The best movies new to Netflix, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime (January 2023)

Polygon readers, happy new year!

We’re excited to be back in the swing of things after the holidays and ready to share with you the very best movies now available to stream on Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Shudder, and Hulu. Our list this month includes Andrzej Żuławski’s 1981 cult classic horror film Possession starring Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani, 2004’s The Aviator starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kathryn Bigelow’s 1995 cyberpunk thriller Strange DaysYou can find out more. Here’s what to watch this month based on everything new across the platforms:

Editor’s pick

Shuddering Possession

Image: Gaumont/Anchor Bay Entertainment

Genre:Horrors psychological
Year: 1981
Run time: 2h 4m
Director: Andrzej Żuławski
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent

Outside of the most ardent of cinephile circles, Andrzej Żuławski isn’t a name that inspires enthusiastic recognition in the United States. Known for his transgressive brand of arthouse cinema, Żuławski’s career was stymied by Communist authorities in his homeland of Poland, with many of his early films being either heavily censored, banned, or in one instance, nearly destroyed upon release. It also doesn’t help that the few films of his that have been released in the States have since gone out of print — though that appears to be changing soon.

If you do know Żuławski’s name, it’s likely for his 1981 psychological horror film PossessionThe film’s cult status among horror enthusiasts has been only amplified by the difficulty of getting it on DVD or online. Fortunately for everyone, that’s no longer the case — PossessionIt is now Finally Shudder makes it possible to stream the video.

Set in Cold War-era West Berlin, Żuławski’s film stars Jurassic Park’s Sam Neill as Mark, a Russian spy who returns home to find that his wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani), has left him and wants a divorce. Mark becomes suspicious when Anna won’t tell him why and only says that she is not leaving him for another woman. He discovers that there is an unsettling secret between them, which he cannot comprehend. It awakens in him a deep-seated fear, anger, and despair, which threatens not only to destroy their family but also their sanity.

Inspired by Żuławski’s own tumultuous divorce in 1976 and his subsequent struggles with suicidal ideation, PossessionBlurs the lines between the autobiographical, the phantasmagoric, with hysterical performances from Neill and Adjani, which alternate between disconcerting, humorous, and deeply sympathetic. An inspiration for everything from Ari Aster’s Midsommar to the 2016 music video for Massive Attack’s “Voodoo in My Blood,” PossessionFor serious horror fans, this is a must-see. —Toussaint Egan

Possession You can stream it on You will be shaken.

Netflix: What’s New?

The Aviator

Warner Bros. Video

Genre:Biographical drama
Year: 2004
Run time: 2h 50m
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale

Martin Scorsese’s 2004 biopic on the life of eccentric aviation mogul Howard Hughes is one of the best movies to land on Netflix this month. So much so, we made it our editor’s pick for the platform this week! Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a captivating performance as Hughes, one which marries the man’s legendary public reputation for bravado and outrageous business decisions with his personal struggles with undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder and hypochondria. It’s a breathtaking film, both in the scale of its story and the exquisite craft evident in its majestic production. —TE

The Aviator You can stream it on Netflix.

The Raid 2

Image: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Genre: Action/thriller
Year: 2014
Run time: 2h 30m
Director: Gareth Evans
Cast: Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara

We mean the follow-up of 2011’s smash hit (and yes, we mean smash). Raid, Gareth Evans’ 2014 sequel packs a heavy punch as well (and some hammers). Set just after the events of the first movie, Rama (Iko Uwais, reprising his lead role) is sent undercover to expose corruption in Jakarta’s police. He is sent to jail, survived a prison riot and gained favor with the Jakarta underground. Fans of this film will enjoy high-octane action scenes, lots of blood and stunning displays of Indonesian martial arts pencak silat. RaidAlso, be sure to check out the Ante-Upping sequel. —Pete Volk

The Raid 2 You can stream it on Netflix.

