The best of Showmax in Kenya in October 2021

Look out for the launch of Famous, a new drama set in Kenya’s music industry that’s coming first to Showmax. For HBO fans, get ready for a new season of Succession and the cut-throat Roy family. And if you love a quirky comedy, Resident Alien might tick all your boxes.

Best of local

Famous | First on Showmax

In the music industry in Kenya, where fame equals success, some will do whatever it takes to make it to the top. Get ready to watch this world come alive on your screens in Famous, a new 10-part musical drama coming soon and exclusively to Showmax.

Created and directed by renowned music video director and filmmaker Enos Olik and produced by his production company, EOP Films, Famous follows three young artists – Nyota, Magic and Nikita – as they navigate the intricate music industry in Nairobi.

In this glamorous yet brutal world, Nyota struggles to rise to stardom as she battles to overcome her sordid past. Magic, a renowned rapper and producer who has gained notoriety for his fast life and wealth, tries to take his empire to the top with his number one artist, Nikita, whose successful career is threatened by new scandals and a desire for even bigger things.

Famous stars actor and former Mr World Kenya Khula Budi (Maria) as the troubled rapper and producer Magic, with newcomers Brianna Wanjiku as Nyota and Michelle Tiren as Nikita.

Keith Chuaga (Disconnect), Manasseh Nyagah (Uradi), Ciku Shire (The Wives), Morris Mwangi (You Again), Sarah Hassan (Crime and Justice), Brahim Ouma, and Sandra Wambui also feature in supporting roles.

Well-known for his music videos for the likes of Sauti Sol, Kaligraph Jones, Vanessa Mdee and H_art the Band, Olik previously worked as a cinematographer on the multi-award-winning film Supa Modo and top Kalasha 2020 winner and Africa Movie Awards 2020 nominee 40 Sticks; and as a colourist for Kenya’s first Showmax Original, Crime and Justice, and the Kalasha-winning short film Morning After, just to mention a few.

International series

Succession S3 | First on Showmax | Mondays from 18 October 2021

Succession, winner of Best Drama at both the Emmys and Golden Globes in 2020, follows four very rich siblings behaving very badly while trying to win their father’s approval – and control of his company, a global media and entertainment empire.

Jeremy Strong won the 2020 Best Actor Emmy as Kendall Roy, while Brian Cox won the 2020 Best Actor Golden Globe as his father, Logan. In Season 3, the already impressive cast is adding Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies) and more.

Ambushed by Kendall at the end of Season 2, Logan begins Season 3 in a perilous position, scrambling to secure alliances. Tensions rise as a bitter corporate battle threatens to turn into a family civil war. 

The Hollywood Reporter calls Succession “one of television’s best dramas, a searing, funny and painfully true look at wealth, power and family.” Catch up on Succession S1-2 here.

Resident Alien S1 | First on Showmax | Binge from 1 October 

Based on the Dark Horse comic, Resident Alien is a murder mystery sci-fi dramedy that follows Harry, an alien played by Alan Tudyk (Rogue One) who crash lands on Earth and passes himself off as a human small-town doctor. 

Arriving with a mission to kill all humans, Harry starts off living a simple life… but things get a bit rocky when he’s roped into solving a local murder and realises he needs to assimilate to his new world. 

Resident Alien has a 94% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the Los Angeles Times writing, “We are in Spielberg country here… Tudyk… is in fine form as an alien in ill-fitting human clothing, getting the hang of laughter and sex… I smiled, I laughed, I cared.”

Delilah S1 | Binge from 1 October 

Not all superheroes wear capes. In OWN Original legal drama series Delilah, title character Delilah is played by Maahra Hill and she prefers to pair up her trench coats with stilettoes. All while she juggles running her small law firm and keep her family afloat as a single mother following a messy divorce.

The real challenge though begins when Delilah takes on a case against North Carolina’s most reputable law firm where her best friend Tamara (Jill Marie Jones) is running for partner. The stakes are high and the claws are out as both women compromise their friendship to win. Delilah and Tamara’s rivalry is at the heart of the storyline and viewers will find themselves at the edge of their seats and siding with one or the other.

Delilah is produced by the same team behind the family drama series Greenleaf, with powerhouse talk show host Oprah Winfrey (and owner of OWN) serving as executive producer in both shows. Like a typical OWN show, Delilah is characterised by strong-willed, ambitious yet flawed African-American lead characters with plenty of cliff-hangers.

Chucky | First on Showmax | Binge episodes 1-3 from 27 October, weekly episodes thereafter

A vintage Good Guy doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, throwing an idyllic American town into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begins to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets in the brand-new series Chucky, which picks up after the events of the seventh film in the horror franchise, Cult of Chucky. 

Created by Don Mancini (Child’s Play), the series stars Oscar nominee Brad Dourif (The Lord of the Rings’ Wormtongue) as the voice of serial-killer-possessed Good Guy doll Chucky, with child actor Zackary Arthur (Transparent) as Jake Wheeler. 

