Amazon Prime Video: the programs not to miss in January 2022

For once, Amazon Prime Video has chosen to focus on quality over quantity to start this new year. Very few films and series come to garnish the catalog of the service in January, which nevertheless manages to offer two highly anticipated feature films. On the one hand, Spencer by Pablo Larraín, with a stunning Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana. The other, The Green Knight, a graphically sublime Arthurian legend released across the Atlantic more than six months ago.

For the rest, we also wait to see what George Clooney has in store for us with his new film, The Tender Bar, and we will be very happy to find some cult nuggets like the saga Police Academy or the incredible Beetlejuice.

The event of the month: Spencer, January 17

If there is one subject that seems to intrigue Pablo Larraín, it is that of the great tragic female figures of the twentieth century. Four years after the sublime Jackie, who sketched the portrait first lady mourning Jackie Kennedy, here is another tragic fate, on the other side of the Atlantic this time. Kristen Stewart slips into the shoes of Diana Spencer, the Princess of Wales whose life came to an abrupt end one summer evening in Paris. The first images quickly silenced the skeptics about the performance of the American actress, who has nothing to prove for a long time. Like with Jackie, the Chilean filmmaker seems to have opted for a very sensory and intimate approach to his main character, whose story takes place here at the time of his separation from Prince Charles. If the result is also successful, we may have a very large biopic here.

We are curious: The Green Knight, January 3

Another highly anticipated film, another very promising director. Released during summer 2021 in the United States, The Green Knight was showered with praise but had its French release postponed numerous times, eventually landing on Prime Video. This film by David Lowery (A Ghost Story) takes a look at a little-known character from Arthurian legend, Gauvain, King Arthur’s nephew. A lazy knight and little assertive – like what Kaamelott is not that crazy – who will try to prove his worth by embarking on a supernatural and a little suicidal quest. Worn by Dev Patel and Alicia Vikander, The Green Knight is mostly acclaimed for its superb cinematography, widely teased in the trailers. Another success for the A21 team, the production company already at work on Moonlight, The Lighthouse, Uncut Gems or the two horrific jewels of Ari Aster that are Heredity and Midsommar.

We are also curious: The Tender Bar, January 7

The director of The Tender Bar is a little better known and less promising than the two mentioned above, since it is about George Clooney. This is already the ninth film by the ex-hunk of Emergency, who has since proven time and time again that he is much more than that. Here, he tells us the true story of the writer and journalist JR Moehringer, taken under their wing by bar owners in his youth, for lack of a true father figure. A beautiful cast led by Ben Affleck and Tye Sheridan has been assembled for the occasion, for a film which promises to be much less ambitious than our two other choices of the month. Note that after Midnight in the universe, his previous film received quite coldly, Clooney changes dairy by switching from Netflix to Prime Video.

And besides that ?

• The Adventures of Sonic, season 1 – January 1
• The Teletubbies, season 1 – January 1
• Time is up, drama – January 3
• Police Academy, the 7 films of the famous comic-detective saga – January 3
• Beetlejuice, a great classic by Tim Burton – January 3
• Besieged, war film – January 7
• Everyone standing, comedy with Frank Dubosc and Alexandra Lamy – January 14
• Creed II, continuation of the adventures of the offspring of Apollo – January 14
• Hotel Transylvania: Monster Changes, animated film – January 14
• As We See It, season 1, Amazon Original – January 21
• Maxime Gasteuil arrives in town, one-man show – January 27
• Vox Machina, season 1, Amazon Original – January 28
• Robin Hood, the one with Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx – January 31