We’re now a little over a week into 2018, but are in no way judging all the resolutions you’ve already managed to break. If you ask us, New Year resolutions should actually start on the 8th – giving you a full week to recuperate some coin from the Uber surcharges, club covers, various vices, et al. of yesteryear.
Until then, make yourself useful and read through our roundup of Netflix’s January programming. It will make for much better conversation than your upcoming juice cleanse – trust us.
Rotten (documentary)
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Farming exposés are nothing new, and deep down we all know that some shady stuff must have gone down for us to buy a roast chicken at just $8. From the team behind Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown and The Mind of a Chef comes Rotten, a stomach-churning look at the corruption, waste and real dangers behind our everyday diets. From local farmers getting shafted, to animals being excessively abused, to household groceries being pumped full of additives, it’s clear that industry is putting profits first, and health last.
Rotten airs January 5 on Netflix Australia.
The End of the F**king World (series)
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Already making waves on the U.K’s Channel 4, TEOTFW is set to air on Netflix after a “surprise” New Year’s Day announcement. Based on Charles Forsman’s popular graphic novels and adapted for the screen by BAFTA-associated Charlie Covell, the series follows a self-proclaimed psychopath who decides, out of boredom, that he would like to kill someone. He meets a girl and agrees to go on an adventure with her, all the while in the back of his mind contemplating how he will kill her. TEOTFW stars Alex Lawther, who has already terrified us once as the child porn-harboring teen in Black Mirror Season 3.
The End of the F**king World airs January 5 on Netflix Australia.
The Polka King (film)
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What shook us the most last month was that Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was actually kind of watchable. Now, Jack Black is looking to keep the momentum rolling with The Polka King, the ridiculous yet true story of Polish émigré Jan Lewan, who cooked up a bank-breaking and life-shattering “Polka Ponzi” scheme on his rise to stardom. It’s a must-watch for Black’s red-hot crack at a Polish accent, his golden toupee that could rival Trump’s, and the Michael Scott cringeworthy moments that lead to his ultimate demise.
The Polka King airs on January 12 on Netflix Australia.
Somebody Feed Phil (documentary series)
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As far as we’re concerned, 90s television comprised of Phil Rosenthal, Dick Wolf and Larry David. As the creator and showrunner of Everybody Loves Raymond, Rosenthal along with comic Ray Romano brewed up an iconic series about a New York sports writer and his overbearing family. If you bothered to read between the lines, you’d see how much emphasis the pair placed on food within the show. (How could we forget Marie’s meatballs, or her and Debra’s Thanksgiving tofu-turkey?)
Somebody Feed Phil will thus serve as Rosenthal’s six-episode love letter to food. Salivate in front of your screen as he travels to Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Saigon, Mexico City, New Orleans and Bangkok to taste great, vibrant food at its source.
Somebody Feel Phil airs January 12 on Netflix Australia.
The Open House (film)
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You might recognise lead actor Dylan Minnette from Netflix’s acclaimed drama 13 Reasons Why. The young star has put down his cassette player for the moment in order to battle some pretty terrifying forces in The Open House. A teenager and his mother (Piercey Dalton) move into a friend’s holiday home, but find their lives disrupted by their eerie and stalkerish neighbours. If anything, treat this film as a reminder to find a better hiding spot for your spare key.
The Open House airs January 19 on Netflix Australia.
Dirty Money (Documentary Series)
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Netflix is priming itself to spill some of the biggest tea of our time: that of Donald Trump. Dirty Money overall will expose some of the world’s largest corporations – Volkswagen, HSBC, Big Pharma companies etc. But no doubt most viewers will start off with “The Confidence Man” – the episode detailing Trump and how his “business career transformed epic failures into a consummate branding machine that propelled him into office.”
Dirty Money airs January 26 on Netflix Australia.
