Fireworks! Showmax is ending 2023 in spectacular New Year’s Eve style, with a mix of new local and international series, films and family entertainment. You can find the full December Showmax schedule here while below are our top picks for the month. Happy viewing!
Series
If you weren’t able to watch South African historical epic Shaka Ilembe when it screened earlier this year on DSTV, here’s your chance. Set in the 1700s, Shaka Ilembe depicts the rise of iconic Zulu warrior king Shaka, played as an adult by Lemogang Tsipa and a boy by newcomer Ntando Zondi. Shaka Ilembe was six years in the making, and involved consultations with historians, academics, family descendants and leaders within the Zulu kingdom. Season 2 has already been greenlit.
Binge the first season of English-subtitled Shaka Ilembe in its 12-episode entirety from 4 December.
Speaking of iconic leaders, the British legend of King Arthur takes centre stage in The Winter King, an epic revisionist take on the story by way of The Warlord Chronicles trilogy of books by Bernard Cornwell. Set amid the brutality of the 5th Century ADE in a land of warring factions, tribes and brutal Saxon invasion, The Winter King follows exiled Arthur Pendragon (Iain De Caestecker) as he evolves from outcast son to inspiring warrior, and leader.
Catch The Winter King Season 1 on Mondays from 4 December, with a new episode every week for 10 weeks.
Trompoppie is an intriguing South African whodunnit in Afrikaans with English subtitles. When Luna (Melissa Myburgh), a talented gymnast, is awarded a bursary to a prestigious private school, she ends up as part of elite, but bitchy, group of drum majorettes known as “trompoppies”. But after a hazing ritual goes wrong, trompoppies start turning up dead and the seemingly perfect facade of the community begins to crumble.
Enjoy new episodes of Trompoppie every Thursday from 7 December.
Of everything coming to Showmax in December, we’re most excited for Poker Face, a murder mystery series from Knives Out and Glass Onion’s Rian Johnson. Natasha Lyonne leads the cast as Charlie Cale, a casino worker with an extraordinary ability to detect lies. In the midst of a road trip in search of answers, she encounters strange crimes she can’t help but investigate and solve. The all-star cast include Adrien Brody, Nick Nolte, Chloë Sevginy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Barkin, Benjamin Bratt and Ron Perlman.
Binge all 10 episodes of Poker Face Season 1 from 11 December.
Films
When it comes to movies, the holiday season is largely about blockbuster entertainment. And you don’t get much bigger, or more high octane, than Fast X. The tenth film in the Fast & Furious Saga sees Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family facing an unhinged enemy out to destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever. With most of the franchise’s cast staples returning, the notable newcomers this time around are Jason Momoa and Brie Larson.
Stream Fast X from 4 December.
For more action, of the survival thriller kind, there’s 65. After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills (Adam Driver) learns he’s actually stranded on Earth…65 million years ago. Mills and the only other survivor, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive. From the writers of A Quiet Place, and producer Sam Raimi.
Stream 65 from 11 December.
Finally, there’s one of the biggest box office smashes of the year. Animated video game adaptation The Super Mario Bros. Movie comes from Nintendo, and Despicable Me animation studio Illumination, and features an all-star voice cast, including Chris Pratt as Mario and Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, alongside Charlie Day as Luigi and Jack Black as Bowser. Events kick off when New York plumbers Mario and Luigi are sucked into a Warp Pipe and end up in a strange fantasy kingdom under threat.
Catch The Super Mario Bros. Movie from 18 December.
Kids
December is a great month for kids’ and family entertainment. Along with Paw Patrol Season 9 from 15 December, this month sees the debut of Twende, a groundbreaking Showmax Original. Made in Africa, and featuring an all-Kenyan voice cast, this first-ever 2D Showmax animated series centres on Twende, a laid-back pangolin whose attitude clashes with his job as a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) driver in the bustling, fictional East African city of Milima.
Five episodes of Twende start streaming on 1 December, with a further two episodes released every Friday.
Also debuting on 1 December – in its 10-episode first season entirety – is international animated series Fright Krewe.
Already renewed for a second season after a strong reception, Fright Krewe looks like it should please Ghostbusters fans aged 9 and up. Created by horror filmmaker Eli Roth and YA author James Frey, in Fright Krewe an ancient prophecy and a Voodoo Queen put misfit teens in charge of saving New Orleans from the biggest demonic threat it’s faced in almost two centuries.
On the animated movie front, there’s comedic CGI adventure The Amazing Maurice out of the UK. Based on Terry Pratchett’s Carnegie Medal-winning novel, The Amazing Maurice follows a sassy, street-smart ginger cat (voiced by Hugh Laurie) who travels across the countryside, swindling villagers with pied piper friends Keith and a staged rat plague. Things are going swimmingly until the gang arrives in a scenic market town and discovers something more nefarious is already afoot.
Also featuring the voices of Emilia Clarke, Himesh Patel, David Thewlis and David Tennant, you can watch The Amazing Maurice from 7 December.