After the Christmas holidays, January 2026 arrives with a slate ready to pull everyone back onto the couch. Big-name talent, familiar franchises, and returning favourites anchor most of the releases, while a handful of newcomers try to steal the spotlight.
This month’s genres range from heist thrillers, prequel adventures, game shows, and therapy dramedies, giving viewers something to line up on their watchlist, no matter their preferences. They carry the kind of plots that fuel group-chat debates and binge marathons, even for the friend pretending to limit their screen time.
More than anything, it shows how aggressive 2026 will be, as streaming services compete with Hollywood studios to keep viewers hooked. Here’s a breakdown of what each title brings to the new year.
Netflix presses play on 2026 with another Harlan Coben thriller, which is basically code for clear your evening. The American author tends to dominate the streamers’ global charts, and as executive producer, the series is a binge-worthy success.
James Nesbitt plays Simon, a father who realises how fragile life is when his daughter, Paige, runs away. Ellie de Lange brings a jittery tension to the role, showing us a teenage girl wrapped in something far more nefarious than just rebellion. As Simon tracks her down, he uncovers dark secrets that she has been keeping from him.
This book-to-series adaptation taps into every parent’s worst nightmare, not just losing their child, but losing sight of who they are becoming.
American YouTuber, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), ramps up the stakes in the second season of his reality competition series. After the success of Season One, the follow-up introduces a smaller cast. Now, viewers can gradually root for the players they’ve come to know and love.
MrBeast still leans into the spectacle, building sets big enough to qualify as public infrastructure. However, there’s now room for more strategy and emotional investment in each contestant. Fans can expect more skill-based challenges as the gameplay format becomes less physical.
The grand prize remains at a life-changing USD 5 million, but with an extra USD 15 million in cash and luxury perks, anything could truly happen.
The acclaimed medical drama clocks back in for another 15-hour hospital shift. Season Two unfolds over the Fourth of July, capturing the chaos the American holiday brings to an ER. Firework burns, drunken brawls, and violent incidents are just a preview of what’s in store.
Noah Wyle steps back in as Dr. Robby, trying to keep an exhausted team steady as the cases pile up. The procedural series focuses on job burnout, triage decisions, and resource shortages, delivered with the kind of dry realism doctors and nurses know all too well.
Surviving a trip to the emergency room often comes down to stamina and staying sharp. At least that’s what this series will lead you to believe. There’s no romanticism here, just small wins and the pressure of knowing you’re treating a patient’s worst day.
The Victorian illegal boxing scene is about to get even rougher. Season Two picks up with Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby), still consumed by grief over the death of his best friend.
Meanwhile, rival boxer Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham) shifts into full antagonist mode with the help of a bottle and a guilty conscience. Female gang boss Mary Carr (Erin Doherty) also resurfaces in London, looking to rebuild her criminal network.
The show widens its lens to explore the city’s rough edges, from immigrant communities to organised crime, where fortunes rise and fall overnight.
Inspired by true events, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon reunite in this gritty crime thriller set in Miami. The duo play cops, JD Byrne and Dane Dumars, who stumble upon USD 24 million in cash hidden away in a safehouse.
The score raises suspicion, sending loyalties spinning as they determine friend from foe. Ambition, duty, and paranoia spiral into distrust, prompting them to question if they can even rely on each other.
This feature-length film explores how corruption spreads and how tempting dirty money can be, wrecking friendships and fueling shocking betrayals.
After the success of House of the Dragon comes this new Game of Thrones spin-off series. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg, this highly anticipated prequel is set around 100 years before the events of the main show.
It centres on the unlikely friendship between Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), a humble but skilled knight, and his young squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). The story covers their travels across Westeros during the early days of the Targaryen dynasty, encountering political tensions and the remnants of dragons.
The new series trades thrones and armies for roadside disputes, awkward loyalties, and small-scale power plays. It’s Westeros with fewer dragons, more dirt under the boots, and a surprising amount of heart.
Based on the bestselling manga series, the hit French-Japanese show continues to follow Camille Léger (Fleur Geffrier) and Issei Tomine (Tomohisa Yamashita) as they investigate the origins of a rare wine.
A mystery so profound that even the legendary oenologist Alexandre Léger, their father, could not solve. The reluctant partners embark on a journey revealing hidden histories and secrets buried for generations.
Season Two shifts the plot away from an inheritance drama to a wine-soaked detective story, while examining how legacy can shape people long after the barrels empty.
An office worker, Zara (Sophie Turner), learns the hard way that finance spreadsheets offer no protection when a heist walks through the door. A routine day at a pension fund investment company, Lochmill Capital, collapses into panic when a gang of armed thieves storm in.
Trapped at the centre of it all, Zara and her colleague are forced to steal billions of pounds from ordinary people’s pension accounts. What follows is a high-octane thriller that turns office politics into survival tactics, where every transfer click feels like pulling a trigger.
Determined to uncover the culprits is DCI Rhys (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), who hunts them down while dealing with his own gambling debts, making his moral footing shaky at best.
Marvel’s latest release introduces Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a struggling actor restarting his career just as life takes an unexpected turn. Paired with Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), who remains a hilarious scene-stealer, they both compete for roles in director Von Kovak’s comeback project.
Between auditions and rivalries, the show treats fame as just another superpower, one that’s just as hard to control. The miniseries teases Simon’s eventual turn into the titular superhero, setting him up for future crossovers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
It’s an origin story filtered through the strange logic of Hollywood, poking fun at the MCU’s own myth-making. The cape can wait, but the casting call clearly can’t.
The therapy-centred dramedy returns with another session of blunt truths. After two seasons focused on grief and forgiveness, the third turns its attention to how characters and patients move forward with their lives.
Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) still uses his unconventional methods as treatments, including telling clients exactly what he thinks. Harrison Ford is back as Dr Paul, the senior therapist navigating life with Parkinson’s disease.
The writers continue to balance humour with honest depictions of mental health, professional ethics, and the consequences of messy radical honesty.
Esquire Malaysia
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