A modern ‘Lord of the Flies,’ a zombie sequel and Jodie Foster’s first French-speaking lead role in January movies

In the past, January was a time when studios dumped their unloved dregs into theaters. But in the streaming era, it is mostly just another month, with a number of highly anticipated releases heading to theaters and streaming platforms.

‘Der Tiger’

A German tank crew led by Lieutenant Philip Gerkins (David Schütter) is dispatched on a top secret mission to rescue Colonel von Hardenburg (Tilman Strauss) and bring him back from across the front lines on the Eastern Front. Following on the heels of the well-regarded 2022 Netflix remake of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” this is the rare WWII movie that Americans will have the opportunity to see from the German perspective. One of the strengths of director Dennis Gansel’s film is how “through strong dialogue and engaging performances,” it ends up “showcasing the horrors of what the Nazis did and the soldiers who willingly followed orders to commit heinous acts,” said Nick Bythrow at Frayed Branches. (on Prime now)

‘The Plague’

Are you ready for a period piece set in 2003? In director Charlie Polinger’s drama, Joel Edgerton plays the coach of a swim camp where the boys, led by the cruel, wisecracking Jake (Kayo Martin), isolate and bully Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) by pretending that his skin rash is the plague and refusing to speak to him. One boy says that if you touch Eli, “your brain turns into baby food.” We witness these disturbing rituals of male adolescence through the eyes of the new kid, Ben (Everett Blunck), a thoughtful boy with a troubled home life who is unnerved by what he sees. Strong performances from its mostly young cast “make this anxiety-inducing look at pubescent social structures so thrilling — and so brutal,” said Jacob Oller at The AV Club. (in theaters now)

‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’

In June, director Danny Boyle’s unexpected and contemplative third entry in the zombie franchise arrived in theaters after an 18-year gap. Jumping ahead 28 years into the future, it depicted a U.K. still overrun by mutated zombies, with a group of survivors clustered on a tiny island accessible only by a tidal causeway. There, adolescent Spike (Alfie Williams) went on a rite-of-passage zombie hunt on the mainland with his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), eventually needing the help of the mysterious Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who is living among the undead.

In this follow-up helmed by Nia DaCosta, Spike joins a post-apocalyptic gang of Teletubbies-inspired vigilantes as Jamie searches for him. The movie “deepens the franchise’s lore with new questions and some long-awaited answers in the quietest yet undeniably most brutal installment of the series,” said entertainment writer Matt Neglia on X. (in theaters Jan. 16)

‘A Private Life’

In her first feature film role since 2023’s “Nyad,” Jodie Foster (speaking perfect French) plays Lilian Steiner, an esteemed Parisian therapist whose professional and personal life is upended when one of her patients, Paula (Virginie Efira), commits suicide. Blamed by both Paula’s husband (Mathieu Amalric) and daughter Valérie (Luàna Bajrami) for her death, Lilian begins to suspect foul play and launches her own investigation with the help of her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), all the while trying to navigate her strained relationship with her son Julien (Vincent Lacoste). Foster shines in director Rebecca Zlotowski’s “delightful and whimsical film,” whose “witty conundrums” keep it “firmly in the realm of the eccentric,” said Guilherme Jacobs at IndieWire. (in theaters Jan. 16)

‘Islands’

Tom (Sam Riley) is a hard-partying tennis coach and former pro bottoming out on a Canary Islands beach resort when he gets hired to teach lessons to 7-year-old Anton by his beautiful and mysterious mother Ann (Stacy Martin). But when her husband Dave (Jack Farthing) disappears, police suspect Tom. The Hitchcockian plot simmers against the exotic backdrop, with strong performances driving the suspense, as we begin to suspect that Ann and Tom might have some kind of past together. Yet in spite of the “missing person mystery and a love triangle that we practically will into being,” director Jan Ole Gerster’s “​​sly character study “ is “never quite a thriller,” said Tom Charity at Sight and Sound. (in theaters Jan. 30)