What to watch on Showmax in Nigeria in August 2024

Get ready for an exciting August on Showmax, packed with a slew of new series, seasons, and movies. From the fresh season of the Premier League to the exclusive BBNaija talk show The Buzz and robust lineup of compelling international content arriving on the platform.

Showmax Premier League

English Premier League | Starting from Friday, 16 August

The 2024/25 Premier League season is upon us, and Showmax Premier League has you covered with all 380 games live.

The action kicks off on Friday, 16 August with Manchester United facing Fulham, and the excitement continues throughout the weekend with Ipswich Town’s top-flight return against Liverpool, now led by Dutch manager Arne Slot. There is also the small matter of a fiery London clash between Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Then on Sunday, last season’s champions, Manchester City, travel to Chelsea in a potential early title contender showdown.

Showmax Original: Nigeria

Big Brother Naija S9: The Buzz | Thursdays from 1 August

It’s another season of premium entertainment as Big Brother Naija Season 9 premiered Sunday, 28 July. Stream the live, 24/7 drama on Showmax and the exclusive talk show, The Buzz, hosted by Toke Makinwa, from Thursday, 1 August, with new episodes every Thursday.

On The Buzz, Toke, alongside celebrity guests and top BBNaija show commentators, will dissect all the moments in this season of the reality show, giving their candid opinions and predictions in a no-holds-barred talk session. The show will also feature never-before-seen footage from the House and other engaging segments.

Showmax Originals: South Africa

Shebeen Queens | Thursdays from 22 August

Shebeen Queens is a reality show about three self-made female entrepreneurs: Alina Sishange, Big Mama, and Xoliswa Shwayimba.

The Showmax Original is an all-access look into the lives of the women behind some of the most infamous shebeens in Soweto – Alina’s Place, Big Mama’s Tavern, and Rama Tavern. 

Produced by Barkers Media (How To Manifest A Man), Shebeen Queens explores how the shebeen queens try to balance parenting with keeping their businesses afloat in a cut-throat, male-dominated, all-hours industry that is filled with liquor and laughter.

False Glory | Mondays from 19 August

Audacious cheating scandals. Fake matches. Rogue agents. 

False Glory is a three-part documentary series that delves into those moments when sporting figures did the unthinkable for personal gain. 

In 1999, 21-year-old Fika Motsoeneng came ninth in the 90km Comrades Marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban – because he’d swapped with his brother halfway!

In 2010, Togo’s national soccer team traveled 3,500 miles to play in an exhibition game against Bahrain – but the Togolese authorities knew nothing of the match.  

Many children in Cote d’Ivoire grow up wanting to be the next Didier Drogba – but for four Ivorian boys and their coach, a move to Italy on the promise of footballing glory quickly changed from a dream to a nightmare. 

False Glory is produced by CMG, who won Best Documentary at the 2023 Broadcast Digital Awards for The Footballer, His Wife and the Crash and were nominated for a 2024 True Crime Award for Football Fraudster. CMG were also behind the recent Showmax Original Dark Side of Glo

The Mommy Club: Sugar & Spice | Thursdays from 8 August

The Mommy Club: Sugar & Spice is a reality show that follows affluent mothers who are part of Durban’s Indian community.

The first spinoff from the smash hit Showmax Original, The Mommy Club: Sugar & Spice features Abigail Nepaul (41), Asharia Parsad (27), Christina Devraj (26), Devina Knowles (43), Kim Jones (33), Lenore (45), Neetasha (36), and twins Losh and Resh Naidoo (45), whose daughter received a Porsche as her 18th birthday gift …

The Mommy Club: Sugar & Spice is produced by POP24 (Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap). 

Wyfie S2 | Tuesdays from 6 August

Wyfie follows four mismatched first-year roommates, played by Beáta Bena Green, Celeste Loots, Kristen Raath and Mienke Ehlers. 

Mia finally told her roommates everything in the emotional S1 finale. As S2 starts, it’s the dawn of a new era in Pantera res, as Natasha (Elzet Nel from Trompoppie) steps into power as prim. Parties abound, but not everyone is having a jol …

This season, look out for 2024 Naledi winner Cintaine Schutte (Fynskrif) as Maggie, Shay’s older crush, and  Zandelle Meyer (Trompoppie) as Jessie, the girls’ new “house daughter”. 

At the kykNET Silwerskerm Awards for Film and TV on 31 August 2024, Wyfie is up for Best Actress (Green), Best Newcomer (Ehlers) and Best Supporting Actor (Marguerite van Eeden) in a Telenovela or Soap. 