Jennifer Tilly (Bullets over Broadway) returns as Tiffany Valentine, and Alex Vincent (Child’s Play) reprises his role as Chucky’s archnemesis, Andy Barclay, with Christine Elise (BH90210) returning as Andy’s foster sister, Kyle. 

International movies 

Saint Frances | First on Showmax | 11 October

Saint Frances follows a deadbeat nanny who finds an unlikely friendship with the six-year-old girl she’s charged with protecting. 

It has a 99% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, who named it their second best-reviewed comedy of 2020. As Rolling Stone says, “What looks like a throwaway about a precocious kid and her nanny is actually one of the best and gutsiest movies you’ll find anywhere these pandemic days – a fun-time trailblazer that retains its rough edges to that last. It’s some kind of miracle.”

The film has won 11 international awards, with The National Board of Review naming it one of the Top 10 Independent Films of 2021. 

Unpregnant | 14 October

In the girl buddy road trip comedy drama Unpregnant, 17-year old Veronica’s dreams for the future hang in the balance after she accidentally falls pregnant. Unable to get an abortion in her home state of Missouri, she turns to her former best friend Bailey to help her get to Albuquerque.

The film’s excellent cast is led by Haley Lu Richardson (Five Feet Apart) as Veronica, and Barbie Ferreira (Euphoria’s Kat), who was nominated for a 2021 Imagen Award for Best Actress for her role as Bailey. 

Nominated for a 2021 GLAAD Media Award, it has a 91% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus says, “Unpregnant puts a compelling twist on the road trip comedy – and treats its sensitive subject with heart.”

Summerland | 11 October

Set in an idyllic South England seaside village, British drama Summerland sees a reclusive writer reluctantly taking in a young evacuee from London during World War II. 

This moving tale of womanhood, love and friendship stars Gemma Arterton (The Escape) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Motherless Brooklyn), child actors Lucas Bond (The Alienist) and Dixie Egerickx (The Secret Garden), Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey) and Sir Tom Courtenay (Unforgotten). 

Empire Magazine says, “Arterton triumphs again and Swale marks herself as a director to watch. Summerland successfully combines an intelligent feminist fable and a lesbian love story with a slick period tearjerker.”

Also Watch in October: 

7 October

Neo-Western crime drama Hell or High Water stars Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma) as two brothers who resort to bank robbery in a bid to save their family ranch in Texas. It was nominated for four 2016 Oscars and three Golden Globes and holds a 96% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Comedy-drama Sometimes, Always, Never stars BAFTA winner Bill Nighy (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Love Actually) as a quirky, Scrabble-obsessed tailor whose tireless search for his missing son has turned his family upside down. It has an 82% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Forbes praising its “delicate balance of whimsy and melancholy” and Nighy “at the very top of his game”.

While we wait for the long-delayed final chapter in the Lethal Weapon saga on hold, catch the entire four-movie Lethal Weapon box set on Showmax. Oscar-winner Mel Gibson (Braveheart) and Danny Glover (2012) starred in the original action-comedy franchise that redefined the action genre in the 80s and 90s and remains the template for the buddy-cop genre. The four films grossed just shy of a billion dollars globally.

21 October

First on Showmax this month, the 2020 thriller drama The Secrets We Keep is set in post-WWII America, where a woman rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband comes to believe her neighbour is the monster who committed heinous war crimes against her and her family and sets out for vengeance. Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) stars opposite Chris Messina (Argo).

28 October

Oscar-winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) leads the critically acclaimed cast of What They Had as a daughter returning home to cope with her ailing mother and her father’s reluctance to let go of their life together. The film has an 86% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with LA Times calling it, “One of the year’s best indie dramas.”

Best of Africa

Ghana Jollof | Showmax Original | Starts 22 October, new episodes drop every week

In Ghana Jollof, Showmax’s first West African comedy, Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) winner Funnybone and Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) nominee Akah Nnani star as two Nigerians who move to Ghana in search of greener pastures. 

The all-star Nigerian cast includes multi-award-winning comedian Basketmouth, who also executive produces; comedian/actor Buchi; and Uzor Arukwe, who starred as dreaded crime boss Knight in Sugar Rush.

The equally impressive Ghanaian cast includes AMAA nominee Joselyn Dumas; heartthrobs Mawuli Gavor (Chief Daddy) and James Gardiner, who currently stars in Ghana’s popular telenovela Dede; the uncontested ‘Queen of Ghana comedy’, Jacinta Ocansey; popular reality star Portia Freelove; model and actress Brihanna Kinte; veteran actor Jackson Albert Davies (Beasts of No Nation); actress Korkor Oyeba Mensah; and multiple award-winning comedian/actor Kalybos.

Shot in Lagos and Accra, Ghana Jollof is directed by AMVCA nominee Diji Aderogba (About A Boy). 

Black Tax S2 | BET Africa and Showmax Original Sitcom | 9 October

Just when you think you’re finally making your way in this world, think again, because it’s payback time from the first paycheque with Black Tax. 

With six SAFTA nominations (including for Best Comedy) and a win for Best Scriptwriting, the popular BET Africa and Showmax Original sitcom Black Tax is back for a second season of laugh-out-loud hilarity as career-woman and single mom Thuli Dlamini tries to keep up with paying her dues to her family, who supported her journey to success. 

