Best Movies Streaming in January 2026: ‘Smashing Machine’ and More

Dwayne Johnson earned career-best reviews for his dramatic transformation into UFC fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine.” The film was named a Variety Critic’s Pick: “Johnson, shifting his whole aspect (he seems like a new actor), invests that silent, moody, hidden side of Mark with a quality of mystery. He gives an extraordinary performance, playing Mark Kerr as a gentle giant with demons that will not speak their name, yet the audience can feel them there; we want to see those demons healed.”

Rose Byrne has emerged as a formidable Oscar contender for best actress after winning honors from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Board of Review and more. She headlines “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” as a spiraling mother struggling to support her sick child and her own sanity. From Variety’s review: “Byrne is brilliantly unhinged in a chaotic maternal-meltdown drama. Writer-director Mary Bronstein sees something in Byrne the industry missed, casting the ‘Damages’ star as a woman overwhelmed by life in an alternately exhilarating and maddening Safdie-like indie… Delivering a feverish, raw-nerve performance sure to go down as one of the year’s greats, Byrne has never had a role even remotely this intense to prepare us for the emotional acrobatics her writer-director has in store.”

Jared Leto’s “Tron: Ares” struggled at the box office with $142 million worldwide, but more viewers are likely to discover its pulse-pounding thrills on Disney+ when it begins streaming. Directed by Joachim Rønning, “Ares” centers on dueling corporations who are determined to bring digital creations into the real world. The supporting cast includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson and returning “Tron” star Jeff Bridges. From Variety’s review: “The latest installment’s best ideas compete with director Joachim Rønning’s fetishistic focus on classic Tron mythology, which looks and sounds great in Imax 3D.”

Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s latest collaboration “Bugonia” hit Peacock at the tail end of December, meaning January is the pitch-black comedy’s first full month of availability on streaming. Jesse Plemons plays a conspiracy theorist who kidnaps Stone’s CEO under the impression that she is an alien. The film earned nearly $40 million at the worldwide box office in the fall.

“Bugonia” was named the fourth best movie of 2025 by Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman: “Lanthimos’s wild and woolly kidnap drama is a violent, hate-fueled, thrillingly warped act of cinematic screw-tightening. It’s also rooted in a humanity that sneaks up on you… For a while, it’s like watching ‘Misery’ restaged as a riveting culture-war two-hander. But Stone and, especially, Plemons keep deepening their characters. (He does a piece of acting that’s like tragedy on the high wire.) And the trick ending has a blow-you-away power that’s worth a dozen doomsday dystopias.”

Netflix kicks off its original 2026 film slate with what is sure to be a streaming hit with “People We Meet on Vacation,” based on the hugely popular Emily Henry book that has sold more than 2 million copies and spent 69 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Per the film’s synopsis: Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth) “have been unlikely best friends for a decade, living in different cities but spending every summer vacation together. The careful balance of their friendship is put to the test when they begin to question what has been obvious to everyone else — could they actually be the perfect romantic match?”

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck reunite once again for the Netflix original action thriller “The Rip,” directed by Joe Carnahan. The supporting cast features Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Sasha Calle, Néstor Carbonell, Lina Esco, Scott Adkins and Kyle Chandler. The film’s official logline reads: “Upon discovering millions in cash in a derelict stash house, trust among a team of Miami cops begins to fray. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything is called into question — including who they can rely on.”

Toni Servillo was awarded the Volpi Cup for best actor at the Venice Film Festival this year for his performance as fictional Italian president Mariano De Santis in “La Grazia,” the latest from “The Great Beauty” Oscar winner Paolo Sorrentino. Per the official synopsis: “As his term draws to a close, amid uneventful days, two final duties arise: deciding on two delicate petitions for a presidential pardon. True moral dilemmas, which become tangled, in ways that seem impossible to unravel, with his private life. Driven by doubt, he will have to decide. And, with a deep sense of responsibility, that is exactly what this remarkable Italian President will do.”

One year after breaking out at the Sundance Film Festival, James Sweeney’s twisty comedy “Twinless” arrives on streaming via Hulu. Sweeney stars alongside Dylan O’Brien as two young men who meet at a twin bereavement support group and forge an unlikely friendship. Each finds the other fills their missing half, and they become inseparable. But as the friendship expands, it becomes evident that both are holding secrets, some of them dark and dangerous.

Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa headline Prime Video’s action “The Wrecking Crew,” in which they star as two estranged half-brothers who are forced to reunite after their father’s mysterious death. As they set out to uncover the truth, buried secrets resurface and loyalties are tested, unveiling a conspiracy that can tear their family apart. The film is directed by “Blue Beetle” helmer Angel Manuel Soto and also stars Claes Bang, Jacob Batalon, Stephen Root and Morena Baccarin.

James Bond is now owned by Amazon, but that’s not stopping the 007 collection from hitting Netflix. Starting Jan. 15, Netflix subscribers in the U.S., German-speaking countries, France, Latin America and several other territories can watch the most recent Bond movie “No Time to Die” as well as “Die Another Day,” “Quantum of Solace” and “Skyfall” and more for a three-month period. 

“Minding the Gap” Oscar nominee Bing Liu directs Prime Video’s soulful adaptation of Atticus Lish’s 2014 novel. Starring Sebiye Behtiyar and Fred Hechinger, “Preparation for the Next Life” is set in New York City and centers on the blossoming romantic relationship between a Uyghur migrant and an American soldier. From Variety’s review: “Bing Liu makes his fiction debut with a superbly acted drama chronicling the unstable relationship between an undocumented woman and a U.S. Army vet with mental health issues.”

Judd Apatow’s two-part Mel Brooks documentary “The 99 Year Old Man!” explores “the life, career, friendships and loves of legendary writer, director, producer and performer Mel Brooks. One of Hollywood’s most daring satirists from the early years of television sketch comedy through his film and stage hits, Brooks has held a funhouse mirror up to the human condition and used laughter as a path to resilience, connection and joy for nearly a century.”

“I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” is an authorized but unfiltered documentary on comedy legend Chevy Chase. Directed by two-time Emmy Award winner Marina Zenovich, whose work includes “Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic” and “Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind,” the film “brings viewers into Chase’s inner world through interviews with his family, friends and co-stars, revealing what is beneath the surface of his bravado.”

Chad Hartigan’s “The Threesome” stars Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King and Ruby Cruz in the story of a young man whose unexpected threesome leads to two pregnancies. From Variety’s review: “Hartigan classes up a bawdy premise in a frisky comedy about a carefree sexual encounter with a lasting impact.”

Don’t be surprised if you see the action thriller “Stone Cold Fox” climbing the Netflix charts this month considering subscribers often devour lower-profile action thrillers. Starring Kiernan Shipka, Krysten Ritter and Kiefer Sutherland, the Sophie Tabet-directed film is set in 1986 and follows a young woman who breaks out of an abusive commune only to have to turn back around and infiltrate it when her little sister is kidnapped. 

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” is now streaming on Max as it enters Oscar season as one of the biggest frontrunners for best picture. The director’s last directorial effort, “Licorice Pizza,” arrives back on Netflix this month just in time to keep the PTA streaming going. Cooper Hoffman plays a charming teen who becomes smitten with Alana Haim’s wayward young woman. The movie was nominated for Oscars for best picture, best director and best original screenplay. 

“Emily in Paris” favorite Lucien Laviscount jumps to Hulu this month as the star of the action thriller “Safe House,” which centers on six federal agents who grow suspicious of one another after they are forced into hiding amid a Los Angeles terror attack. Is the perpetrator already among them? The supporting cast includes Hannah John-Kamen, Ethan Embry, Lewis Tan, Holt McCallany and Adam Levy,

Evan Ari Kelman writes and directs the crime thriller “Barron’s Cove,” which makes its exclusive streaming debut on Paramount+ this month. Garrett Hedlund leads the film as a grieving father who decides to kidnap a boy after the court system fails to apprehend the person responsible for his son’s death. The supporting cast includes Hamish Linklater, Brittany Snow, Christian Convery, Tramell Tillman, Raul Castillo and Stephen Lang.

The Rihanna-headlined “Smurfs” movie earned $124 million at the worldwide box office last year and is now becoming available to stream on Prime Video this month at no extra cost to subscribers. From Variety’s review: “It feels perfect for these PG times. But though it may be the best of the Smurfs movies, it still puts the innocuous in innocence… ‘Smurfs’ is the first Smurfs movie I’ve seen — and I’ve seen them all, because I do this, dear readers, so you don’t have to — that’s explicitly modeled on ‘Trolls,’ the 2016 fairy tale that I think is one of the five most inspired animated films of its decade.”