What to watch in January, from Michelle Yeoh's huge new series The Brothers Sun to Peter Capaldi's Criminal Record

Michelle Yeoh is impeccable, as always, in new black comedy/action series The Brothers Sun. (Supplied: Netflix)

New year, new content!

We know you’re here for the recommendations so we’ll get straight to it.

The Brothers Sun — Netflix, out now

Awkward and bumbling med student/cringe improv guy Bruce Sun grew up in LA believing he was an everyday working-class first-gen immigrant, raised by his single mother (played by the one and only Michelle Yeoh).

Then the father he didn’t know he still had is shot by an assassin out to destabilise his family’s stronghold on organised crime in Taiwan, and everything changes.

The big brother he thought was working with penguins in Antarctica is actually a ruthless killer (though he’d rather be a chef).

And Eileen “Mama” Sun isn’t just a nurse. She’s also the key to maintaining their power.

At his father’s direction, elder brother Charles leaves Taipei to protect his mother and brother in LA and the mysterious assassins who wanted Big Sun dead absolutely follow him to the US.

Highly satisfying fight scenes ensue, in which Lazy Susans and shoes that aren’t left in their rightful place by the door become weapons, and Mama Sun tells Charles off not for killing human beings, but for leaving mess behind.

This is the kind of show that moves quickly and expects you to keep up as it flits between Taiwan and the US and Mandarin and English (though most of it is in English because Bruce is “conversational at best” in his family’s mother tongue).

Michelle Yeoh is, once again, impeccable and newcomers Justin Chien (Charles) and Sam Li (Bruce) bring just the right amount of tension to their performances as long-lost brothers.

Plus it has a killer (pun sort of intended) soundtrack with music from the likes of Gizzle, Toro y Moi, Peggy Gou and Yaeji.

The Brothers Sun is an unmissable watch for anyone into black comedy/perfectly choreographed action.

For fans of: Everything Everywhere All At Once, Rush Hour

Criminal Record — Apple TV+, out now

An anonymous 999 caller rings London’s Metropolitan Police from a public phone box in the dark of the night with a tip: She believes her boyfriend murdered his ex-girlfriend — a crime someone else is spending 24 years in jail for.

The young black detective sergeant June Lenker (Cush Jumbo) tasked with reviewing the call can’t let go of the possibility a young black man may have been wrongfully convicted, so she takes it up with the highly respected detective chief inspector Daniel Hegarty (Peter Capaldi) who brought the man who was convicted to “justice” a decade ago.

Hegarty is convinced he did his job correctly. Lenker has an irresistible hunch that he didn’t.

This isn’t just a whodunnit. It’s also a story about women believing women, institutional racism and the old guard not just giving way to the new, but admitting to past wrongs.

Criminal Record is fast-paced, the episodes are deliciously meaty and Jumbo and Capaldi are the begrudging detective duo you didn’t know you needed.

For fans of: Unbelievable, The Killing, The Chestnut Man

Nemesis — ABC iview, January 29

The inside scoop on ambition, betrayal and revenge over the course of nine years of Coalition government led by Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison is the subject of this three-part ABC News docuseries.

ABC Investigations’ Mark Willacy reveals how the three prime ministers gained, wielded and ultimately lost power, dealt with internal policy wars, handled three dramatic elections and the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s serious stuff, but there are still some funny moments (remember when Tony Abbott ate a raw onion, including its skin?)

And yes, I know this is extremely ABC iview content, but if Aunty doesn’t do these sorts of generation-defining political stories justice, who will?

For fans of: Labour in Power, The Howard Years, The Killing Season

Role Play — Prime Video, out now

Kaley Cuoco is back playing another frequent-flying assassin/spy (does Prime Video think we’ve forgotten The Flight Attendant already?)

But this time her name is Emma and she’s tired and sick of killing and she just wants to be the world’s best wife to her husband Dave (David Oyelowo) and their two kids but she can’t, you guys, because if she stops working her boss won’t be able to keep her safe and there’s a literal bounty on her head.

When Emma and Dave try to rejuvenate their sex life with a night at a hotel where they role-play strangers, Emma runs into Bill Nighy, AKA “Naughty Bob”, a fellow assassin who would very much like to kill her for the money.

One thing leads to another and of course Dave finds out his wife doesn’t work a boring desk job.

That’s when this movie sheds its formulaic skin — which is why it deserves a watch. And why I’m going to stop revealing plot details.

With years of experience playing a role so similar to this (slightly more plausible) one to her name, Cuoco is every bit the calm and collected anti-heroine, and Oyelowo was the perfect pick for her very lost, very loveable husband.

For fans of: The Flight Attendant, Killing Eve, Kleo

New-to-streaming honourable mentions

• Good Grief — Netflix, out now: Schitt’s Creek star Daniel Levy’s directorial debut, a heartfelt story about navigating grief with the support of friends.
• Boy Swallows Universe — Netflix, out now: Trent Dalton’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel tells the story of Eli Bell, a teenager growing up in 1980s Brisbane trying to keep his family together.
• Expats — Prime Video, January 26: Nicole Kidman leads the cast of this six-part limited series, based on Janice Y K Lee’s bestselling novel, The Expatriates.
• Masters of the Air — Apple TV+, January 26: Another WWII series, this one based on Donald L Miller’s book of the same name starring Austin Butler as one of the men of the US 100th Bomb Group, which conducted bombing raids on Nazi Germany.