Streaming Sneaks: Kick off 2025 with K-romance and nerdy heroes in January

In this monthly column, The Straits Times’ streaming picks for January include a star-studded South Korean romcom, the return of a sleeper hit action thriller, a dangerous maths problem and a dead president.

When The Stars Gossip

Debuts on Netflix on Jan 4

The first South Korean romantic comedy set in space, this stars Lee Min-ho as Gong Ryong, a doctor who pays a large sum of money to go to space as a tourist.

On the space station, he meets Commander Eve Kim (Gong Hyo-jin), the astronaut in charge, and sparks fly.

But Eve, a stickler for the rules, is resentful of having to babysit the clumsy doctor.

He is also engaged to the daughter of one of the most powerful families in South Korea – and is hiding his real mission.

Why watch it: Lee and Gong are two of the biggest names in South Korean entertainment.

Lee appeared in South Korean romantic dramas The King: Eternal Monarch (2020) and The Heirs (2013), as well as the Hollywood-produced period drama Pachinko (2022 to 2024).

Gong is best known for romcoms such as Master’s Sun (2013) and The Greatest Love (2011). When The Stars Gossip is also her first K-drama role since her acclaimed performance in the romantic comedy thriller When The Camellia Blooms (2019).

Prime Target

Debuts on Apple TV+ on Jan 22

Leo Woodall plays Edward Brooks, a mathematical genius on the verge of finding a pattern in prime numbers that would unlock every computer in the world.

But as he races to complete his ground-breaking work, he becomes aware of shadowy forces conspiring to stop him at any cost.

Enter Taylah Sanders (Quintessa Swindell), a no-nonsense intelligence agent who has been assigned to spy on him.

And she becomes his ally as he attempts to unravel a conspiracy that will endanger far more than just computers.

Why watch it: It is not easy to make mathematics sexy, much less the centre of a pulse-pounding tale.

But Prime Target has impeccable pedigree. It is produced by veteran English film-maker Ridley Scott (Gladiator, 2000) and written by English playwright Steve Thompson, who also penned episodes of crime drama Sherlock (2010 to 2017).

The charismatic Woodall – who starred in Season 2 of comedy-drama The White Lotus (2021 to present) and romantic drama One Day (2024) – also has a decent shot at making maths nerds cool.

The Night Agent 2

Debuts on Netflix on Jan 23

The explosive first season, which premiered in 2023, is Netflix’s seventh most-watched show of all time.

Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) was a junior federal agent stuck manning an emergency hotline that almost never rings.

Then one night it does, and the caller, cyber-security expert Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), helps him expose a deadly plot that goes all the way to the White House.

The pair return for Season 2, and Peter is now a full-fledged agent in the so-called Night Action programme, which is run out of the basement of the White House and is a last resort for American spies when things go wrong.

This time, he is forced to go into hiding when he is betrayed on a mission. Unsure if there is a mole in his team, he sets off alone to hunt down those responsible.

Why watch it: The first season came out of nowhere to become one of the most bingeable shows of 2023, and showrunner Shawn Ryan (The Shield, 2002 to 2008; S.W.A.T., 2017 to present) promises to deliver even more thrilling action in this chapter – some of which was shot on location in Thailand.

Paradise

Debuts on Disney+ on Jan 28

This political mystery thriller is set in a wealthy community whose residents are some of the most prominent individuals in the world, but it is turned upside down when the President of the United States is found dead.

Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) was the last person to see President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) alive, and soon finds himself the prime suspect.

The focus of a high-stakes investigation, he must fight to clear his name, save his career and figure out who he can trust.

Paradise is created by screenwriter-producer Dan Fogelman – who was behind the hit family drama This Is Us (2016 to 2022) – and also stars Sarah Shahi and Julianne Nicholson.

Why watch it: Brown won Emmys for his performances in This Is Us and crime drama The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016). With his trademark smouldering intensity, he seems perfectly cast as a Secret Service agent trying to contain his emotions.

And the two assassination attempts on America’s President-elect Donald Trump in 2024 make a story like this less far-fetched.