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January 2024 is looking like a busy month on Netflix Hong Kong, and a lot of movies that need no introduction are due to arrive on the streaming platform: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, The Batman, King Richard, Elvis, Pompeii, and Godzilla vs. Kong will all be made available soon! However, if you’re among the cinephiles who’ve already seen all of these big productions, you might find inspiration for your next movie night below. Read on to find out what we’re watching on Netflix this month.
Fool Me Once arrived on Netflix on 1 January, and what a great start to the new year! This British series adaptation of the eponymous mystery novel by Harlan Coben is just as gripping as the original tale. The thriller follows a recently widowed Maya as her dead husband starts appearing on her baby monitor camera. Gaslighted by her mother-in-law, a powerful matriarch, the mystery thickens, twists, and has us trembling on the edge of our seats.
The Brothers Sun is a new dark comedy series delving into the family history of Bruce Sun. He and his mother (portrayed by Michelle Yeoh) lead a normal life in Los Angeles when Bruce’s brother, Charles, visits them from Taipei after their father’s assassination. What innocent Charles ignored all along was that his family has long-lasting ties in Taiwan as the head of Taipei’s biggest gang, the Jade Dragons. As a new gang aims to take over, the entire family is threatened. Bruce can’t escape his heritage anymore—it has followed him and his mother to California.
Do you miss raunchy American comedies from the early 2000s? If you’re thinking “Oh dear, no,” skip this one. Although gracing us with Jennifer Lawrence’s first comedy role—and if you’ve taken any interest in Jennifer Lawrence, you will know funny is in her blood—No Hard Feelings ticks all the boxes of a classic sex comedy. It follows Maddie, a 30-something-year-old in need of money, as a rich couple asks her to date their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy. From that moment on, it gets pretty awkward…
Society of the Snow is a Spanish production relating the real-life events of the 1972 Andes flight disaster and its miraculous survivors. 16 passengers of the flight linking Uruguay to Chile survived in the freezing Andes mountains for more than two months before being rescued. They overcame avalanches, resolved to cannibalism, and two of them climbed and hiked over a glacier and into Chile without any mountaineering gear. Few tales are as remarkable as this surviving story.
The Abandoned is a Taiwanese crime thriller film. The plot follows Wu Jie, a police officer dealing with the trauma of her life partner’s suicide, as she attempts to solve the murder of a woman found with a missing finger and no heart. If this storyline doesn’t sound very different from other serial killer pictures, The Abandoned looks like it’s filmed as a horror film—lighting, suspense, and sound effects all give off a paranormal feeling, providing chills and a darkness to set the movie apart.
The second season of the popular tennis documentary series Break Point is dropping on Netflix this month, giving viewers an insider’s look into the tournaments and players that made history in 2023. Most exciting is probably the arrival of Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz in the mix of players that participated in this new season of the show. For tennis fans or as a rookie introduction, Break Point is an enthralling depiction of a zealous sport and its community. Available 10 January.
This romantic comedy set in Manila talks about something often absent from cinema: love as an elderly person. The premise is based on an existing practice in the Philippines where the first screening in movie theatres is free for senior citizens on Mondays. Lydia and Bobby meet while attending this special screening that gives its name to the movie, and then proceed to fall in love. Their story explores seduction, past relationships, parenting, and many other realistic aspects of life in a sincere and heart-warming depiction of love.
Did you miss the release of this animated series last November? Netflix has just announced that a second season is coming so there is still time to catch up. Blue Eye Samurai is an action-packed animation series with an anime-inspired aesthetic, set in Japan in the seventeenth century. The narrative follows a vengeful mixed-race warrior, Mizu, who is treated like a monster for having blue eyes, leading her to live a life in disguise. She becomes a well-trained swordswoman and sets out to exact revenge on those who have caused her misery. The animation in this eight-episode series is mesmerising; every scene, character, or landscape is a work of art you’ll love to look at.
DC League of Super-Pets is a family-friendly superhero comedy following Superman’s Kryptonian Labrador Retriever voiced by Dwayne Johnson, and Ace, a shelter Boxer voiced by Kevin Hart. After Ace gets superpowers, they join paws to save the human Justice League from Lex Luthor, a recurring villain in the DC Comics universe. Rumour has it, this beats any human blockbuster you’ll see this year. Available 30 January.
Apocalyptic dystopias are the current craze, and Badland Hunters will join the genre’s growing ensemble at the end of the month. Starring Don Lee as the hunter in question, this South Korean production takes us to Seoul after the city was entirely destroyed by an earthquake. In a lawless society, Nam San hunts a doctor experimenting on humans, facing many fights in the process. Available 26 January.
Alexander the Great is an unmissable historical figure. His life’s accomplishments are numerous. As Aristotle’s student and Macedonia’s king, Alexander unified Greece, led Egypt, and conquered lands in Europe and in Asia all in a mere 13 years until he died of a fever, undefeated in battle. His life is being depicted in Alexander: The Making of a God, a docudrama series mixing interviews and historical reenactment, fit for history junkies and history newbies alike. Available 31 January.
Born and raised in the French countryside, Lily arrived in Hong Kong looking for an adventure. Passionate about books, she spent some time in Parisian publishing houses and is the author of an illustrated book about hair. Life in Hong Kong for her entails looking for seaside places to eat and a lot of hiking.
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