Honors for January streaming’s 800 pound gorilla may go to the first half of the new season of “Bridgerton.”  Yet don’t sleep on checking out other streaming options this month.  At last, there’s the debut of Sally Wainwright’s riotous drama of “women of a certain age” forming a punk band.  Comedian Patton Oswalt and filmmaker Takashi Miike talk about how their lives were changed after watching “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”  There’s even a famed DIY Filipino film about disillusionment with technological modernism.

This is a month packed with goodies generally better than the Orange Fascist’s Kennedy Center awardees.  So take a look at these suggestions

The Ballad Of Suzanne Cesaire (Criterion Channel)--Suzanne Cesaire may have been politician Aime Cesaire’s wife and someone who had a relationship with surrealist Andre Breton.  But as Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s experimental fragmentary biopic shows, her subject won fame as a writer despite her scant published corpus.  Cesaire’s surviving writings would have a cultural impact far beyond its humble publication venue.  

Girl With Hyacinths (Criterion Channel)--Why did sweet-mannered loner Dagmar Brink hang herself in her own apartment?  Writer and next door neighbor Anders Wikner wants to find answers in a matter the police is treating as open-and-shut.  What explains Dagmar’s lifelong sense of loneliness and isolation?  Underrated director Hasse Ekman’s noirish tale still holds up even if the viewer learns the film’s big reveal on other websites.

Lost Country (Kanopy)--In 1996 Serbia, 15-year-old Stefan’s idolization of his mother Marklena gets tested after he realizes his mother’s day job is as a Karoline Leavitt-like official apologist for Slobodan Milosevic’s government…which means she’s also an accomplice to the Milosevic government’s crimes.  

Pictures Of Ghosts (Criterion Channel)--Kleber Mendonca Filho’s (“The Secret Agent”) semi-personal documentary essay considers the casualties of modernization in his hometown of Recife by looking at the steady disappearance of his city’s downtown movie palaces.  One of this month’s must-sees.

Vermiglio (Kanopy)--Maure Delpero’s winner of the 81st Venice Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize takes place between 1944 to 1946 in a remote Trentino mountain village known as Vermiglio.  Two Italian army deserters, Attilio and Pietro, seek refuge here with strict schoolteacher Cesare Graziadei’s family.  Over the course of a year, the Sicilian Pietro’s presence will change the lives of the Graziadei family, particularly that of eldest daughter Lucia.    

The Wedding Banquet (2025) (Kanopy)--In Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee’s film, closeted gay student Min’s pending marriage to lesbian housemate Angela Chen (Kelly Marie Tran) helps both of them.  He doesn’t get financially disowned by his homophobic grandfather while Angela’s partner Lee (Lily Gladstone) gets money for a final IVF attempt.  But they’ll have to make the event look good to fool Min’s grandfather.  

Free Solo (Netflix)--Viewers with pronounced discomfort with heights might want to skip Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s Yosemite National Park-set documentary.  It follows professional rock climber Alex Honnold’s attempt to climb free solo (climbing without ropes or protective equipment) El Capitan’s 900-meter vertical rock face.

Green Room (Netflix)--Jeremy Saulnier’s thriller tells the story of the substitute concert gig from Hell.  When punk band The Ain’t Rights’ original touring stop gets cancelled, they agree to be the opening act for the band Cowcatcher at a bar in the woods outside Portland.  However, trouble erupts when the bar turns out to be a neo-Nazi skinhead establishment, and one of The Ain’t Rights discovers the corpse of a woman stabbed to death by a member of Cowcatcher.

Red Eye Season 2 (Hulu)--The hit British thriller set in a deliberately limited location returns with a new case for Detective Sergeant Hana Li.  This time around, the setting is the US Embassy in London.  Celebrations for the newly appointed US ambassador get cut short thanks to a phone call threatening to blow up a plane carrying the head of MI5 if anyone leaves the embassy.  A lockdown of the embassy forces the detective to work with Head Of Embassy Security Clay Brody.  But Li hasn’t forgotten or forgiven Brody for screwing her over.  Now add to the detective’s headaches someone killing people inside the embassy…

Land Of Sin (Netflix)--In this Swedish noir miniseries, local teenager Silas has been found murdered in an old farmhouse.  Assigned to investigate the killing are veteran detective Dani and fresh out of the police academy Malik. They soon discover Silas’ death is connected to a violent generations-long family feud.  Silas’ father Elias delivers an ultimatum: he’ll take action himself if Dani doesn’t solve the case.  But the detective has her own connection to the victim.

The Shrimp (Ovid)--Keith Wilson’s documentary short follows the life cycle of a shrimp living in a Savannah, Georgia marsh.  The short’s painterly images and unusual audio soundtrack combine with a look at Southern culture and its shortcomings.

Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska Live (Hulu)--For those who saw the recent biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” watch the real Springsteen perform the entire “Nebraska” album live from start to finish.  The performance is filmed in black and white without an audience by longtime collaborator Thom Zinny, with musical backup provided by Larry Campbell and Charlie Giordano.  

No Dinosaurs In Heaven (Ovid)--Greta Schiller’s documentary essay is partly a look at her career as a science educator and partly a look at how creationists have been earning science education degrees so they can hijack classes to promote their anti-evolutionary views.  By doing so, the creationists threaten to undermine both scientific literacy and America’s separation of church and state.

Percy Jackson And The Olympians Season 2 (Hulu)--The new season of this show based on Rick Riordan’s novel series adapts “The Sea Of Monsters.”  A return to Camp Half-Blood with Annabeth and Percy’s cyclops half-brother Tyson gets marred by monster attacks.  To save the camp and rescue his best friend Grover from Polyphemus, Percy will have to recover the legendary Golden Fleece by taking a dangerous journey into the Sea Of Monsters.   

Trust Me (Ovid)--Roko Belic’s (“Genghis Blues”) documentary deals with how cognitive dissonance (discomfort at receiving conflicting information) and confirmation bias (acceptance of news that reinforces existing personal beliefs) have made many people online vulnerable to accepting misinformation.  From social media spreading false rumors instantly to Edgar Welch’s nearly shooting up a Washington D.C. pizza shop thanks to his belief in the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, misinformation emotionally manipulates its recipients to take harmful or even life-threatening actions.

Chain Reactions (Shudder)--Alexandre O. Philippe’s (“78/52”) looks at the impact of Tobe Hooper’s horror classic “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” on the lives of five creatives: Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama.

The Tale Of Silyan (Hulu)--When poor Macedonian farmer Nikola Coney finds an injured white stork while driving a landfill’s bulldozer to earn extra money, he names the bird Silyan and nurses it back to health.  Yet as Tamara Kotevska (“Honeyland”)’s touching documentary shows, the relationship between man and stork also illuminates Macedonia’s dire economic pressures on people such as Nikola.   

A Thousand Blows Season 2 (Hulu)--It’s the return of Steven Knight’s Victorian-era London boxing drama.  It’s one year after the end of season 1.  Both East End boxers Hezekiah Moscow and Henry “Sugar” Goodson are not at good places in their lives.  Meanwhile, can the all-woman band of thieves known as the Forty Elephants reunite for a major heist?  It’ll depend on whether former gang queen Mary Carr can wrest control of the gang back from Indigo Jeremy.

When Fall Is Coming (Ovid)--Francois Ozon’s newest film takes place in a rural Burgundy village.  Michelle has retired to a quiet life here after a tumultuous life in Paris.  Her hopes for a stay with her grandson Lucas fall flat after she accidentally serves Lucas’ mother Valerie (Ludivine Sagnier) poisonous mushrooms.  Valerie already treats Michelle with incredible hostility, and this incident erases whatever trust she had for her mother.  Can Michelle’s friend Marie Claude and her now ex-convict son Vincent help Michelle gain the family life she always sought?

The Boyfriend Season 2 (Netflix)--It’s the return of this Japanese gay male dating reality show.  This season, the series sets up shop in wintertime Hokkaido, where 10 boys will spend two months living together.  The boys will also work together to run the peppermint Coffee Truck.  But there will also be time for quiet moments and careful connections.

Riot Women (Britbox)--As said earlier, when a quintet of “women of a certain age” form a punk band for a local talent contest, they soon discover they have lots more angry things to say about the way society treats women.  The members’ struggles to make the band a going concern also means juggling such challenges as absent husbands, demanding jobs, and (yes) menopause.  Sally Wainwright’s new drama was announced in a previous column.  But the US screening got delayed to this month. 

Veronica Mars Seasons 1-3 (Netflix)--If you’ve never seen one of the 21st century’s best TV detective shows, it’s now time to remedy that defect.  Kristen Bell plays the title character, a teen detective who operates out of the fictional enclave of Neptune, California.  Here, the wealthy elite are used to getting what they want while everybody else tries to scrape by.  Veronica navigates these two socioeconomic poles alongside her father Keith, a former sheriff turned private detective.  For the celebrity watchers out there, Amanda Seyfried and Tessa Thompson are among the familiar actors who make appearances in the series.

The Children Act (Netflix)--In this adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, Family Court Judge Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) gets saddled with the case of teen leukemia patient Adam Henry.  The boy’s doctors want to administer a life-saving blood transfusion but Adam’s parents feel the transfusion goes against the Bible.  Meanwhile, the judge’s husband Jack (Stanley Tucci) wants to have an affair.  What happens when Adam becomes romantically obsessed with Judge Maye?

