Seven must-watch movies coming to Irish cinemas in January

If your New Year's Resolution is to watch more movies on the big screen, then we've got some good news for you...

January is always an interesting month for cinema releases; a healthy mix of big Oscar-favourites and "turn-brain-off-now" blockbusters. We're happy to report that 2022's January looks to be no different...

Licorice Pizza - 1 January

Director Paul Thomas Anderson - the genius behind There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights and Magnolia - is gifting us his latest movie on the first day of 2022. It tells the story of a teenage boy who falls in love with an older woman, set against the backdrop of California in 1973. The supporting cast includes Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn, Tom Waits and Maya Rudolph.

The 355 - 7 January

Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger and Fan Bingbing star as a crew of international spies, forced to work together in order to retrieve a highly dangerous weapon. Sebastian Stan and Edgar Ramirez are on supporting duty, with Simon Kinberg - writer of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Sherlock Holmes and X-Men: Days of Future Past - doubling up his duties as director.

Scream - 14 January

Why is it not called Scream 5? Or 5cream? The trailers for the movie have been keeping the plot points pretty close to its chest, so we're sure we'll find out the levels of meta-horror once it arrives on the big screen. The original surviving trio of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette are joined by a hot young cast of stab fodder. The directors were behind 2019's very good and very overlooked Ready Or Not, so we've got hope for this one.

Belfast - 21 January

Recently honoured with SEVEN Golden Globe nominations - including Best Director and Best Screenplay (both for Kenneth Branagh), two Best Supporting Actor nominations (for Ciaran Hinds and Jamie Dornan), Best Supporting Actress nomination (for Caitriona Balfe), Best Original Song ('Down to Joy' by Van Morrison) and Best Drama Picture - this love letter to the working class families of Belfast during the tumultuous late 1960s is sure to work similar magic once the Oscar nominations are announced.

Nightmare Alley - 21 January

Guillermo Del Toro has assembled an incredible cast - Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn - for this dark psychological thriller about a supposed psychic running a deadly con with the help of a dangerous psychiatrist.

Morbius - 28 January

The latest entry in the Spider-Man Cinematic Universe will likely want to repeat the success of 2021's No Way Home and Let There Be Carnage. Jared Leto takes on the titular role of Doctor Morbius, who finds that he now possesses vampiric powers following an attempt to heal a deadly disease. Quite how it will tie into the overall MCU remains to be seen.

Sing 2 - 28 January

Bono, Halsey and Pharrell Williams join the already stacked voice cast - Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Peter Serafinowicz, Jennifer Saunders, and Nick Offerman - for the sequel to the hit 2016 animated musical comedy. Clips via Universal Ireland, Paramount, Searchlight & Sony Pictures