The Movie Waffler 10 Movies You Must See in January | The Movie Waffler

10 Movies You Must See in January

10 Movies You Must See in January
Our pick of the new movies coming to UK/ROI screens in January.

As is always the case, January sees a crop of awards contenders arrive in UK/ROI cinemas, including the latest films from Yorgos Lanthimos, Alexander Payne and Sofia Coppola. We also get new movies from Abel Ferrara and Kelly Reichardt, along with some promising indies.

Here are our picks of the most exciting movies coming to UK/ROI screens big and small in January.


Priscilla

Priscilla (Jan 1st, cinemas)
Hot on the heels of Baz Luhrmann's Elvis comes Priscilla, writer/director Sofia Coppola's adaptation of Priscilla Presley's 1985 autobiography 'Elvis and Me'. The title role is played by Cailee Spaeny with Jacob Elordi in the role of Elvis as Coppola explores the iconic couple's controversial relationship.



Poor Things

Poor Things (Jan 12th, cinemas)
Greek absurdist Yorgos Lanthimos reteams with his The Favourite star Emma Stone and screenwriter Tony McNamara for this adaptation of the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. Stone plays a young woman brought back from the dead by a scientist (Willem Dafoe) who acts as her protector. When she meets an unscrupulous lawyer (Mark Ruffalo), she sets off on a globe-trotting journey of self discovery.



Showing Up

Showing Up (Jan 15th, VOD)
Director Kelly Reichardt teams up with actress Michelle Williams for a fourth time for Showing Up, which Reichardt co-wrote with her regular collaborator John Raymond. The film sees Williams play a sculptor who finds inspiration from the chaos of her life as she prepares to open a new show.



The End We Start From

The End We Start From (Jan 19th, cinemas)
Directed by Mahalia Belo, The End We Start From takes place in a near future London destroyed by flooding. In this post-apocalyptic landscape we find a woman (Jodie Comer) and her newborn child attempting to find their way home in a new and uncertain world.



The Holdovers

The Holdovers (Jan 19th, cinemas)
Director Alexander Payne and actor Paul Giamatti struck black comic gold with 2004's Sideways. They've reunited for The Holdovers, which sees Giamatti play a curmudgeonly (what else?) lecturer at a 1970s prep school who is forced to look after a group of students over the Christmas holidays. This sees him bond with a troubled student (Dominic Sessa) and the school cook (Da'Vine Joy Randolph).





Birth/Rebirth

Birth/Rebirth (Jan 22nd, cinemas)
For her feature debut, writer/director Laura Moss reimagines Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' in a contemporary setting. Marin Ireland has become something of a horror stalwart with roles in the likes of The Boogeyman, The Empty Man and The Dark and the Wicked. Here she plays the Baron Frankenstein figure: Rose, a pathologist obsessed with reanimating the dead. All she needs is a test subject, which comes courtesy of Celie (Judy Reyes), whose young daughter has recently passed.



This Blessed Plot

This Blessed Plot (Jan 26th, cinemas)
Fact and fiction blur in this blend of drama and documentary from filmmaker Marc Isaacs. The film follows a young Chinese filmmaker who sets out to document the locals of a small Essex village and discovers the line between the living and dead isn't so easily defined.



Padre Pio

Padre Pio (Jan 26th, cinemas)
This biopic of the Catholic saint comes from Abel Ferrara and sees Shia LaBeouf in the title role. The film sees Pio grappling with Satan and evil landowners as he deals with PTSD from World War One.



All of Us Strangers

All of Us Strangers (Jan 26th, cinemas)
Written and directed by Andrew Haigh (Weekend; Lean on Pete), All of Us Strangers is based on Taichi Yamada's 1987 book 'Strangers', previously filmed as Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1988 J-horror The Discarnates. The film sees Andrew Scott play Adam, a young man who enters a relationship with a stranger (Paul Mescal) in his London tower block. This inspires Adam to return to his home town where his parents (Jamie Bell, Claire Foy) died 30 years ago. Imagine his surprise when it seems they're still living in his childhood home and haven't aged a day in 30 years.



Baghead

Baghead (Jan 26th, cinemas)
Director Alberto Corredor expands his 2017 short Baghead to feature length with this British chiller. Freya Allen plays a young woman who inherits a pub, only to find that among the kegs in the basement lurks a creature that offers her the chance to communicate with her late loved ones, but at a price.