By Stacy Lee Kong

Between Omicron, holiday-inspired austerity measures (and by ‘holiday’ we mean both shopping for others and our own Boxing Day splurges, because online shopping is definitely still our favourite COVID coping mechanism) and you know, snow, January is shaping up to be a great month for watching all the shows and movies. To that end, here’s what we’re recommending on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, CBC Gem, Crave, Disney+ and Netflix Canada for the coming month.

Amazon Prime Video

The Tender Bar (Premieres January 7) 

This George Clooney-directed coming-of-age drama starts in 1972, when 9-year-old J.R. Maguire moves into his grandfather's dilapidated house in Long Island, N.Y. Searching for a father figure, he falls under the unconventional tutelage of his uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), a charismatic, self-educated bartender who introduces him to a handful of the bar's colourful regulars. As the years pass and J.R. grows into a young man, he tries to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer.

As We See It (Premieres January 21) 

As We See It follows Jack (Rick Glassman), Harrison (Albert Rutecki), and Violet (Sue Ann Pien), twentysomething roommates on the autism spectrum, as they strive to get and keep jobs, make friends, fall in love, and navigate a world that eludes them. With the help of their families, aide, and sometimes even each other, these roommates experience setbacks and celebrate triumphs on their own unique journeys towards independence and acceptance. Series stars Glassman, Rutecki, and Pien all identify as living on the autism spectrum. The series also stars Sosie Bacon as their aide Mandy, Chris Pang as Violet’s brother Van, and Joe Mantegna as Jack’s father Lou.

Needle in a Timestack (Premieres January 28) 

If love is in the form of a circle, what lines would you cross to be with your soulmate? In this gripping, near-future love story directed by Oscar® winner John Ridley, Nick and Janine (Oscar® nominees Leslie Odom, Jr. and Cynthia Erivo) live in marital bliss, until Janine’s ex-husband (Orlando Bloom) warps time to try to tear them apart using Nick’s college girlfriend (Frieda Pinto). As Nick’s memories and reality disappear, he must decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in order to hold onto—or let go of—everything he loves. Can love endure in a future where time is fluid, and all of life may be just an illusion?

Apple TV+

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Premieres January 14) 

Based on the play by William Shakespeare and written for the screen and directed by Joel Coen, The Tragedy of Macbeth stars Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling and Brendan Gleeson.

The Afterparty (Premieres January 28)

A genre-defying series centered on a murder mystery at a high school reunion. Each episode explores a different character’s account of the fateful evening in question, all through the lens of popular film genres and unique visuals to match the storyteller’s perspective. The Afterparty features a stellar ensemble cast including Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Jamie Demetriou and Dave Franco.

CBC Gem

Pen15, Season 2 (Premieres January 3)

Show creators, Maya Erskine (Plus One) and Anna Konkle (Rosewood), who are full-on adults, play fictionalized depictions of their younger selves as awkward 7th grade outcasts, surrounded by actual 13-year-olds. Taking a nostalgic trip back to the year 2000, these two best friends enter the wonderful world of puberty and burgeoning adolescence together while facing the trials and tribulations of middle school – from boys to school dances to overbearing parents – where the best day of your life can turn into the worst with the stroke of a gel pen.

Workin’ Moms, Season 6 (Premieres January 4)

Kate (Catherine Reitman) grapples with the unexpected addition to the Foster family, and a snag threatens to unravel everything she’s built at work.

Run the Burbs (Premieres January 5)

Created by comedian, writer and actor Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience) and his best friend and collaborator, filmmaker Scott Townend (The Secret Marathon), Run the Burbs follows the Phams, a young, bold Vietnamese-South Asian-Canadian family taking a different approach to living life to the fullest, while changing the way we think about contemporary family values and life in the burbs. Phung executive produces, writes and stars in the series as stay-at-home dad Andrew Pham, living and loving with his entrepreneurial, executive wife and two kids. Joining Phung on screen forming the balance of the Pham family are actor and comedian Rakhee Morzaria (Note to Self, Private Eyes) as Andrew’s wife Camille and rising young stars Zoriah Wong (Nancy Drew) and Roman Pesino (Odd Squad) as their children, Khia and Leo.