Kumiko The Treasure Hunter (Netflix)--David Zellner’s drama is based on the Takako Konishi urban legend.  29-year-old office lady Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) leads a miserable existence in Tokyo.  Her only joys in life come from her pet rabbit Bunzo and treasure hunting.  When one such scavenging expedition turns up a VHS copy of the Coen Brothers film “Fargo,” she soon becomes convinced the events of the film are real and that the ransom money buried by “Fargo”’s Steve Buscemi character still awaits recovery.  How will Kumiko’s trip to Minnesota to recover the money turn out given her non-existent command of English?  

Love Through A Prism (Netflix)--This new historical animated romance set in early 1900s London is the creation of Yoko Kamio (“Boys Over Flowers”).  Japanese exchange student Lili Ichijoin has arrived at the prestigious St. Thomas Art Academy to fulfill her dream of becoming a painter.  Her determination to become the top student in her class intensifies after meeting the aristocratic student Kit Church, who’s devoted his whole life to painting.  But Lili’s sincerity and resilience soon shifts the feelings of this emotionally detached upper-class student.

No Tail To Tell (Netflix)--In this Korean romantic comedy, Eun Ho is a 9-tailed fox woman who hates that she’s fated to become human.  But when she encounters the highly talented but narcissistic soccer player Kang Si Yeol, she’s soon compelled to rethink her prejudices.

Perfumed Nightmare (Criterion Channel)--Director Kiplat Tahimik plays a jeepny driver in a poor Filipino village who longs to embrace the West’s technological modernism.  But when Kiplat makes it to Paris, he soon finds Western culture and technology to be far from something worth emulating.  This DIY low budget film would be championed by Werner Herzog and Francis Ford Coppola. 

Twinless (Hulu)--Roman and Dennis (director James Sweeney) are two men who meet at a support group for people who have lost their twin siblings.  The two men slowly become friends.  But Dennis’ connection to Roman turns out to be much more than “brothers in grief.”  Winner of the Sundance 2025 Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category.

Hoops, Hopes, And Dreams (Hulu)--Glenn Kaino’s short documentary recounts the untold story of how basketball courts became a venue for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights activists to connect to young voters.

Sandokan (Netflix)--It’s 1841 on the South China Sea.  When the pirate Sandokan and his international crew free a prisoner from the Sultan of Brunei’s ship, the prisoner sees the pirate as the warrior who will liberate his people.  On the other hand, to the beautiful Mariana Guillonk, Sandokan awakens her sense of adventure and her heart.  But pirate hunter Lord James Brooke, who’s also interested in Marianna, is determined to capture his rival and foe.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (Netflix)--Shingo Yamashita re-imagines famed Japanese folktale “The Tale Of The Bamboo Cutter” as a musical fantasy.  When high-schooler Iroha Sakayori encounters a glowing telephone pole and the baby that emerges from it, her life takes an unexpected turn.  The baby suddenly transforms into the headstrong teen Kaguya, who convinces Iroha to help turn her into a singing star on the virtual Tsukuyomi platform.  But as Kaguya’s fame rises, ominous forces from the Moon want the teen back. 

The Big Fake (Netflix)--Aspiring painter Toni Chichiarelli arrives in 1970s Rome with a desire for success in the world of art.  He winds up getting his wish granted but not in the way he expects.  His extraordinary skill will soon immerse him in the work of art forgery for criminal gangs.

Die My Love (MUBI)--Lynne Ramsay adapts Ariana Harwicz’ psychodramatic novel.  When Jackson (Robert Pattinson) inherits his uncle’s rural Montana home, he moves into the place with his pregnant girlfriend Grace (Jennifer Lawrence).  It’s after Grace gives birth to their son that her problems begin.  She’s bored and lonely thanks to Jackson being at work for long periods.  Her mental spiraling soon goes from masturbating in the woods to throwing herself through a glass door.  Where will things end?

Mother Of Flies (Shudder)--The newest folk horror film from the Adams family (John, Zelda, and Lulu Adams plus Toby Poser) takes viewers to the Catskill Mountains.  In search of an alternative to the punishing chemotherapy treatment cancer-ridden Mickey is undergoing, she and her father Jake turn to a spiritual healer named Solveig.  Yet is the pain Mickey undergoes from Solveig’s unusual treatment a sign that it’s working or that there’s a bigger and more unpleasant price to be paid?.. 

Wonder Man (Disney+)--Aspiring actor Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen) just wants to be the next Daniel Day-Lewis.  When he accidentally gets superpowers, he has to hide them lest the news further hurts his acting prospects.  However, actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley, “Iron Man 3”) feels Simon’s secret might be something he could exploit.   

Bridgerton Season 4 (Netflix)--Welcome back to the ton.  Lady Bridgerton hopes her son Benedict will find someone worth marrying at her upcoming masquerade ball.  Benedict does wind up being intrigued by the mysterious Lady In Silver, Sophie Baek.  When the clock strikes midnight, Sophie runs away, leaving a Cinderella-like glove behind as a clue to her identity.  However, this housemaid is much more of a schemer than a fairytale damsel in distress.