The Best TV Shows & Movies To Watch In January

Welcome to the new year — a time of renewal, fresh starts, and newness — and this is true of the movie and TV shows hitting screens this month. Things kick off with the 2025 Golden Globes, which are looking back and celebrating the best in film and television from last year. But January’s premieres are also full of reunions that bring us back to a different time. 

Take The Pitt, for example, a medical drama set over the course of a 15 hour-long shift that reconnects ER star Noah Wyle with the showrunner of the iconic series, or Paradise, an intriguing political murder-mystery that reunites Sterling K. Brown with his This Is Us creator. To All The Boys spinoff XO, Kitty returns for another season of endearing coming-of-age romances and is bringing Noah Centineo back to his role as the Internet’s favorite boyfriend Peter Kavinsky. And twisty sci-fi series Severance is finally back for Season 2, and even though there are no obvious reunions (that we know of) expected, it feels like one for us as viewers because the wait in between seasons has been so long.

So, let’s move forward and discover what else is coming our way on screen this January.

Awards season officially kicks off with the 2025 Golden Globes. Hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser, the 82nd annual Golden Globes will be a star-studded affair with actors from our favorite TV shows and movies from the past year. Nominees like Wicked, Emilia Pérez, Shōgun, and A Complete Unknown means the red carpet — and audience — will be filled with some fan faves and great fashion moments.

We’ll be covering it all on Refinery29’s Instagram and TikTok so make sure to watch with us there!

Where to watch: CBS, Paramount+
When: January 6
Watch if you like: Awards shows (or really any movie or TV show)

I’ll admit, The Traitors S1 did nothing for me. I just couldn’t get into the kitschy murder mystery show set in a Scottish Highlands castle no matter how many plaid outfits host Alan Cummings donned. But as a Challenge fan and Bravo devotée, I tried again with Season 2 because of its megacast that included Johnny Bananas, Chris “CT”' Tamburello, Phaedra Parks, and Larsa Pippenand — and I was hooked. Halfway through, I began many late-night bingewatches of all the other Traitors international shows (if there’s one I fully recommend, definitely check out Season 2 of The Traitors UK).

That's why I cannot wait for The Traitors Season 3, which once again has reality stars and other famous faces work and scheme together to be the final one(s) standing to take a prize worth up to $250,000. In case you’re not familiar with the format: Most of the cast are Faithfuls who are trying to sniff and vote out a handful of Traitors while competing in weekly challenges. If the Faithfuls banish all the Traitors by the end, they win the cash — but if at least one Traitor is still lurking, then they take it all. 

For any reality TV buff, this season’s cast is stacked with familiar names but some notable ones are: Real Housewives’ Chanel Ayan, Dolores Catania, Dorinda Medley, and Robyn Dixon; Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause; Vanderpump Rules’ Tom Sandoval; Britney Spears’ ex Sam Asghari; and British royal Lord Ivar Mountbatten. Get ready because it’s going to be a wicked good time.

Where to watch: Peacock
When: January 9
Watch if you like: Real Housewives, Selling Sunset, Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelorette

I love a good medical drama. (Seriously: I started watching Grey’s Anatomy at a too-young age when it debuted in 2005 and am still watching it two decades later.) So it’s no wonder that The Pitt immediately piqued my interest, especially when you consider all it has going for it. The show is produced by John Wells, a producer and showrunner on ER, one of the GOAT medical dramas, and created by fellow ER alum R. Scott Gemmill. Even bigger? It stars co-producer Noah Wyle, who played ER heartthrob Dr. John Carter. (If you’ve seen ER, you know how huge this is. If you haven’t, may I also recommend streaming the NBC show on Hulu?) 

Now that we’ve touched on the nostalgia, there’s the premise — The Pitt isn’t just your typical medical drama. Instead, it applies a 24-style twist to its story: this first season will be 15 episodes long, and each tracks one full hour of a single shift in the emergency room of a fictional Pittsburgh hospital. That format brings a grittier, more realistic look at the very real challenges frontline health care workers face everyday, while also offering a catchy reason to check the show out. 

Where to watch: Max
When: January 9
Watch if you like: ER, Chicago Med, 24 

Second seasons are hard — especially when the first season found a big audience and set expectations high. But I’m very pleased to report that in Season 2, To All The Boys spin-off series XO, Kitty doesn’t miss a single step. 

