Of all the streaming platforms, NetflixNFLX -0.3% is by far the most active. Almost every day, the world’s most viral streaming service adds lots and lots of new movies to its digital library. And this past week was no different.
Which makes choosing a movie…well. Difficult. But hopefully I can help. I scoured through every new movie that’s new to Netflix so far in January—updated with movies that were added this week—and picked out the ten best options. In this article, I’ll go through each one of them.
If you’d like to read my thoughts on many of Netflix’s offerings and where they place on my all-time movie rankings, then check out my ever-growing list.
True Spirit
A tenacious Australian teen chases her dreams — and faces her fears — as she sets out to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The future of civilization rests in the fate of the One Ring, which has been lost for centuries. Powerful forces are unrelenting in their search for it. But fate has placed it in the hands of a young Hobbit named Frodo Baggins, who inherits the Ring and steps into legend. A daunting task lies ahead for Frodo when he becomes the Ringbearer – to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged.
Julie & Julia
Frustrated with a soul-killing job, New Yorker Julie Powell embarks on a daring project: she vows to prepare all 524 recipes in Julia Childs’ landmark cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Intertwined with Julie’s story is the true tale of how Julia Child herself conquered French cuisine with passion, fearlessness, and plenty of butter.
Call Me By Your Name
It’s the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century villa in Lombardy, Italy. He soon meets Oliver, a handsome doctoral student who’s working as an intern for Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of their surroundings, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.
Viking Wolf
After witnessing a grotesque murder at a party in her new town, a teenager starts having strange visions and bizarre desires.
Stepmom
Three years after divorcing Jackie, the mother of his children, Luke Harrison decides to take the next step with his significantly younger girlfriend, fashion photographer Isabel Kelly. But, when the flaky Kelly meets Harrison’s children for the first time, their fierce allegiance to their mother is obvious. Try as she might, Kelly fails to endear herself to her young charges — and to Jackie — until a looming family crisis changes everything.
It
Seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine, are about to face their worst nightmare — an ancient, shape-shifting evil that emerges from the sewer every 27 years to prey on the town’s children. Banding together over the course of one horrifying summer, the friends must overcome their own personal fears to battle the murderous, bloodthirsty clown known as Pennywise.
La La Land
Sebastian and Mia are drawn together by their common desire to do what they love. But as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.