Kicking off the new year, the best movies on Apple TV+ in January showcase the solid library of original movies that are available to subscribers. Unlike streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, Apple TV+ does not have acquired movie titles in its library and instead focuses on its original content. However, they have managed to build a strong collection of these types of movies with awards contenders like Killers of the Flower Moon and CODA, as well as star-studded blockbusters like Wolfs.
While many of Apple TV+’s original movies have received theatrical releases, the streamer faced controversy in 2024 with Wolfs director Jon Watts speaking out on his unhappy collaboration with Apple. However, with Brad Pitt’s long-awaited F1 as well as the sci-fi thriller The Gorge coming in 2025, it looks to be an exciting year for Apple TV+ and the best movies on the streamer this month will help kick things off right.
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Fingernails
(2023) [Sci-Fi Drama] – Fingernails is a relatively slow-burn sci-fi drama that explores the nature of romance and human connection, with a cast that contains many recognizable names, including Jeremy Allen White of The Bear and Shameless fame and Riz Ahmed.
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Palmer
(2021) [Action Drama] – Palmer sees Justin Timberlake stars as Eddie Palmer, a college football star who recently out of prison after a 12-year sentence for attempted murder and theft, making for a grounded and emotional redemption story.
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Fancy Dance
(2023) [Crime Thriller] – Though not as light and fun as the title suggests, Fancy Dance is a gripping thriller starring Lily Gladstone that explores the treatment of Native Americans by the federal government.
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The Banker
(2020) [Historic Drama] – A team-up between Captain America and Nick Fury fans weren’t expecting, The Banker is nevertheless a riveting tale starring Antony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson as the first Black bankers in the United States.
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Finch
(2021) [Sci-Fi Drama] – After memorably playing off a volleyball on a deserted island in Cast Away, Tom Hanks now faces the apocalypse with only a robot and a dog to keep him company.
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CODA
(2021) [Drama] – Perhaps the most celebrated original movie on Apple TV+, CODA was the first film distributed by a streaming service to win the Oscar for Best Picture in the moving tale of a young woman who pursues a music career while helping her deaf family members.
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Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023) [Crime Drama] – Killers of the Flower Moon is a film so harrowing and engrossing that viewers will forget its three-and-a-half-hour runtime and director Martin Scorsese brings the story of the 1920s Oklahoma murders of Osage people after oil was discovered on their land to screen with a jarring level of realism.
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Napoleon
(2023) [Historic Drama] – Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix gives his best take on the Napoleon complex starring as the notorious Emperor of France in Ridley Scott’s epic historical drama.
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Tetris
(2023) [Historic Drama] – Tetris is more than a video game movie adaptation and tells the surprisingly dark story of how US-based entrepreneur and video game designer Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) worked to obtain the rights to Tetris, making for a thrilling story behind such a seemingly simple game.
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The Greatest Beer Run Ever
(2022) [Comedy Adventure] – One of those stranger-than-fiction true stories, The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a biographical war dramedy about a young man who snuck into the Vietnam War to deliver beer to his on-duty friends.
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Wolfs
(2024) [Crime Comedy] – The 2024 action-comedy makes perfect use of stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Watts taps into the pair’s experience in the Oceans movies especially, as the pair play rival fixers (think Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction) who are forced to work together to get rid of a body.
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The Instigators
(2024) [Crime Comedy] – While The Instigators doesn’t do much to break out of their regular narrative tropes of heist comedies, it still provides an incredibly solid viewing experience that’s sure to appeal to viewers who enjoy a team of hilariously mismatched thieves fumbling their way through a grand plan.
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On the Rocks
(2020) [Comedy] – While many people might have thought Bill Murray would make for a pretty cool dad, that theory is put to the test in Sofia Coppola’s charming father-daughter comedy.
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The Family Plan
(2023) [Comedy] – Mark Wahlberg finds a perfect mix of his goofy comedy persona and action-hero persona as a family man whose past life as a covert operative catches up to him.
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Cha Cha Real Smooth
(2022) [Comedy] – A gentle dramedy with a romantic heart, Cha Cha Real Smooth is a great showcase for director, producer, writer, and star Cooper Raiff and features a charming performance from Dakota Johnson.
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The Beanie Bubble
(2023) [Comedy Biopic] – While there are some who felt their Beanie Baby collection would make them rich, The Beanie Bubble is the story of the people behind the toy and its brief but memorable obsession in pop culture.
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Flora and Son
(2023) [Musical Drama] – Music brings people together (reluctantly) in this light-hearted comedy about a young mother dealing with her rebellious teenage son while also trying to embrace her own desire for a music career.
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Come From Away
(2021) [Musical] – A story of the best of humanity in the worst of times, this live theatrical production about the 7,000 passengers who found themselves stranded in Newfoundland following the 9/11 attacks.
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Argylle
(2024) [Action Comedy] – While many people dreamed of seeing Henry Cavill bringing a certain literary spy to life, Argylle was likely not what they had in mind as a spy novelist finds herself in the middle of a true spy story.
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Ghosted
(2023) [Action Romcom] – After going head-to-head in Knives Out, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas find friendlier chemistry in this action-packed rom-com about a mild-mannered guy who tracks down the girl he has a crush on only to discover she’s an international spy.
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Emancipation
(2022) [Historic Drama] – The historical thriller Emancipation stars and was co-produced by Will Smith. It is an incredibly tense and emotional watch that focuses on the 1860s shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln.
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Sharper
(2023) [Drama Thriller] – An edge-of-the-seat dramatic thriller, Sharper is a welcome addition to the neo-noir crime genre, with a plot revolves around a con artist who targets Manhattan billionaires, yet is inventively told through a series of non-linear vignettes from different perspectives.
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STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie
(2023) [Documentary] – The 2023 winner of the Hope Award at the SXSW Film Festival, STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie shines a light on the life of the beloved actor and his life with Parkinson’s disease, covering how Fox tried to keep his disease a secret at the height of his career in 1991 to how he lives with Parkinson’s over two decades after being diagnosed.
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Blitz
(2024) [War Drama] – 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen returns to big sweeping historical dramas with Blitz. The World War II movie stars Saoirse Ronan as a young mother who is separated from her young son during the German bombing of London, sending mother and son on a harrowing journey to reunite with each other.
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Fly Me to the Moon
(2024) [Romantic Comedy] – Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum’s combined star power is enough to send a rocket into space in this charming rom-com set during the Space Race of the 1960s.
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