The soft and wholesome romcom follows Lara Jean Song Covey’s idealistic and sometimes meddlesome younger sister Kitty (Anna Cathcart) to Seoul, where she’s attending an international school to learn more about her late mother, chase love, and reconnect with her Korean roots. But by the end of her first semester (and Season 1), Kitty has broken up with her sweet boyfriend, realized she’s bisexual after developing feelings for a friend (who isn’t single), had her ex’s best friend confess his feelings for her, and gets kicked out of school for breaking one too many rules. But Kitty finds her way back for a second semester and is ready to avoid drama, enjoy the single life — while casually exploring her sexuality — and refocus on her mom’s past. Let’s just say that two of these things are easier to accomplish than the third. Plus, Noah Centineo is making a special appearance and reprising his role as Peter Kavinsky, which is the best kind of feel-good news. 

XO, Kitty is really hitting its stride. It hits the swoon-y and sentimental notes that made us all fall in love with the To All The Boys movies, while also carving out its own identity as a tender, modern coming-of-age story about found family, identity, and doing things your own way. 

Where to watch: Netflix
When: January 16
Watch if you like: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Summer I Turned Pretty

It may have dropped nearly three years ago, but the Season 1 finale of Severance is still one of the most exhilarating episodes of TV in recent memory. Perfectly building on everything cold and twisty that came before it — the sci-fi mystery is set in a world where a vaguely menacing company can “sever” its employees, separating their memories and identifies while they’re at the office from the people they are outside of it — the episode was a stunning and frenzied affair. And, by the end of it, our main cast of characters had managed to bring their “innies” (their severed office selves) to their real lives, uncovering bombshell secrets in the process. 

Now, after a long hiatus, we’re finally about to find out what happens in the aftermath of Season 1’s cliffhanger. The innies — Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry), and Irving (John Turturro) — are back at work, but will Lumon punish them for their insubordination? Will the innies or outies figure out what kind of work Lumon has them doing? Or that Helly’s outie is actually the daughter of Lumon’s CEO and a company executive in her own right? And will Mark figure out his wife, who he thinks is dead, has been severed and lives trapped inside Lumon? Part of the fun of Severance is trading theories while the show teases the answers. 

Where to watch: Apple TV+ 
When: January 17
Watch if you like: The OA, Black Mirror, Mr. Robot

Keke Palmer and SZA. That’s all you need to hear to know that One Of Them Days is going to be a good time. In Los Angeles, money is tight for best friends and roommates Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA). The pair have low credit scores, are living paycheck to paycheck, and even share a car. So when they realize that Alyssa’s boyfriend has spent all of their rent money, it’s go time as they race to figure out how to get $1,500 before the end of the day. What ensues is a hilarious sequence of unlikely events all in the pursuit of avoiding the very real possibility of being evicted.

The film is produced by Issa Rae (enough said) and it’ll be SZA’s acting debut so this is one to definitely mark if you’re a fan of the singer’s career. The comedic cast is also rounded out by Maude Apatow, Lil Rey Howery, Janelle James, and Katt Williams. One Of Them Days is a great way to kick off the new year and watch with your ride-or-die BFF.

Where to watch: Theaters
When: January 17
Watch if you like: Girls Trip, Bridesmaids, Sisters

Sterling K. Brown is the type of actor who commands attention. If he’s speaking on screen, you’re going to be captivated, which makes just about anything he does a must-watch. But his latest TV project, Paradise, takes things to the next level, because it’s Brown reuniting with This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman. 

With This Is Us, Brown and Fogelman became highly skilled at making TV watchers everywhere break out into tears, but Paradise looks like it will be setting a much different tone. According to the official synopsis, the show takes place within a peaceful community where some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people live, but that sense of calm is flipped on its head because of a shocking murder. And, based on the trailer, it looks like the victim is the President of the United States (James Marsden). I’m seated. 

Where to watch: Hulu
When: January 28
Watch if you like: Scandal, This Is Us 

There are two types of TV shows: those you set aside time for and give your undivided attention to, and those you put on for fun while you scroll on your phone or fold your laundry. The Recruit belongs in the latter category — and I say that as a compliment. The action-comedy — about CIA lawyer Owen (Noah Centineo), who is always inadvertently getting caught up in field missions and high-stakes games of international politics — is silly and charming, and so easy to watch. It’s not hard to follow if you do get distracted by your IG feed, but it also offers a sense of humor, flashy action sequences, and an affable turn by Centineo for when you do finally put your phone down. 

In Season 2, Owen gets pulled into the South Korean spy trade after an agent in the country convinces him to help with a personal mission that his bosses cannot find out about. Past Lives star Teo Yoo joins the cast as said agent, getting to showcase a different side of his talents after breaking hearts in the 2023 movie. His presence helps elevate things, but, at its heart, The Recruit is still the goofy, mostly unserious show people got excited over when it first premiered. 

Where to watch: Netflix
When: January 30
Watch if you like: The Diplomat, The Night Agent, Reacher