As we’re getting closer to the end of the month (yes, the first month of 2022 is almost gone already!), so streaming services are shaking off the chilled holiday vibes and start cranking out big releases. Easily my most anticipated title is the return of the brilliant Ozark on Netflix, but it’s definitely not alone as we also have the return of M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant, new episodes of Snowpiercer, the revival of Jim Henson’s beloved Fraggle Rock, and some gripping local and international movies, among others!
SERIES
Ozark S4
Netflix – 20 January 2022
Yes, the greatest show about normal people getting involved in the drug business that is not named Breaking Bad is back! After a stellar third season that earned nine Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nominations, the twisting tale of Marty and Wendy Byrde picks up right where we left them as drug kingpin Omar Novarro has brought them right into his home… and into a whole load of danger!
Servant S3
Apple TV+ – 21 January 2022
Admittedly, I’m yet to actually watch M. Night Shyamalan’s pychological horror series about a couple who hire a nanny to take care of their son, only to find they got a whole lot more than just somebody to attend to their child. The show has drawn fantastic reviews and viewership though, to the point where it was already renewed for a fourth and final season back in December already. So maybe it’s time I caught up with ol’ Shamalamadingdong’s domestic horror.
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock S1
Apple TV+ – 21 January 2022
Yo, grown-up kids of the 80s! It’s time to expose your own kids to one of your childhood faves as Jim Henson’s beloved musical fantasy comedy puppet show is getting a reboot. Yes, it’s the dreaded R word, but by all most accounts Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock lives up to the charm and joy of the original show while being updated for modern audiences.
Chosen S1
Netflix – 21 January 2022
Contrary to popular belief, when aliens come to Earth they don’t just land in the USA. Sometimes they end up in a small town in Denmark! That’s the premise – well sort of – for Chosen, a new Danish-language sci-fi series/coming-of-age drama debuting on Netflix today.
Snowpiercer S3
Netflix – 25 January 2022
TNT’s TV series adaptation of Bong Joon-Ho’s incredible post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie masterpiece is a show that has no right to be as good as it is. But for two seasons we’ve been gripped by this expanded tale as it tracks the last remnants of humanity stuck on a train on a never-ending circuit around a frozen Earth. And now season 3 kicks off, with Netflix rebroadcasting weekly episodes one day after it airs in the US on TNT for us international viewers.
MOVIES
Amandla
Netflix – 21 January 2022
When it comes to producing local content, Netflix has really come to the party. And the latest offering is crime drama Amandla, which follows “two brothers on opposing sides of the law, desperate to stay bonded, but torn apart by tragedy”. Written and directed by Nerina de Jager and starring Lemogang Tsipa and Thabo Rametsi, Amandla looks like a fantastic South African production.
Munich: The Edge of War
Netflix – 21 January 2022
I fell in love with bestselling author Robert Harris’ brilliant alternative-history WWII novel Fatherland when I was still a teen and have followed his stories ever since, many of which have been adapted to the screen. Now we’re getting another in the form of Munich: Edge of War, based on Harris’ 2017 spy thriller, which follows two civil servants – one British, one German – former university friends who reunite during the fateful summit for the 1938 Munich Agreement between Adolf Hitler and UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. But this is no chummy reunion as loyalties get tested and tensions flare.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Apple TV+ – 14 January 2022
No, that date is not a typo. Last I week I said that 2022’s high-profile streaming releases were still to come, but I was lying! Not intentionally though, as I accidentally overlooked the release of Joel “One half of the Coen Bros.” Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth staring Denzel Washington and France McDormand. This black-and-white rendition of Shakespeare’s classic play has been drawing huge awards buzz, so don’t overlook it like I did.