Pretty Hard Cases (Premieres January 5)

In season 2 of Pretty Hard Cases, detectives Samantha Wazowski and Kelly Duff find themselves in brand new territory, both at work and in their personal lives. As official partners in Guns and Gangs, this buddy-cop duo has never been better at blending their different skills to get the job done—whether they’re solving a crime in the community or tackling systemic corruption from within the force. When they find themselves up against a new age gang that doesn’t operate by the same old rules, Sam and Kelly are forced to put their lives on the line as they attempt the riskiest takedown of their careers.

Who Do You Think I Am? (Premieres January 7)

Who Do You Think I Am? features Madison Tevlin, who has spent her whole life being judged at first glance. Maddie has Down syndrome but it has absolutely nothing to do with who she is. Maddie finds connection with other misinterpreted and misperceived people, as she chats one-on-one with extraordinary people misrepresented by their exterior. This season, Madison will sit down with Ann Pornel from The Great Canadian Baking Show, Sarah Nicole Landry of The Birds Papaya, and Canadian singer Tyler Shaw, to name a few. With every person on the planet, there is so much more to discover and Maddie gets to the heart of who they really are. 

Best in Miniature (Premieres January 14)

This brand-new series is hosted by writer and stand-up comedian Aba Amuquandoh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) and welcomes 11 highly skilled artists from across the world to compete in the ultimate challenge: building their dream home in miniature form. The competitors will create their houses, in painstaking detail, room by room by shrinking life-size objects to 1:12 scale. While the objects may be small in stature, the stakes could not be higher. Judged by U.K Miniature Expert Emma Waddell, and esteemed Designer Micheal Lambie, precision and design technique will save the competitors from elimination. Week after week, the remaining miniaturists will continue to battle it out to stay in the game until only three remain for the last competition in the grand finale. The winner will receive a cash prize and the coveted title of Best in Miniature.

War Club (Premieres January 21)

A live visual performance of DJ Shub’s critically acclaimed, chart-topping Indigenous electronic album.

Crave Canada

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (Premieres January 1) 

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson join filmmaker Chris Columbus and other esteemed cast members across all eight Harry Potter films, as they travel back to Hogwarts for the first time to celebrate the anniversary of the franchise’s first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which premiered 20 years ago in November 2001. The retrospective special tells an enchanting making-of story through all-new, in-depth interviews, and cast conversations, inviting fans on a magical first-person journey through one of the most beloved film franchises of all time.

The Many Saints of Newark (Premieres January 7)

Young Anthony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini) is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark's history, becoming a man, just as rival gangsters begin to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family's hold over the increasingly race-torn city. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), who struggles to manage both his professional and personal responsibilities--and whose influence over his impressionable nephew helps make the teenager into the all-powerful mob boss that will later be known as Tony Soprano.

Euphoria, Season 2 (Premieres January 9)

Season 2 returns to the town of East Highland, where 17-year-old Rue (Zendaya) must find hope while balancing the pressures of love, loss and addiction.

The Righteous Gemstones, Season 2 (Premieres January 9)

Starring Danny McBride, John Goodman, Edi Patterson, and Adam Devine, this HBO Original series tells the story of a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed, and charitable work. Season 2 finds the blessed Gemstone family threatened by outsiders from both the past and present who wish to destroy their empire.

