Each month, new films and TV shows are added to Disney+‘s Australian library. Here’s Eliza Janssen’s recommendations for the titles most worth watching. Scroll down for the full list of everything arriving on the platform.
Top picks
Alien: Romulus (January 1)
Taking the lengthy and unwieldy Alien franchise back to its most base elements, this sequel from horror maestro Fede Alvarez was a mixed blessing in my opinion. It started so strong, introducing empathetic and youthful new characters yearning to escape their cursed hyper-capitalist life on a bleak interplanetary colony. And later there were some nifty, gnarly ideas, representing the facehugger and chestburster life forms we know well in clever visual twists.
But a touch of distasteful deepfake CGI and too much overfamiliar chased-around-a-spaceship action left me feeling cold, ultimately. The standout element here is David Jonsson’s performance as a shy android who gets hacked by an evil algorithm: I don’t remember ever caring about a robot dude so deeply.
Goosebumps: The Vanishing (January 10)
Starring David Schwimmer as a scientist dad who goes from daggy to downright terrifying, this second season in Disney’s R.L. Stine adaptations is clearly inspired by ‘Stay Out of the Basement’, the second volume in Stine’s seminal string of spooky books for kids (yeah, okay, I read a buttload of Goosebumps as a kid).
That means we’ll see him slowly transformed by his own messed-up experiments, but also that this new thread of terror will be tied to the events of season one, which partially took place in the early 1990s. The trailer is soundtracked by a creepy, slowed-down Kylie Minogue cover, and features some surprisingly gross veggie body horror: plant-based isn’t always better, people.
High Potential (January 23)
I reckon my mum would make a good sleuth. She’s always listening to those bloody true crime podcasts, and she can turn any conversation (read: interrogation) from frosty to intimate and warm in a matter of seconds. The hilarious Kaitlyn Olsen plays one such character in this new crime-comedy, surprising everyone with her knack for solving cases despite being a humble and inexperienced single mum. The series is based on a successful French show, and beefcake Daniel Sunjata appears as Olsen’s by-the-book partner: we can totally see where this dynamic is going and we’re locked in already.
Paradise: Season 1 (January 28)
Sterling screen talent Sterling K. Brown takes centre stage in this intriguing drama, which takes place in an elite community comprised of some of the world’s most powerful and wealthy people. Would such folks harbour dark secrets, cascading into a vast web of conspiracy that even Brown and the secret service can’t detangle without serious risk to their own lives? Nahhh, unlikely. I’m sure this mysterious new show, with big stars such as James Marsden and Julianne Nicholson (still somehow so under-appreciated!), will end on a nice note of everybody getting together for a block party barbecue. Stormy, thorny viewing released at the peak of summer, for some reason.
All new titles arriving on Disney+ Australia in January
January 1
Alien: Romulus
Bob’s Burgers: Season 15
Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae
January 5
Medalist
January 8
Broken Karaoke: Season 2
January 9
Ishura: Season 2
January 10
Goosebumps: The Vanishing
January 15
A Real Bug’s Life: Season 2
Macross Plus
Macross Zero
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012
Macross Plus Movie Edition
January 17
Roy Wood Jr.: Lonely Flowers
January 22
Abbott Elementary: Season 4
Tracker: Season 2
Whiskey on the Rocks
January 23
High Potential: Season 1 Premiere
January 24
Shared Custody
January 28
Paradise: Premiere
January 29
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man
See also
* Best new movies and TV series on Netflix
* Best new movies and TV series on Stan
* Best new movies and TV series on Prime Video
* All new streaming movies & series
