X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

The Best New Shows and Movies on Netflix This Week - Sex Education, Friends From College

Plus: A harrowing thriller about a man swimming!

tim.jpg
Tim Surette

Ready to watch something new on Netflix this weekend? Here is a list of all the best new shows and movies released on Netflix this week.

After whatever last week was (let's all try to collectively forget the great Netflix Drought of 2019), Netflix bounces back slightly with a better lineup of new releases. It's still a light schedule; only seven original shows and films are due. But at least one of them, a teen sex comedy from England, looks like a winner.

Below I go through all the Netflix releases this week, and if you're looking for even more hand-picked recommendations, click over to our Watch This Now! page.

(All titles are out Friday, Jan. 11 unless specified otherwise.)


The Biggest Releases


Sex Education, Season 1
Our pick o' the week comes from jolly old England, where the kids snog and shag and other Brit slang to their hearts' content, apparently. The premise here is that an awkward high schooler who is so frightened of having sex that he can't even wank starts offering sex therapy at school -- something he's become a bit of an expert at since his mom (Gillian Anderson) is a well-known sex therapist herself. It's a bit more graphic than your typical sex romp (penis alert!), but it also has heart that others lack and offers up actual advice for those who fumble around with the whole "doin' it" thing. This is going to be a hit with the kids, and at least it's healthier than 13 Reasons Why.

Friends From College, Season 2
The big deal with this show in Season 1 was its cast, which includes Keegan-Michael Key, Cobie Smulders, Fred Savage, Nat Faxon and Billy Eichner. The big knock on it is that they all played terrible, irredeemable, selfish characters who were impossible to like. Both are still true in Season 2 -- if these were your friends from college, you'd be hanging out with your friends from high school -- as the fallout from Ethan and Sam's affair craters the group's harmony. The good thing is that the antics they get into can be pretty fun, like a trip to trashy Atlantic City or a night out at a Polish dance club, and at times it speaks poignantly about the mistakes we make. If you liked Season 1, you'll like Season 2. (Trailer)


Everything Else


The Last Laugh
Maybe you hate Chevy Chase like most people, but remember: He was Fletch, Ty Webb AND Dusty Bottoms! And he's whoever this is, some talent agent who meets up with his first client (Richard Dreyfuss) and convinces him to get back on the road for a stand-up tour. It's old people making jokes, the movie!

Back With the Ex, Season 1
When not fending off vicious wombats, Australians are looking for love, and what better place to look for love than where you've already found it? This dating show has four former couples giving it another go, because falling back to your ex is always a healthy thing to do. (
Trailer)

9 Twisted Shows to Watch After Bingeing YOU on Netflix

Solo
This isn't the Star Wars movie -- though that just came to Netflix, too. Instead, it's a Spanish movie about a surfer who goes to remote location for some killer waves, bro, but he gets hurt and then ALMOST DIES. While he's floating around the ocean waiting for Neptune's seaweedy hands to drag him to the bottom of the ocean for eternity, he flashes back to his past, where his life was presumably better than it is while he's near-drowning. This looks great... but the reviews say otherwise. (Trailer)

Revenger
Dude who doesn't look like he can kick a lot of ass kicks a lot of ass in this martial arts movie. He's also in the act of getting revenge, hence the title. (Tuesday, Jan. 15 / Trailer)

Sebastian Maniscalco: Stay Hungry
This guy is a comedian, apparently. It's hard to tell that from the trailer! (Tuesday, Jan. 15 / Trailer)

Stop searching, start watching! TV Guide's Watch This Now! page has even more TV recommendations.