and hustler, who charms them into joining his crew. What follows is an amazing story about spring break gone wrong — or right, depending on which side of the story you end up on.
Radium Girls
Released January 16
The Kissing Booth‘s Joey King expands her Netflix empire with Radium Girls, a period drama about young women working under dangerous conditions in a radium factory in the 1920s. The film, which also stars Abby Quinn, was slated for a wide release in April 2020, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic complicated things and delayed the drama’s release until the fall. Now, fans who weren’t able to catch Radium Girls during its limited release will be able to stream it on Netflix beginning January 16.
Penguin Bloom
Released January 27
Based on the book by Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive, Penguin Bloom stars Naomi Watts as a recently-disabled woman learning to navigate her new reality. With three weeks to go before its release, the drama, directed by Glendyn Ivin, has received above average reviews (it currently boasts a 63% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes) from critics, who have praised Watts’ and co-star Andrew Lincoln’s strong performances.
The Dig
Released January 29
Two days after debuting Penguin Bloom, Netflix will be releasing another high-profile book-to-film adaptation, The Dig. Directed by Simon Stone, The Dig follows a wealthy widow (Carey Mulligan) who hires an amateur archaeologist (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate a burial site on her estate in Sutton Hoo. They soon discover two early Medieval cemeteries underground, sending them on an exploration of British history with far-reaching implications.
