What to watch on Showmax this June? Well, you can find a complete rundown of Showmax’s release schedule for the coming month here. To save you some time, though, we’ve cherry picked the series and movies that have stood out for us, and it’s a case of some real fire entertainment to heat up winter – literal dragon fire in fact!
Series
The biggie for the month is the second season of multi-award-winning Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon. Based on George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon tells the story of dragon-riding rulers, the Targaryens, with this season kicking off after King Aegon Il’s coronation, and opposing factions gearing up for civil war. Matt Smith is back as Daemon Targaryen, as is Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Watch House of the Dragon S2 express from the US on Mondays (from 3am) from 17 June.
Satisfy your hunger for grounded spy thrillers with Special Ops: Lioness, inspired by the real-life premise of female American soldiers who were recruited to interact with and search local women in Iraq. Here, Zoe Saldaña leads an undercover all-women special ops team dedicated to befriending the wives, girlfriends or daughters of high-value terrorist targets, working to turn them for the CIA. Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman also star.
Binge all eight episodes of Special Ops: Lioness Season 1 (Season 2 is in the works) from 13 June.
For a complete tonal change of pace, there’s six-episode British romance Alice & Jack. In this drama, Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson play a couple whose relationship consists of various highs and lows over the course of 16 years. The emphasis here is on messy reality, with passion, selfishness and emotional complexity all coming into play.
Binge Alice & Jack from 27 June.
Films
It’s another strong month for movies on Showmax, with June also including the local small screen debuts of Mr Monk’s Last Case (stream from 6 June) which brings back Tony Shalhoub’s brilliant detective; buoyant Take That stage musical adaptation Greatest Days (17 June); and moving The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (6 June), starring Jim Broadbent.
As for what is high on our Must Watch list, it starts with Expend4bles, the fourth film in the action hero ensemble franchise, which brings together genre stars old and new. This time the band of veteran mercenaries, led by the likes of Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture are joined by new blood, including Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Tony Jaa and Megan Fox.
Stream Expend4bles from 17 June.
Still delivering action thrills, with Bollywood splendour and British wryness thrown in the mix, is Polite Society. The film follows wannabe stunt woman Ria Khan (Priya Kansara), who believes she must save her older sister, Lena (Umbrella Academy’s Ritu Arya), from her impending marriage, as Ria senses Lena’s in-laws are up to no good. Our heroine enlists her friends to pull off a complex rescue mission.
Catch Polite Society from 20 June.
Ticking off your cult sci-fi horror needs for the month is Infinity Pool, from Brandon Cronenberg, son of David. During a vacation at an exclusive resort, novelist James Foster (Alexander Skarsgård) and wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) break the rules and venture beyond the grounds, where they enter a world of violence and hedonism, and meet mysterious Gabi (Mia Goth). Then James finds himself at the receiving end of a zero-tolerance policy for crime, with a disturbing punishment.
Stream Infinity Pool from 27 June.
Documentaries
Defying the narrative that stunt performers are expendable and easy to dismiss, David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived is a BAFTA-nominated documentary film about David Holmes, a stunt double who was paralysed after an on-set accident while making the Harry Potter movies. The film looks at David’s long, hard recovery and ongoing friendship with star Daniel Radcliffe.
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived is on Showmax from 5 June.