Your Holiday Watch List Is Here, You’re Welcome

In what many thought was impossible, 2023 was a year we all flocked to the cinemas again. Yes! In real life! What an achievement for us, we should all be so proud. But now isn’t the time to stop. There’s really no better time than the summer holidays than to do nothing and watch every movie on your watch list.  

Junkee staffers have whittled down what we’re going to watch (and re-watch) over the break. By all accounts it seems like everyone will be watching Saltburn but there are a few other movies or TV shows that might also pique your interest. Enjoy!

Nick Bhasin

Managing Editor, Junkee

Poor Things

At the very next opportunity, I will be watching Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest movie Poor Things, starring Emma Stone as a Frankenstein’d Victorian woman. Lanthimos is on a roll. His last three movies, The Lobster (2015), The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), and The Favourite (2018), were all wild and weird and wonderful (the three essential Ws of filmmaking). He has a unique comedic sensibility and Emma Stone was great in The Favourite, so this one should be really good.

Hotel Coolgardie

I’ve been told that this documentary, about two Finnish girls working in a remote Australian mining town pub, is deeply unsettling. Sounds like a real life Wake In Fright. Sign me up.

The Crown

This show has delivered both pleasure and punishment over many long, long years. I’ve loved many episodes and seasons and others have been absolutely interminable. Entire episodes about where to store the royal plates. Long, desperately bleak scenes of people discussing where the royal plates have been stored — though the subtext is actually about where they haven’t been stored. Anyway, it looks like we’re ramping up to some pretty serious and depressing Princess Diana stuff so I’m sticking with it through to the end. That’s a Christmas promise I made to myself and my family.

Saltburn

Everyone seems to think this movie is pretty nuts, so I’m going to give it a shot. It has a lot of good people in it.

Talecia Vescio

Social Media Producer & Presenter

Daisy Jones & The Six

As much as I loved living my annotating fantasy and the interview pov structure of the book, the series took it somewhere totally different and I loved it. The music set me on fire too. ‘Let Me Down Easy’ was actually my top song on Spotify Wrapped this year. That’s how good it is.

Heartbreak High

Gonna give Heartbreak High the rewatch treatment it deserves over the break. We know that the second season is dropping ominously at some point next year, so I want to be well-versed in the lore, and suss the things I missed when I gobbled it up for the first time.

Saltburn

Can I copy Nick and also put Saltburn here? I feel like I need to watch it again, in the privacy of my own home. I think our lives were collectively changed by this film and I’m still reeling from the tectonic plate shift that occurred when Jacob Elordi popped on his posh British accent and bitchy eyebrow piercing. Gonna need a min to recover actually. 

Swarm

This series has been on my list and I’ve been busy shoulder-charging through 18 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy but I think it’s the time. Swarm is based on a Beyoncé fan and “obsession” with her idol. I’m all for fandom-forward content, so I’m curious to see how fans are repped in this.

Ky Stewart

Writer, Junkee

Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy

So on top of watching the new season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and the final episodes of Salt Lake City, I’ll be devouring the new Ultimate Girls Trip season. Mostly because I’ve been waiting forever to see my old New York girls back in action. I’ve missed Luann and Sonja. 

Veep

Listen, I’ve watched Veep maybe eight times already but I will never stop loving this show. It’s the perfect holiday watch because you’ve got seven seasons of pure comedy to get through. Some people don’t like watching political satire because it’s too close for comfort but I relish in laughing at bad politicians. 

Theatre Camp

I’ve had this on my list for a while but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe that’s because I was a theatre kid and I’m not sure I was ready to dive back into that world and see an old version of myself. Maybe in 2024 I’ll be strong enough for the resurgence of theatre kids. 

Bottoms

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Bottoms was the best movie of 2023. I will absolutely be watching this again in the cinemas. Yes, the real life ones! Best believe I’ll be streaming the shit out of it too when the time comes. 

Abbey Sheather

Junior Videographer and Editor

Saltburn

I still haven’t seen Saltburn! That’s at the top of my list. I’m stressed for the bath and grave scenes after everything I’ve heard.

New Girl

It’s one of my comfort shows and for an existential time of year, I think it’ll be perfect.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

With the passing of Andre Braugher who plays Captain Holt, I’ve started the series again to watch his mastery in action. It’s just such a great show so I’ll start the year off right.

Joe Harding

Commercial Video Producer

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars

I’ve had Drag Race fatigue recently and need a reminder why I loved it so much.

Succession

Everyone has stopped talking about it so now is the time to watch. 

Pokemon Horizons

Ash has gone and we got new characters, now is the time to try and get back into it. 

Poor Things

A modern Day Frankenstein that remembers its feminist roots. Yes please. 

Bridget Jones’s Diary 

It’s becoming more like real life every day.

Ellie Kamateros

Administration Manager

The Lizzie McGuire Movie

I, along with half the population, lived our European fantasy this year and I could only think about Lizzie when I got to Rome. ‘This Is What Dreams Are Made Of’ has been stuck in my head ever since and I need to relive the iconic performance again.

Merryana Salem

Staff Writer, Junkee 

All Of Us Are Strangers

This queer, romantic meditation on grief starring Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott has been top of my list since it was announced a year ago. It promises to be a perfect balm to those of us with seasonal depression.

Letterkenny (the final season, but also all of it)

Cult Canadian sitcom Letterkenny, about the benign hilarious problems that plague the titular tiny town, has been a hidden gem since it debuted in 2016. With its final season just around the corner, celebrate with a (re)watch and let it change your life forever.

The Drover’s Wife

Directed by the deadly Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri woman, Leah Purcell, The Drover’s Wife just dropped on Netflix. If you have a spare 1hr and 50 minutes over the summer, flick on the aircon and watch one of the most stunning First Nations films in the past decade. Perfect for your Invasion Day watch list.

True Detective: Night Country

The iconic crime drama is back in January after a four-year absence with a fresh mystery and new angsty detective duo on the case. Set during the long night of winter in Northern Alaska, the new season stars Kali Reis and Jodie Foster and looks perfect for fans of horror and neo-noir.

Lia Kim

Writer and Producer, Junkee

Arcane

I need to rewatch this just for the build up to Jinx and Echo’s fight. This show couldn’t be any better.

Kung Fu Panda marathon

With the fourth one coming out soon, I need to refresh my Dragon Warrior lore.

Attack On Titan: The Final Season

Somewhere around the final season, that wasn’t actually the final season, I lost interest. I won’t have any closure until I finally sit down and finish this.

Jujutsu Kaisen (Season 2)

It was a bad time to be a JJK fan and not be up to date this year. It’s my own fault that I got spoiled, really. Time to get my heart broken all over again, I guess.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Balancing out my list with my favourite ladies of Beverly Hills. I’m up to Season 9 and I need to catch up immediately.