5 best new international movies on Showmax in October 2020

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Harriet. After. Ben Is Back. Rambo: Last Blood. 

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum | Action

John Wick is on the run after killing a member of the international assassins’ guild, and, with a $14-million price tag on his head, he is the target of hitmen and women everywhere…

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was the 27^th biggest movie of 2019 at the global box office, won 13 awards, and was nominated for five People’s Choice awards last year, including Favourite Movie, Favourite Action Movie, Favourite Action Movie Star (Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry) and Favourite Male Movie Star (Keanu Reeves). 

The all-star cast also includes Oscar winner Anjelica Huston (The Addams Family), Golden Globe winner Ian McShane (Deadwood, Pirates of the Caribbean), Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Critics’ Choice nominee Asia Kate Dillon (Billions), BAFTA nominee Jerome Flynn (Bronn in Game of Thrones), Lance Reddick (The Wire), and Jason Mantzoukas (The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine).

Harriet  | Biopic

Harriet tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

This powerful film is led by fast-rising star Cynthia Erivo (The Outsider) in the title role, for which she received a 2020 Oscar nomination as well as a Golden Globe nomination. The cast also includes Emmy nominee Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton, Central Park), multiple Grammy nominee Janelle Monáe (Moonlight, Hidden Figures), Clarke Peters (The Wire), and British-Nigerian actor Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds, Doctor Sleep).

Harriet is written and directed by Black Reel nominee Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me, Luke Cage, Eve’s Bayou), and co-written by Black Reel winner Gregory Allen Howard (Ali).

In addition to its nominations for Best Actress, Harriet was nominated for a 2020 Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song (for the song Stand Up, written by Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell). 

After | Romance 

Winner of both the 2019 People’s Choice and Teen Choice Best Drama awards, After follows Tessa (Josephine Langford in a Teen Choice-winning performance), a dedicated student, dutiful daughter and loyal girlfriend to her high school sweetheart, as she enters her first semester in college. 

Armed with grand ambitions for her future, her guarded world opens up when she meets the dark and mysterious Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin – nephew to Ralph and Joseph Fiennes – in a Teen Choice-winning performance), a magnetic, brooding rebel who makes her question all she thought she knew about herself and what she wants out of life. 

The film is based on Anna Todd’s breakout novel, which racked up over 600 million reads online.  

Ben is Back | Drama 

Nineteen-year-old Ben Burns unexpectedly returns to his family’s suburban home on Christmas Eve. Ben’s mom, Holly, is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son’s drug addiction. Over a turbulent 24 hours, a mother’s undying love gets put to the test as Holly does everything in her power to keep Ben clean.

Pieces of April director Peter Hedges, who wrote the Oscar-nominated What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and was nominated for an Oscar for About a Boy, wrote and directed Ben Is Back, with his son Lucas Hedges (an Oscar nominee for Manchester by the Sea and a Golden Globe nominee for Boy Erased) in the lead role opposite Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich, Pretty Woman). 

The award-winning film has an 81% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As Rolling Stone put it, “Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges pour their hearts and souls into the unflinching and unforgettable addiction drama about a mother who can’t quite trust the son she loves.”

Rambo: Last Blood | Action  

Winner of both the National Film and Television Award for Best Action Movie and a Razzie Award for Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property, Rambo: The Last Blood sees movie legend Sylvester Stallone reprise one of his most iconic roles for one final mission – saving his adopted daughter, who was kidnapped by a cartel and forced into prostitution in Mexico.

Admittedly, Rambo: Last Blood is not for everyone: while Den of Geek hailed it as “a brutal and bloody return for the 80s action icon… an intimate sequel that ups the emotional stakes (and the body count),” The Guardian headlined their one-star review “Stallone storms Mexico in a laughable Trumpian fantasy.” 

Everything on Showmax in October 

To see everything on Showmax in October, including the Oscar-winning Green Book and kung fu classics Iron Monkey, Three, Police Story, Way of the Dragon, Wheels on Meals, Once Upon A Time In China, A Chinese Odyssey and The 36^th Chamber of Shaolin, click here.