Best new movies and TV series on Amazon Prime Video Australia: January 2022

Each month, new films and TV shows are added to Amazon Prime Video‘s Australian library. Eliza Janssen presents her picks for titles worth watching. For the full list of everything arriving on the platform, scroll down.

Top picks

F9: Fast & Furious 9 (January 1)

Rev into 2022 with the fastest and furious-est family film of 2021. We don’t mean family-friendly in the sense that your kids will necessarily enjoy it (although the gravity-defying, near-anime-esque scenes of Vin Diesel battling 20 baddies are only convincing to a child audience). But ‘family friendly’ in the sense that F9 welcomes yet more members into the Fast and Furious clan: namely beefy new antagonist John Cena, and old pals from the unfairly discarded Tokyo Drift.

You’ll want to crack open a Corona, throw on a muscle singlet, and whoop with joy at the franchise’s latest bloated effort, which straps a rocket launcher onto Tyrese’s vehicle to send him into space for some questionable reason. It’s utterly ludicrous/Ludacris.

The Sparks Brothers (January 1)

I had never heard of Sparks a few months ago and yet they topped my Spotify Wrapped for 2021: such is the convincing, fan-creating power of Edgar Wright’s documentary on Ron and Russell Mael. This lengthy examination of the cult art-rock brothers’ mystifying career will spark fascination in those who are unfamiliar with Sparks, and will leave even the most knowledgeable music nerds agape at their lovingly curated, idiosyncratic discography.

After watching, please don’t hesitate to fork out a few dollars to rent Annette on Prime Video, too. Created and soundtracked by Sparks, it only hammers home just how wildly imaginative the boys are. That musical and this musical documentary will bring a new world of attention to the brothers—whether that suits them or not.

As We See It: Season 1 (January 21)

If you’re sick of samey sitcoms about the trials of dating, working, and making friends as a lost millennial, As We See It could bring a new neuroatypical perspective to that tired formula. The series’ three leads (Rick Glassman, Sue Ann Pien, and Albert Rutecki) are autistic young people seeking independence and selfhood, with the encouragement of their aide (Sosie Bacon).

As the dramedy’s trailer lets us know, ‘life is a spectrum’, and the characters are accordingly complex and intersectional: Violet wants a BF, Jack has to land his dream job and learn to live without his dad (Joe Mantegna), and agoraphobic Harrison ventures beyond the comfy confines of the gang’s apartment. A great fictionalised companion piece to Netflix’s lauded Love On The Spectrum, perhaps.

All titles arriving on Prime Video Australia in January

January 1

F9: The Fast Saga
The Sparks Brothers
Young Sheldon: Season 4

January 4

Dream Horse

January 5

Red Dog: True Blue

January 6

Happy Feet
Happy Feet 2

January 7

Arctic Drift
The Tender Bar

January 12

The Judge

January 14

City of Lies
Do, Re & Mi
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
Nike’s Big Bet

January 15

All Things Valentine
Deepest Cut
Dope
Home By Spring
Love To The Rescue
Matching Hearts
The Lobster
The Story of Us

January 19

The Hitman’s Bodyguard

January 20

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
93 Days
A Trip to Jamaica
Accidental Spy
Ajuwaya
Alakada Reloaded
Banana Island Ghost
Bro Jekwu
Children of Mud
Couple of Days
Crazy People
Delivery Boy
Esohe
Excess Luggage
Fix Us
From Lagos With Love
Gold Statue
Hire A Man
Hire A Woman
Idahosa Trails
My London Slave
The Ghost and the Tout
The Island
The Wedding Party
The Women
When Love Happens
Wives on Strike
Wives on Strike: The Revolution