Netflix January Highlights

Kaleidoscope (January 1)

Billed a “compelling crime anthology series like no other”, Kaleidoscope was loosely inspired by the real-life story of how $70 billion  in bonds went missing in downtown Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy. The eight episodes span from 24 years before the heist to six months after. Reads the burb: “This show is one of a kind where viewers will eventually see all episodes but the order in which they watch the episodes will affect their viewpoint on the story, the characters, and the questions and answers at the heart of the heist. How will you see through the lens of the Kaleidoscope?”

The Pale Blue Eye (January 6)

Murder-mystery about a retired detective who recruits an astute West Point cadet named Edgar Allan Poe to help him solve a grisly series of murders at the U.S. Military Academy. Set in 1830, this adaptation of the gothic novel by Louis Bayard stars Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Bale and director Scott Cooper previously collaborated on the excellent Out of the Furnace and the frustratingly woke Hostiles — which could explain why they’re so inanely excited about U.S. Senator John Fetterman’s cameo.

Vikings: Valhalla (January 12)

Season two opens shortly after the tragic fall of Kattegat, an event that has shattered our heroes’ dreams and altered their destinies. Finding themselves suddenly fugitives in Scandinavia, they are forced to test their ambitions and courage in worlds beyond the fjords of Kattegat. “You’re going to see a very different Leif Erikson, somebody who is driven now and is pulling his father out of every pore in his body,” creator Jeb Stuart says of S2.

Break Point (January 13)

From physical injuries and emotional heartbreak, to triumphant victories and personal insights, Netflix promises “an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the pressure-tested lives that pro tennis players experience in order to achieve greatness”, including Ajla Tomljanovic, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis. Could this glossy series from the team behind Drive to Survive be a game changer for tennis when the sport is trying to reinvent itself?

That ’90s Show (January 19)

That ‘70s Show is back — only 20 years later, when Leia Forman visits her grandparents for the summer and bonds with a new generation of Point Place kids. Returning are Kurtwood Smith, Debra Jo Rupp, Callie Haverda, Ashley Aufderheide, Mace Coronel, Maxwell Donovan, Reyn Doi and Sam Morelos. Co-creator Lindsey Turner told Variety the ’90s was chosen for the sequel because “it was that last place of a real kind of engagement, having to make your own fun and really connecting with each other.”

You People (January 27)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovney play the progressive Jewish parents of “good husband” wannabe Jonah Hill who wants to marry Eddie Murphy and Nia Long’s daughter Lauren London. “If Amira and I had a baby, it would be a very nice baby,” he tells her sceptical parents. “Mixed-race people are really awesome.” Netflix says the romantic-comedy from black-ish co-creator Kenya Barris “explores modern love and family dynamics amid clashing cultures, societal expectations and generational differences”.