Best new movies and TV series on Amazon Prime Video Australia: January 2021

Each month, new films and TV shows are added to Amazon Prime Video‘s Australian library. Eliza Janssen presents her picks for titles worth watching. For the full list of everything arriving on the platform, scroll down.

Top picks

The Stand (January 15)

There ain’t many film and TV events that really feel like ‘events’ these days; what am I gonna do, pick the cat hair out of my sweatpants to celebrate the VOD release of another shelved blockbuster? And yet this sweeping TV adaptation of The Stand does feel pretty epic. Maybe it’s the Stephen King-iness of it all, a sprawling post-apocalyptic saga with an all-star cast, superpowers and a Biblical battle between good and evil. To top it all off, King has written a unique new conclusion to the story, offering something for even those Kingheads among us who already think we know how everything wraps up.

One Night in Miami (January 15)

1964! Goldfinger tops the box office, my mum is born in Canberra, and four of the most famous and influential Black men in America spend one evening together in Miami. Well actually, that never happened; Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown never sat down in a Florida hotel to swap life stories. But One Night In Miami, directed by actress Regina King, imagines the complex discussions about civil rights, art and race that would have ensued. Each of the men plays a huge role in the cultural and civil upheaval of the 1960s, but something tells me this film might be perfectly designed for 2021 instead.

The Rental (January 22)

“Directed by Dave Franco” is not the most immediately-enticing hook when it comes to The Rental, an upcoming thriller set on a couples’ weekend getaway. We pretty much only know Dave from his decent acting career, if not as James’ little brother. But I’m hearing great buzz for this limited-location story, which features Alison Brie and Dan Stevens among its small cast. Franco has apparently made a highly sophisticated and unnerving little potboiler, about how intimacy between friends and lovers can sour into something truly freaky.