The Best New Amazon Prime Video Arrivals Of January 2020

In less than a month, it will be not only a new year but a new decade, and Amazon Prime Video is kicking things off with stories focusing on women and girls. Mid-January sees the premiere of the Amazon original Troop Zero about a young girl reaching, literally, for the stars. And toward the end of the month Amazon presents the docuseries Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer, telling the story of one of America's most infamous serial killers from the point of view of the women who survived him.

But original programming isn't all that Prime Video subscribers have to look forward to. Action fans will get to enjoy boxing sleuths, bloodthirsty barbarians, and their favorite treks through the stars streaming in January. For more scary and edge-of-your-seat fare, Prime will have plenty of new horror and thriller entries in the beginning of the new year a particularly gory sci-fi series and one of the best folk horror films ever made. And if you're more interested in a good laugh, Prime will have you yelling, "Goonies never say die!"

Keep reading to learn more about our picks for the best new Amazon Prime Video arrivals of January 2020.

In 1977, the Voyager spacecraft was launched with the mission of studying the outer solar system. Should any aliens ever come across one of the two Voyager probes, on board they'll find a golden record containing images and sounds from Earth. And in 2020's Troop Zero, a jittery young girl named Christmas Flint (McKenna Grace) is determined her voice will be one of the sounds that any curious aliens coming across Voyager hear. 

Christmas is obsessed with outer space, partly because she hopes her dead mother can be found among the stars. And the perfect opportunity for her to reach into the cosmos arises when a NASA scientist comes to Christmas' small Georgia town, looking for locals to add their voices to the golden Voyager records. However, there's a problem. NASA will be choosing from contestants at the annual Birdie Scout Jamboree, and the Birdies — led by Miss Massey (Allison Janney) — want nothing to do with a social misfit like Christmas. Supported by her father's secretary, Miss Rayleen (Viola Davis), Christmas puts her own Birdie Scout troop together of fellow outsiders, like two tough girls going by the names Hell-No and Smash.

Co-written by Lucy Alibar of Beasts of the Southern Wild fame and based on her 2010 play Christmas and Jubilee Behold the Meteor Shower, Troop Zero promises to be a fun and heartwarming film that, RogerEbert.com's Nick Allen says "goes down easy like the best cinematic comfort food."

Before his 1989 execution in the state of Florida, prolific serial killer Ted Bundy confessed to the murders of 30 women between 1974 and 1978, with some believing his list of victims could be even longer. Bundy is known for being a handsome and charismatic man, bucking the notion of how most of us imagine depraved killers of his stripe. And thanks to his good looks and grisly crimes, the public has long been fascinated with the murderer, and now, we're getting another glimpse into Bundy's life.

In the five-part docuseries Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer, the murderer's acts are examined from a female perspective. On one hand, the series promises to look at the killings in the framework of Bundy's psychosis and his hatred of women clashing with the feminist social movements of the time. On the other, we'll see the killer through the eyes of women who actually knew him. Along with those fortunate enough to survive Bundy's violence, the docuseries breaks the long silence of Bundy's daughter, Molly, and his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall. 

Amazon Prime Video subscribers who are also fans of Star Trek have a lot to be happy about in January. As early as New Year's Day, five of the films featuring the original crew — Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — will stream on Prime. And for fans of the franchise's The Next Generation era, 1998's Star Trek: Insurrection begins streaming the same day.

But if your action tastes lean more in the storied past than the distant future, you won't be left in the cold. The same day Prime starts streaming all things Star Trek, you can watch 2009's Sherlock Holmes. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as the titular hero and Jude Law as his stalwart partner Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes modernized the 19th-century sleuth with action and sex appeal. 

If swords and sorcery are more your deal, or you just jump at any chance to see Jason Momoa without his shirt, you can watch 2011's Conan the Barbarian staring January 6.

January 1

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

January 6 

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Of all the movies available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video in January, one of the quickest turnarounds from theater to streaming is the acclaimed horror flick Midsommar. Only the second full-length film directed by up-and-comer Ari Aster, 2019's Midsommar follows a group of friends who travel to Sweden for a festival that soon devolves into a darkly comic nightmare.

Available on New Year's Day is the entire science fiction-horror Cube series, including 1998's Cube, 2003's Cube 2: Hypercube, and 2005's Cube Zero. In each film, a group of strangers find themselves in a massive structure, and they're forced to either work together to escape or succumb to one of the structure's many deadly booby traps. 

For those craving more psychological thrills, there's plenty to watch in Prime's January offerings. In one of his rare serious performances, Robin Williams stars in 2004's The Final Cut. In a future where everyone's lives are recorded from beginning to end, Williams edits those recordings for funerals. However, he finds himself embroiled in much more than he bargained for when he's approached to hand over the memories of a recently deceased millionaire. In another sci-fi thriller, 2009's Knowing, Nicolas Cage finds a list of numbers in a time capsule that leads him to believe a world-ending catastrophe is on the horizon.

January 1

Cube (1998)

Cube 2: Hypercube (2003)

Cube Zero (2005)

Dracula 3000 (2004)

Knowing (2009)

The Final Cut (2004)

The Possession (2012)

Unforgettable (1996)

January 10

Midsommar (2019)

January 23

The Prodigy (2019)

The beginning of a new year has plenty of potential to be dramatic, and if drama is what you're looking for to start off 2020, then most of what we like on Prime Video will be available on New Year's Day.

If you're into historical dramas, 2011's The Conspirator might be your choice on the first day of the year. Directed by Robert Redford and starring James McAvoy and Robin Wright, The Conspirator tells the story of Mary Surratt, the only woman among those who conspired to assassinate Abraham Lincoln to be brought to trial, and Frederick Aiken, the Union war hero who agreed to defend her in court. 

If you prefer crime dramas, there's 2000's Amores Perros. The Mexican film is the first of acclaimed writer/director Alejandro González Iñárritu's "Trilogy of Death," which includes the more well-known 21 Grams and Babel. Amores Perros is an anthology with three different stories all revolving around the same car crash. One story involves a jealous guy who wants his brother's wife for his own, another follows a man who leaves his family to be with his mistress, and finally, there's the story of a professional hitman who's now a vagrant.

January 1

Amores Perros (2000)

Arbitrage (2012)

The Conspirator (2011)

Danny Collins (2015)

Golden Gate (1993)

Kansas (1988)

Swimming with the Sharks (1995)

Fans of the Truffle Shuffle, rejoice! On New Year's Day, Amazon Prime Video begins streaming the 1985 classic adventure comedy The Goonies. Starring future heroes of geek culture like Josh Brolin and Sean Astin — not to mention Corey Feldman, the brainchild of one of the most bizarre musical careers in history — this heartwarming story about a ragtag group of kids trying to save their homes with legendary pirate treasure is one of the linchpins of '80s cinema. 

Later in the month, wrestling fans — or anyone else who likes to laugh out loud — can watch 2019's Fighting with My Family. Based on the true story of WWE wrestler Paige, the comedic biopic tells the story of Saraya-Jade Bevis (Florence Pugh) who gets her shot at stardom in the wrestling ring , although it causes some waves in her family. Nick Frost — best known for teaming up with Simon Pegg in comedies like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead — stars as the young wrestler's father. Also appearing are Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who plays himself and Vince Vaughn as Hutch Morgan, the recruiter who picks Julia while leaving her brother behind. 

January 1

Cinderfella (1960)

Mystery Team (2009)

The Bellboy (1960)

The Goonies (1985)

The Patsy (1964)

January 17

The Skeleton Twins (2014)

January 30 

Fighting with My Family (2019)