SAFTA winner Jo-Anne Reyneke (Broken Vows) returns as Thuli, with Mandla Jwara (Isithembiso) nominated for Best Actor at the 2021 SAFTAs as her father. Legend Clementine Mosimane plays her mother, while comedians Sne Dladla and Jason Goliath also star. 

New faces this season include Motlatsi Mafatshe (How To Ruin Christmas: The Wedding), newcomer Asante Mabuza and acting legend Owen Sejake (Tsotsi).

Created by Meren Reddy, Joshua Rous and Luke Rous, who have 15 SAFTAs between them, Black Tax is a co-production between BET Africa and Showmax, produced by Rous House Productions (Inconceivable).

Triggered | 11 October

Filmed only at night on a farm in Swellendam, Triggered is a 2021 SAFTA-winning horror movie directed and co-written by Alastair Orr (Axis Mundi).

The film follows nine former high school friends who celebrate their five-year reunion camping in a forest. Terror strikes when they wake up with bombs strapped to their chests, all with varying times on their countdown clocks… and the only way to survive: by “stealing” time from one another.

The ensemble cast includes Reine Swart (SAFTA nominee for Siembamba), Liesl Ahlers (Friend Request), Russell Crous (The Watch), SAFTA winner Craig Urbani (Isidingo) and multi-award-winning actor Sean Cameron Michael (Black Sails).

Freedom | First on Showmax | 14 October

Inspired by Fyodor Doestoevsky’s classic novel Crime and Punishment, Freedom follows university student Freedom, who is caught between desperation and the weight of expectation as he struggles to cling to an impossible existence in inner-city Johannesburg.

It stars Jafta Mamabolo (Jerusalema, Otelo Burning, Ayanda), who makes his debut as writer and co-director alongside award-winning filmmaker Ralph Ziman (Jerusalema). 

The star-studded cast includes SAFTA winners Kenneth Nkosi (Reyka), Mandla Gaduka (Losing Lerato), and Mary Twala (This is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection), as well as SAFTA nominee Samkelo Ndlovu (Rhythm City).

Non-Fiction

Love Island binge! | Binge US S2 from 1 October and UK S7 from 20 October

Season 2 of Love Island USA is finally here and coming first on Showmax this month. Following a delay due to the pandemic, the second season was moved from Fiji to The Cromwell — a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip – with strict quarantine measures in place, so for the 31 “islanders”, the isolation is real as they couple and re-couple under the watchful eye of host Arielle Vandenberg over 40 days in a bid to win the $100,000 prize.

From 20 October, you can also binge all of Season 7 of Love Island UK. Follow 37 hot new singletons through a steamy summer of love in the Love Island villa as they put in the graft, couple-up and (fingers crossed) try to find The One. Once again hosted by Laura Whitmore, this is the second most-watched season of the show so far, with over 4 million viewers per episode.

Kids

DC Super Hero Girls S2 | Binge episodes 1-4 from 1 October

DC Super Hero Girls follows teen superheroes (and Metropolis High School students) Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Bumblebee, Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Zatanna as they fight crime and protect the citizens of Metropolis. 

It was nominated for a 2021 Emmy and three 2020 Annies, and The Guardian said: “It’s empowering and inspiring and great to see female characters showing agency in a series aimed at children and so on – but also, significantly, it’s just funny as hell.”

The Croods: A New Age | 4 October

The #10 biggest movie of 2020, with a worldwide gross of $215 million, DreamWorks Animation’s “Croodaceous” adventure The Croods: A New Age follows the prehistoric Croods pack as they try to keep up with their new neighbours, the more evolved Bettermans. 

Nominated for a 2021 Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture, six Annie Awards and two Kids’ Choice Awards, it’s recommended for ages 8+ by Common Sense Media, with Empire Magazine praising its “vibrant animation and a wackadoodle sense of humour,” and Times (UK) calling it a “raucous, nakedly commercial but also a wickedly funny sequel.”

Also, catch the Oscar-nominated original film The Croods on Showmax.

Also watch:

4 October

Nominated for Best Feature at the 2020 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Bigfoot Family packs in the action and hairy adventures while taking on the oil companies. Following the events of the 2018 film The Son of Bigfoot, Bigfoot decides to use his fame to protect a wildlife reserve, but when he mysteriously disappears, his son Adam must rescue him. Common Sense Media recommends the film for ages 7+.  

Also on Showmax in October 

1 October

Intergalactic S1

4 October

Power Rangers Super Megaforce | Power Rangers Super Samurai

7 October

Lycra & Petticoat | Motel | My Little Pony S9 | Power Rangers Dino Super Charge

18 October

The Cleansing Hour | The Quiet Ones | Transformers Cyberverse S1-3 | UNEFA S1

21 October

My Little Pony: Rainbow Road Trip | My Little Pony Equestria: Holidays Unwrapped | My Little Pony Equestria: Spring Breakdown | My Little Pony Equestria: Sunset Backstage Pass 

25 October

A Brother’s Honor | Worth