A new month means a whole new batch of series, movies, documentaries and kids’ entertainment on streaming service Showmax.
February is a big month for returning hits. On the international side that means the latest seasons of Dwayne Johnson’s Young Rock, and sexually charged thriller The Girlfriend Experience. Locally, unnerving psychological thriller DAM is back with Season 2.
Here you’ll find a full breakdown of everything on Showmax in February, while below are our personal highlights from the new additions.
P.S. Don’t forget that if you’re in South Africa, Showmax is the spot to watch HBO’s gripping video game adaptation The Last of Us, the must-watch series of the moment. New episodes arrive on the service every Monday evening, keeping close pace with the US.
Series
If the name Let the Right One sounds familiar, it’s because there have already been two big screen adaptations of the novel by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist – which centres on a bullied boy who befriends a child vampire. This 10-episode series adaptation diverges and expands on the source material, telling the story of single father Mark (Demián Bichir) and his daughter Eleanor (Madison Taylor Baez), who have spent the last ten years hiding and feeding since Eleanor was turned into a vampire. Now they’re back in New York, desperate for a cure.
Binge the lone season of Let the Right One In from 27 February.
There’s another familiar name and face at the centre of this pick-me-up biographical series. While Meryl Streep has already played pioneering TV chef and cookbook author Julia Child on the big screen, here we have Last Tango in Halifax’s Sarah Lancashire stepping into the role. Julia looks at how a fiftysomething woman became an unlikely celebrity, changing the way Americans think about food, television, and women in the tumultuous 1960s. The cast also includes David Hyde Pierce (Frasier), Bebe Neuwirth (Frasier, Cheers), Judith Light (Who’s the Boss?), and Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet).
Watch all eight episodes of Julia S1 (S2 is coming) from 24 February. Also watch acclaimed documentary Julia on Showmax from the same day.
For a complete change of pace, there’s three-part BBC miniseries Crossfire. In this thriller, from the makers of The Responder, former police officer Jo (Keeley Hawes, who’ll we watch in anything!) takes her family on holiday to a resort in the Canary Islands, even as her marriage crumbles. But the dream vacation turns into a nightmarish battle for survival when gunmen attack the hotel.
Watch Crossfire in its entirety from 28 February.
Films
Suspenseful drama The Lost Daughter was a triumph for actress-turned-filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal when it released in 2021, earning three Oscar nominations: Best Lead Actress for Olivia Colman, Best Supporting Actress for Jessie Buckley, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Gyllenhaal herself. Now home viewers can watch the movie on Showmax. Adapted from the 2006 novel by Elena Ferrante, The Lost Daughter centres on Leda (Colman), a vacationing woman who becomes obsessed with a young mother and daughter, as their relationship unlocks dark memories of her past. The cast also includes Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ed Harris.
Watch The Lost Daughter from 2 February.
Need some more star power in your life? Then check out globetrotting espionage actioner The 355, which brings together a team of formidable female stars. When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, CIA agent Mason Brown (Jessica Chastain) is forced to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Diane Kruger), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Lupita Nyong’o), and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Penélope Cruz) to retrieve it. This also means staying one step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan), who is tracking their every move.
There’s no release date for The 355 on Showmax yet.
Documentaries
We already mentioned the documentary film centred on Julia Child, but how about another look at pioneering women who refused to take no for an answer? Women Who Rock is a four-part docuseries that pays homage to the female musical performers who have stormed the stage, wielded their instruments, amplified their voices, and sung the soundtrack of our lives. The documentary features performances and intimate moments from rock legends including Janis Joplin, Shania Twain, Macy Gray, Chaka Khan, Sheryl Crow, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Tori Amos, and many more.
Binge Women Who Rock from 8 February.