The first month of the year is usually a bit slow for the film and television industry, as not many releases are lined up. So we decided to take a look at the best January movies released in the last decade to see if the statement stands true or if the month doesn’t matter in front of a good story.
11 Best January Movies
January 2012: The Iron Lady
The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (played by Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world.
This role got Meryl Streep her 3rd oscar, after almost 29 years of her last win, along with a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. The other cast of this widely acclaimed movie also includes Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Roger Allam, Susan Brown, Nick Dunning, Nicholas Farrell, Iain Glen, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Head, Harry Lloyd and many others.
Watch this film on Amazon Prime Video.
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January 2013: Mama
Guillermo del Toro, the Academy Award-nominated writer of Pan’s Labyrinth, has produced this supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed. When the young sisters are found alive in a decrepit cabin, their uncle and his girlfriend Annabel take them in. As they try to introduce the children to a normal life, Annabel begins to wonder if the traumatized girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home.
The film stars Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse, Daniel Kash, and Javier Botet as the lead character. I remember the film being all the rage when it was released and although it got mixed reviews about the story, the chilling ambience is to look out for. You can watch this film on Amazon Prime Video.
January 2014: Her
The movie might be set in Los Angeles in the slight future, but certainly is becoming a reality today. Her follows Theodore Twombly, a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user.
Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet “Samantha,” a bright, female voice, who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow, in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other. The story explores the facet of intimacy in the modern world and is beautifully portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix. It also stars Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Chris Pratt.
Although the film premiered in selected theatres in 2013, it was officially released everywhere on 10th January 2014. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video.
January 2015: Black Sea
Whenever there’s some hidden treasure or lots sum of money involved, you know things will go right for everyone involved. Black Sea centres on a rogue submarine captain (played by Jude Law) who, after being laid off from a salvage company, pulls together a misfit crew to go after a sunken treasure rumoured to be lost in the depths of the Black Sea.
As greed and desperation take control on board their claustrophobic vessel, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival. The cast includes Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, David Threlfall, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Sergey Puskepalis, Michael Smiley and Grigory Dobrygin. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video.
January 2016: The Danish Girl
While there are quite a few mentionable releases like Carol and The Revenant, this film, in particular, stands out the most among all. Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander star in a remarkable love story inspired by the true events of an artist who embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Based on the 2000 novel of the same name by David Ebershoff, and loosely inspired by the lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, the film is widely acclaimed and one of the most notable roles by Eddie Redmayne. It also stars Alicia Vikander as Wegener, and Sebastian Koch as Kurt Warnekros, with Ben Whishaw, Amber Heard, and Matthias Schoenaerts in supporting roles. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video.
January 2017: Split
Written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, this psychological thriller stars James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckley. The story explores the topic of dissociative identity disorder, as a man named Kevin (James McAvoy) has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist, there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate the others.
Compelled to abduct three teenage girls led by the willful, observant Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Kevin reaches a war for survival among all of those contained within him—as well as everyone around him—as the walls between his personalities shatter apart. And the most dangerous personality takes over. Watch this intriguing film on Netflix.
January 2018: Call Me By Your Name
It surprises me to know that this film was only released in 2018, while it feels like it was released way before that. It is the film that introduced many of us to Timothée Chalamet. Based on the novel by André Aciman, the story is set in the summer of 1983, in the north of Italy, Elio Perlman, a 17-year-old American spends his days in his family’s 17th-century villa lazily transcribing music and flirting with his friend Marzia.
One day Oliver (Armie Hammer), a 24-year-old graduate student working on his doctorate arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video.
January 2019: A Dog’s Way Home
A Dog’s Way Home tells the heartwarming adventure of Bella, a dog who embarks on an epic 400-mile journey home after she is separated from her beloved human. Bella is a devoted, homesick dog who goes on a treacherous journey across the American heartland to be reunited with her owner.
It is based on the novel of the same name by Cameron. The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Ashley Judd, Edward James Olmos, Alexandra Shipp, Wes Studi, Chris Bauer, Barry Watson, and Jonah Hauer-King. Watch this film on Netflix.
January 2020: Weathering with You
Coming from the creators of Your Name, it is guaranteed to be a good watch. Following the summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day as if to suggest his future.
He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky. Watch this film on Netflix.
January 2021: Pieces of a Woman
The story follows a heartbreaking home birth that leaves a woman grappling with the profound emotional fallout, isolated from her partner and family by a chasm of grief. Vanessa Kirby earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for this emotional drama executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
It also stars Shia LaBeouf, Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie, Jimmie Fails, and Ellen Burstyn. Watch it on Netflix.
January 2022: Scream V
With a new Scream movie about to be released soon, what else could be better than to check back on the previous ones? Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.
Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette return to their iconic roles, alongside Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ammar. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video.
Which of the above-mentioned movies have you watched already, or will be adding to your watchlist now? Let us know in the comment section below.