Netflix is bringing the heat in January 2026 with a full lineup of original and acquired movies begging to be watched.
But which ones are worth your time?
As part of the Watch With Us team, I combed through the streamer’s schedule and selected three movies I can’t wait to watch in January 2026.
Here’s why you should put People We Meet on Vacation, The Rip and The Children Act on your watchlist now.
‘People We Meet on Vacation’ (2026) — January 9
Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth) are lifelong friends who spend each of their annual summer vacations together. They’re complete opposites in every way, but when they travel to Croatia they discover they have something in common — they’re secretly attracted to the other. Since both have been burned by love before, they aren’t willing to risk jeopardizing their friendship for a vacation fling. But what if their temporary lust is really an everlasting love?
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Based on the bestselling novel by Emily Henry, People We Meet on Vacation doesn’t promise anything more than having pretty people falling head over heels in love with each other in pretty places you can’t afford to visit. Sometimes, escapism is OK, and with a cast that includes SNL vet Molly Shannon and Emily in Paris hunk Lucien Laviscount, People We Meet on Vacation looks like it’s a step above all those corny romance movies that seem to dominate streamers nowadays.
‘The Rip’ (2026) — January 16
It’s always an event when Matt Damon and Ben Affleck do something, and their latest collaboration, The Rip, looks like it will be a winner. The two star as veteran Miami police officers whose unit, which includes fellow cops played by Teyana Taylor and Steven Yeun, finds $20 million stashed in a rundown apartment. As they debate whether or not to complete their mission or take the loot for themselves, an unknown caller informs them they have 30 minutes to leave the house or they will die. Who can they trust if they can’t trust one of their own?
Directed by The Grey’s Joe Carnahan, The Rip looks like an old-school action picture that grounds its outrageous premise in as much reality as possible. The cops’ dilemma — should they take the money and compromise everything they believe in? — is an intriguing one, and Damon and Affleck are just the right actors to have in an action-packed movie like this one.
‘The Children Act’ (2017) — January 15
Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) is a respected judge who is presiding over a controversial case. Adam (Fionn Whitehead), a 17-year-old boy dying of leukemia, needs a blood transfusion to live, but the procedure goes against his Jehovah’s Witness beliefs. Meanwhile, Fiona’s personal life unravels when her neglected husband, Jack (Stanley Tucci), reveals he wants to open up their relationship and have an affair with a colleague.
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It may seem simple, but the beauty of The Children Act is how it delicately examines the life of one woman who finds herself at a crossroads. Defined by routine and order, Fiona must grapple with unexpected change in all aspects of her life. Thompson gives one of her best performances ever as Fiona, who finds herself deeply affected by Adam’s mortal crisis that mirrors her spiritual one. The Children Act is an intelligent drama that rewards your patience with fine performances, a literate script and an ending that’s just about perfect.
