Major stars, celebrated directors usher in the new year

Welcome the new year with major stars and celebrated directors as streamers embrace 2023 with their headliners.

Be it stories to cosy up to, comedies with big names or thrillers to get your heart racing, the upcoming month promises to fulfil all your television needs.

The Glory

Available on Netflix

A-list South Korean actress Song Hye-kyo reunites with Descendants Of The Sun (2016) writer Kim Eun-sook for something dark and vengeful. In the series, Song stars as Dong-eun, a woman who was viciously bullied during her school days. Years later, as an adult, she plots to make the lives of those who terrorised her a living hell.

Why it is worth the watch: Song, who is mostly known for her romantic dramas, swops sweet love for brutal revenge in a fresh challenge.

---

Gannibal

Available on Disney+

In this Japanese horror drama adapted from a popular manga, Yuya Yagira stars as a cop named Daigo who moves to a remote village following a devastating incident. While the villagers seem friendly and welcoming at first, Daigo soon realises to his horror that he may have encroached upon a community of cannibals.

The series boasts a well-known creative team with producer Teruhisa Yamamoto and writer Takamasa Oe, who both worked on the critically acclaimed Oscar-winning Japanese film Drive My Car (2021).

Why it is worth the watch: If you want something hardcore and terrifying after a deluge of warm Christmas programming, this is it.

---

The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House

Premieres on Jan 12 on Netflix

Award-winning director Hirokazu Koreeda, known for quietly devastating films such as Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters (2018) and Broker (2022), takes a stab at episodic storytelling with his debut drama series, The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House.

Adapted from a manga series, it follows Kiyo (Nana Mori) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi), two girls who move to Kyoto from rural Aomori in the hope of becoming a maiko – an apprentice geisha or traditional female entertainer and hostess.

While Sumire is believed to be a once-a-century talent, Kiyo soon discovers that her abilities may lie in the culinary arena instead and becomes a cook for the maiko house she lives in.

Why it is worth the watch: Auteur Koreeda’s delicate, humanist cinematic vision is sure to carry over to in his first drama series.

---

The Last Of Us

Premieres on Jan 16 on HBO Go

Based on an action-adventure video game of the same name, The Last Of Us is set 20 years after modern civilisation has been destroyed by a mutant infection.

Survivor Joel (Pedro Pascal) is hired to smuggle teenage girl Ellie (Bella Ramsey) out of a quarantine zone. The two traverse the dangerous landscape of the United States and come to rely on each other for survival.

Other cast members in the series, said to be the largest television production in Canadian history, include Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman and Melanie Lynskey.

Why it is worth the watch: A stacked cast of beloved character actors and a big budget mean The Last Of Us should not be missed, especially for fans of the popular video game.

---

Shrinking

Premieres on Jan 27 on Apple TV+

In this comedy series created by sports comedy Ted Lasso (2020 to present) co-creator Bill Lawrence, Ted Lasso breakout star Brett Goldstein and funnyman Jason Segel, Segel goes “shrinking”.

The star of How I Met Your Mother (2005 to 2014) plays Jimmy, a therapist going through severe grief who begins telling his clients exactly what he thinks, prompting tumultuous changes in both their lives and his own.

Veteran Harrison Ford co-stars as a fellow therapist, who has to grapple with the relationships in his life following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s.

Why it is worth the watch: The award-winning comedy team behind Ted Lasso and Ford’s curmudgeonly charm make this an exciting title.