Thrills, chills and acclaimed offerings – both international and from the African continent – make up the Showmax streaming schedule in October. Here’s the full rundown of everything new this month, while below are our standout selections.
Series
In addition to new seasons of award-winners Succession (from October 18) and The L Word: Generation Q (October 14), series debuts include Resident Alien, starring Firefly’s Alan Tudyk. In this sci-fi-touched dramedy, based on the Dark Horse comic, Tudyk plays as an alien masquerading as a small-town doctor. Harry’s low profile is hampered when he’s roped into a murder investigation. Watch now.
Just in time for Halloween, there’s Chucky, a slasher series that picks up after the events of the seventh film in the horror franchise, Cult of Chucky. Brad Dourif is back voicing the malicious doll, which houses the soul of a serial killer. This time Chucky latches onto teen Jack Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) to throw an idyllic small town into bloody chaos. Watch episodes 1-3 from 27 October, weekly episodes thereafter.
Movies
If you’ve never seen the influential Lethal Weapon movies, this month’s your chance. The four-film buddy cop collection, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, is coming to Showmax from October 7.
Otherwise, it’s a surprisingly strong month for women-fronted comedy dramas. There’s the highly acclaimed Saint Francis (October 11), about a deadbeat nanny who forms an unlikely friendship with her six-year-old charge. Topical Unpregnant (October 14) sees teenage former best friends taking a cross-state road trip to receive an abortion without parental consent.
And there’s Summerland (October 11), a period tearjerker and lesbian romance starring Gemma Arterton as a reclusive writer forced to take in a young evacuee from London during World War II. Gugu Mbatha-Raw also stars.
For families and animation fans, there’s DreamWorks sequel The Croods: A New Age, where the Croods family encounters the Bettermans, and must evaluate their place in a changing world. The all-star voice cast includes Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Peter Dinklage, Kelly Marie Tran and more. Available now.
Finally, if you’re looking for something horror-flavoured, there’s Triggered, a South African-made thriller from filmmaker Alastair Orr. Nine former high school friends are celebrating their five-year reunion with a camping trip, only to wake with bombs strapped to their chests. The only way to survive is to “steal” time from each other’s countdown clocks. Watch from October 11.