There's a little bit for everyone on Netflix this week, with the new shows, movies and documentaries, with its slate of new originals including both love and war — and sometimes a little mix of the two.
Today's entry in our weekly Netflix round-up looks at all the new releases hitting the streamer's metaphorical shelves between Saturday, January 20 and Friday, January 26. To make this list, we made What to Watch's streaming expert scour through the long list of new Originals coming to the service, to pick out the 6 ones you should check out.
Shows and movies on this list were picked because they look gripping or interesting, and they'll probably end up being the most talked-about shows of the coming week. You don't want to be left out of the conversation when other Netflix subscribers talk about what they're watching!
We'll warn you in advance: Netflix has front-loaded its romance and reality shows earlier in the week, and given that this list is ordered chronologically, you thriller and action fans might feel left out. Don't worry, though, because the murder and fighting comes out of the woodwork by the end of the week! And anyway, you had loads of picks in last week's round-up!
Captivating the King
- Type: TV show | releases: Sunday, January 21 | for fans of: romances, Korean period dramas
We start the week in a loving mood with Netflix's new drama Captivating the King, coming from South Korea.
This is a period drama about an enigmatic young woman who shows up at the royal court with dubious intentions. While that premise could easily lend itself to a thriller, this show changes course when the king manages to fall in love with her.
Whether you like romances or are a sucker for period shows, Captivating the King seems to offer something for both audiences in equal measure.
Love Deadline
- Type: reality show | releases: Tuesday, January 23 | for fans of: dating shows
If my degree taught me anything, it's that the words "love" and "deadlines" usually don't go together, but Netflix's new Japanese reality dating show clearly doesn't agree.
The premise of the show is a little confusing, but I think I have it as follows: the women searching for love are taken on holidays to far-flung locales (well, all within Japan). There, they meet potential suitors who show them the area. These men need to try to impress the women, because only the women are allowed to propose — and if they withhold their offer too long, they risk getting nothing.
Given that most of Netflix's dating shows are season 15 of the same old formula, it's interesting to see a new format given a spin. Hopefully, you can get your head around how it works better than I can!
Queer Eye season 8
- Type: reality show | releases: Wednesday, January 24 | for fans of: makeover / lifestyle shows
One of Netflix's flagship shows is returning for its latest season, though it's also the last rodeo for one of the main cast members Bobby Berk.
The show is about a group of men, called the Fab Five (well, soon to be Fab Four apparently). In each episode they help a member of the public improve their lives with a glow-up that touches their fashion, their home, the way they compose themselves and so on.
People getting the glow-up this season include a football coach, a metal fan (the music, not the material) and a former nun.
Six Nations: Full Contact
- Type: docuseries | releases: Wednesday, January 24 | for fans of: rugby / Six Nations, sports documentaries
Netflix has its latest sports docuseries, and this one is about rugby. Specifically, Six Nations: Full Contact looks at... well, Six Nations, the annual six-country showdown (the 2024 tournament is soon and we've got a guide on how to watch Six Nations 2024 if you want to catch it).
Full Contact looks at the 2023 season of the tournament with exclusive access to each of the teams (that's England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy). We see how the drama of the tournament unfolded. This includes injuries, dramas, and how tough it must have been for Italy to lose every single game.
Sports fans are treated well by Netflix as it constantly has new docuseries on various tournaments and cups, and Full Contact is just the latest of many.
Griselda
- Type: TV show | releases: Thursday, January 25 | for fans of: crime dramas, real-life stories
Now this new on Netflix list descends into some crime and violence with Griselda, based on the true story of 1970s crime kingpin Griselda Blanco.
Sofia Vergara plays Blanco herself in this six-part crime drama, and it tells the story about how this Colombian woman came to run a cartel that worked its way across the US. It shows how this cocaine-shipping businesswoman also orchestrated up to 200 murders (allegedly), a figure which includes not one, not two, but three of her husbands.
Whether you're into your true crime stories, drug dealing capers or Wolf of Wall Street rags-to-riches-to-rags tales, Griselda looks like Netflix's biggest drama TV show of the week.
Badland Hunters
- Type: movie | releases: Friday, January 26 | for fans of: Korean action movies, post-apocalypse stories
We end this list, as we often do, on its only movie addition in the form of new Korean post-apocalypse actioner Badland Hunters.
The movie stars Train to Busan and The Eternals star Don Lee as a game hunter who finds himself hunting something a little more bipedal when a crazed scientist captures a young girl. His attempt to rescue her reveals information on why the world has gone down the drain in the first place.
Netflix does love its Korean post-apocalypse action shows and movies, with Black Knight and Sweet Home some other recent entries, and it looks like it could be a good (but gory, and a little horror-ish) time.
