This week, get ready to take a chance on some new stuff. Like a weird romantic comedy horror hybrid—on Peacock of all places. Or an impressionistic Vanessa Kirby vehicle! Or John Cena as a super soldier in a metal helmet! Here’s what’s premiering this week.
Cheer
This Emmy-winning docuseries returns with more than just a cheerleading championship at stake. The new season deals with the consequences of the show’s success and how that has affected the Navarro College squad. It also confronts head-on former cast member Jerry Harris’s 2020 arrest on charges of producing child pornography. Streaming January 12 on Netflix.
Peacemaker
John Cena’s standout character from this summer’s The Suicide Squad had a spin-off locked and load before that film even premiered, because that’s just how these things work. Still, as superhero shows go, you can certainly do worse than the handful of wry DC comics offerings that have premiered on HBO Max (Harley Quinn, Doom Patrol) so far, and Cena is one hell of a charming presence. Throw in the delightful Danielle Brooks and Peacemaker sounds like it might just be a good time! Premieres January 13 on HBO Max.
Wolf Like Me
Josh Gad and Isla Fischer star as a pair of damaged souls trying to make their relationship work. He’s a sad single dad and she’s a mysteriously “complicated” woman with a secret that has her constantly running away from him and occasionally locking herself in a cell with claw marks all over its walls. With Little Monsters writer/director Abe Forsythe at the helm, you can maybe guess where this six-part series is going. Streaming January 13 on Peacock.
Scream
Despite what the title suggests, the latest installment in the Scream franchise isn’t a remake. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette return to help a new generation of Woodsboro teens fend off a new killer sporting that iconic Ghostface mask—and to find out how this latest maniac is connected to their past. The 1996 original was a hit partly for its knowing deconstruction of slasher film conventions. What might a new Scream be in the age of Folk Horror, Blumhouse and Jordan Peele? In theaters January 14.
Italian Studies
Vanessa Kirby started 2021 with a major, Oscar-nominated performance in Pieces of a Woman. About a year later, she’s back in a smaller film that sounds no less daring. In Italian Studies, Kirby stars as an English writer who finds herself wandering the streets of Manhattan with no memories. That sounds like the premise of a thriller, but director Adam Leon delivers something more like a dreamy New York fantasia, an ode to a city anyone would love to get lost in. In theaters and on demand January 14.
Somebody Somewhere
The tremendously talented Bridget Everett (Patti Cake$, Inside Amy Schumer) stars as Sam, a woman who finds herself adrift in her Kansas hometown after the death of her sister. That is, until she connects with a group of musical outsiders. Premieres January 16 on HBO and HBO Max.
BONUS LISTENING: FKA Twigs, Caprisongs
The English singer-songwriter is set to release her first-ever mixtape this week—though I’ll be damned if I understand the difference between a mixtape and an actual album these days. According to the singer, Caprisongs is “my journey back to myself through my amazing collaborators and friends.” And sure enough, the 17 tracks are packed with collaborations: The Weeknd, Daniel Caesar, Jorja Smith, Arca and many more either produced or feature on the album. Other words to describe the new music: “It’s bronzer in the sink, alco pop on the side, a cherry lolly, apple juice when ur thirsty, friends in the park, your favourite person, that one sentence somebody said to you that changed everything, a club pre-game, your bestie who is always late but brings the most to the party, meeting a friend at the airport, just togetherness.” I like the sound of that.