Fanny: The Right to Rock (Premieres January 17)

Sometime in the 1960s, in sunny Sacramento, two Filipina-American sisters got together with other teenage girls to play music. Little did they know their garage band would evolve into the legendary rock group Fanny, the first all-women band to release an LP with a major record label (Warner/Reprise, 1970). Despite releasing five critically-acclaimed albums over five years, touring with famed bands from Slade to Chicago, and amassing a dedicated fan base of music legends including David Bowie, Fanny's groundbreaking impact in music was written out of history, until the bandmades decided to reunite 50 years later, with a new record deal. Following its premiere earlier this year at the 2021 Hot Docs Festival, Fanny: The Right to Rock includes incredible archival footage of the band's rocking past, intercut with its next chapter releasing a new LP, and interviews with a large cadre of music icons, including: Def Leppard's Joe Elliott; Bonnie Raitt; The Go-Go's Kathy Valentine; Todd Rundgren; The Runaways' Cherie Currie; Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian; The B52's Kate Pierson; and Charles Neville and David Bowie guitarist and bassist Earl Slick and Gail Ann Dorsey.

The Gilded Age (Premieres January 24)

The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of great conflict between the old ways and brand new systems, and of huge fortunes made and lost. Against the backdrop of this transformation, The Gilded Age begins in 1882 with young Marian Brook moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her thoroughly old money aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook. Accompanied by Peggy Scott, an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George and Bertha Russell. Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?

Disney+ Canada

Eternals (Premieres January 14) 

Marvel Studios’ Eternals follows a group of heroes from beyond the stars who had protected the Earth since the dawn of man. When monstrous creatures called the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, the Eternals are forced to reunite in order to defend humanity once again. The outstanding ensemble cast includes Gemma Chan as humankind-loving Sersi, Richard Madden as the all-powerful Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as cosmic-powered Kingo, Lia McHugh as the eternally young, old-soul Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as the intelligent inventor Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as the super-fast Makkari, Barry Keoghan as aloof loner Druig, Don Lee as the powerful Gilgamesh, with Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, with Salma Hayek as the wise and spiritual leader Ajak, and Angelina Jolie as the fierce warrior Thena. 

Netflix Canada

All of Us Are Dead (Coming Soon)

In this South Korean series, a zombie virus breaks out fast inside a school. Endangered students fight to survive and escape.

Hype House (Premieres January 7)

This brand-new series follows the compelling lives of some of the world's biggest social media stars. Join these iconic content creators as they welcome us into the infamous Hype House, open their lives to the world and show a side of themselves and their relationships we’ve seldom seen. From humble beginnings to overnight fame, these are the stories of the most popular personalities on social media as they come into their own, fall in love and tackle the next stage of their lives.

Mother/Android (Premieres January 7)

In a post-apocalyptic world rocked by a violent android uprising, a young pregnant woman and her boyfriend desperately search for safety.

Brazen (Premieres January 13)

Mystery writer Grace Miller has killer instincts when it comes to motive — and she'll need every bit of expertise to help solve her sister's murder.

The House (Premieres January 14)

This eccentric dark comedy anthology is directed by top talents in independent stop-motion animation.

Heavenly Bites: Mexico (Premieres January 19)

Welcome to a food extravaganza, a visual poem to Mexican's culinary ingenuity and the quirky and delicious flavors that are worth the stomach aches.

Too Hot To Handle, Season 3 (Premieres January 19)

On the shores of paradise, gorgeous singles meet and mingle. But there’s a twist. To win a $100,000 grand prize, they’ll have to give up sex.

The Royal Treatment (Premieres January 20)

New York hairdresser Izzy seizes the chance to work at the wedding of a charming prince, but when sparks between them fly, will love — or duty — prevail?

Ozark, Season 4 Part 1 (Premieres January 22)

Freedom from the cartel is seemingly within reach, but fraying familial bonds may prove to be the Byrdes' ultimate undoing.

Snowpiercer, Season 3 (Premieres January 25)

Six months later, Layton continues to search the globe for livable conditions while Wilford — fueled by fury and revenge — remains in hot pursuit.

Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness (Premieres January 28)

An unabashedly smart and quirky exploration into topics and questions that make Jonathan curious. From skyscrapers to bugs, or from gender identity to snacks, each episode follows Jonathan as he meets with experts in various fields to uncover complexities in a wide range of subjects.

The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window (Premieres January 28)

A heartbroken artist's life is turned upside down when she witnesses a crime... or did she?