New

Strange Days

Image: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Genre: Sci-fi/thriller
Year: 1995
Run time: 2h 25m
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis

Like Żuławski’s aforementioned Possession, Kathryn Bigelow’s 1995 cyberpunk film starring Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett is another cult classic whose reputation is defined in no small part by its relative inaccessibility to watch online. However, HBO Max added this movie recently to their service in HD.

Two days before the 21st century ends, set in futuristic Los Angeles. Strange DaysFollow Lenny Nero, a black market broker who deals in illicit technology. This allows users to store their memories and sensations after they happen. When Lenny comes across a recording that threatens to implicate the LAPD in a high-profile murder, he’s forced to turn to his old friend Lornette “Mace” Mason (Bassett) in order to uncover the origins behind the recording while staying one step ahead of a mysterious killer that wants him dead.

James Cameron was the producer and the inspiration for the 1992 LA Riots, which broke out in response to the Rodney King trial. Strange DaysIt is an intense sci-fi thriller about institutional racism and voyeurism. Also, it focuses on sexual violence against Black and women. It’s a hard watch — but nevertheless a worthwhile one that rewards its audience with a trio of terrific performances and a strikingly original vision of a bygone alternate future. —TE

Strange Days streaming on HBO Max.

Hulu has a new feature

Professor Marston, the Wonder Women

Image: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Genre:Biographical drama
Year: 2017
Run time: 1h 48m
Director: Angela Robinson
Cast: Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote

Wonder Woman is the DC Comics’ superhero, better known by her name Princess Diana of Themyscira. But do you know the real-life origins behind of the leotard-clad, tiara-wearing, and golden-lasso-wielding demigoddess? Angela Robinson’s 2017 biographical drama follows the story of William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans), the psychologist turned comic author behind the creation of Wonder Woman, whose polyamorous relationship between his wife, Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall), and his mistress, Olive (Bella Heathcote), served as the inspiration behind the character’s earliest adventures and depiction. Professor Marston, the Wonder WomenThe film is captivating not only because it tells an incredible real-life story but also for its sympathetic portrayal of a polyamorous married couple and the BDSM community in general. You’ll never look at the character of Wonder Woman the same way again after watching this, and I mean that emphatically as a compliment. —TE

Professor Marston, the Wonder Women You can stream it on Hulu.

Amazon Prime Video – New

Indiana Jones Series

Image by Paramount Pictures/Lucasfilm

Genre: Action/adventure
Year: 1981 (Raiders of the Lost Ark); 1984 (Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom); 1989 (Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade); 2008 (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Run time: 1h 55m (Raiders of the Lost Ark); 1h 58m (Temple of Doom); 2h 7m (Last Crusade); 2h 2m (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman

Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny, the fifth entry in the iconic action-adventure series and the first since 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull“Indiana Jones” will arrive in cinemas in June. What better time to reacquaint or familiarize yourself with the intrepid death-defying exploits of Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones Jr.? The entire series has been added to Prime Video this month, and you really can’t go wrong with watching them all (yes— that includes Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). First film. Raiders of the Lost ArkIt is a timeless classic that everyone who enjoys globetrotting, and Nazis being punched into aircraft propellers should watch. However, I feel especially compelled to recommend 1989’s Indiana Jones and The Last CrusadeThe series stars Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, who play a father-son team that sets out to discover the Holy Grail. They also have to stop a corrupt businessman who is allied with Nazis from becoming immortal. —TE

Indiana Jones Series Can be streamed on Prime Video.

Best of the Rest

Trinity Day

Image by PBS/The Criterion Collection

Genre:Documentary
Year: 1981
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Jon Else

Christopher Nolan will be back in July OppenheimerCillian Murphy plays the role of Cillian in the biographical drama based around J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life. If you, like us, are waiting with bated breath for Nolan’s latest, you might be curious enough to brush up on the history of Oppenheimer’s key role as the “father of the atomic bomb.” Luckily for you, the 1981 documentary Trinity Daystreaming. Else’s film charts Oppenheimer’s life from his days as a schoolboy up to the creation of what would simultaneously become his greatest contribution to human history and his deepest life-defining regret. —TE

Trinity DayYou can stream it on Criterion Channel.