The Butcher’s Soul | Stream from Friday, 2 August 2024

After a deadly attack on his family, a butcher is granted seven days by the Angel of Death to bring her the guilty souls in exchange for his daughter’s life.

SAFTA winner Melusi Mbele (Scandal!) leads a stacked cast that includes African Movie Academy Award nominee Vuyo Dabula (Five Fingers for Marseilles), SAFTA winner Katlego Danke (Gomora), and the likes of Zinhle Mabena (Shaka iLembe), Bokang Phelane (Blood Psalms) and Tshepo Howza Mosese (co-host of The Ultimatum SA). 

The Butcher’s Soul is directed by Kagiso Samuel Leburu.

Die Ondernemers S1 | Mondays from 5 August

“Not everyone can do this work.”

Die Ondernemers follows three undertakers: Candice Austin, owner of Goodall & Bourne Funeral Undertakers; Jano van der Berg, owner of Van der Berg Funeral Services; and former Stormers rugby player Ramone Samuels, managing director of SamWill Funeral Services, which is co-owned by his brother, Springbok fullback Damian Willemse. 

Filled with laughter, tears, and hymns, Die Ondernemers is the latest reality show from POP24, the creative minds behind The Mommy Club, Bae Beyond Borders and This Body Works For Me – three of the 10 most-streamed South African shows on Showmax in 2023 – as well as Beaulah: Queens Van Die Kaap, which is currently streaming on Showmax. 

Eksie Perfeksie | Stream from Friday, 9 August

After impulsively moving in with his girlfriend, whom he barely knows, André finds out that Dalene is still friends with all of her ex-boyfriends. Intimidated by their presence, André tries to befriend them, only to discover that all of Dalene’s relationships follow the exact same pattern …

Pietie Beyers (Die Onderonsie) and Emma van Heyn (Matilda en Matthys) co-star, with Bobby van Jaarsveld (Liefling) and former Mister World South Africa Sean van Noordwyk (Getroud Met Rugby) as just two of Dalene’s many exes. 

Narrated by Die Groot Ontbyt’s Pierre Breytenbach, the raunchcom is written and directed by Corné Koegelenberg (Valentynsokkie), based on a story by his girlfriend, SAFTA nominee Bibi Slippers (Matilda en Matthys).

International series

Industry S3 | First On Showmax | Mondays from 26 August

Industry S3 is one of Rotten Tomatoes’ Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2024, drawing Succession comparisons from them as “HBO’s other whip-smart and acid-tongued drama that’s really a comedy.”

New cast this season include Emmy nominees Kit Harington (Jon Snow in Game of Thrones) and Sarah Goldberg (Sally Reed in Barry) as the CEO of a green tech energy company and a portfolio manager respectively. 

An insider’s view of high finance, Industry followsa group of young bankers as they forge their identities within the pressure cooker environment and sex- and drug-fuelled blitz of international bank Pierpoint & Co’s London office. 

Industry has an 86% overall critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Season 2 hailed as “the most thrilling show on TV” and an “emergent masterpiece” by The Atlantic.

Fargo S5 | Binge from Tuesday, 13 August

The previous four seasons of Fargo won six Emmys between them, while the movie that inspired it won two Oscars. 

The latest instalment of the acclaimed crime anthology is now up for another 15 Emmys.

The story is set in 2019, when Midwestern housewife Dorothy ‘Dot’ Lyon finds herself in hot water with the authorities and plunged back into a life she thought she had left behind. Three-time Emmy nominee Juno Temple (Ted Lasso) stars as Dot, with Jon Hamm (Mad Men) as the sheriff who has been searching for her for a long time. Both actors are up for Emmys for their lead roles, with Lamorne Morris (Winston in New Girl) also nominated as Supporting Actor. 

Season 5 has a 93% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus says, “A back-to-basics caper populated by the likes of a mesmerising Juno Temple and a thick slice of Hamm, Fargo’s fifth season is a superb return to peak form.”

The Tattooist of Auschwitz | Mondays from 29 August

Inspired by the real-life story of Jewish Holocaust survivors Lali and Gita Sokolov, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a six-part historical drama based on the bestselling novel by Heather Morris.

Arriving in Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, Lali (Jonah Hauer-King from The Little Mermaid) is made one of the tattooists charged to ink identification numbers onto fellow prisoners’ arms. One day, he meets Gita (Anna Próchniak) while tattooing her prisoner number. Under the constant guard of volatile Nazi SS officers, Lali and Gita fall in love and become determined to keep each other alive. 

Sixty years later, the recently widowed Lali (Harvey Keitel), now in his 80s, meets novice writer Heather Morris (Melanie Lynskey from Yellowjackets) and finds the courage to share his story.

Among Rotten Tomatoes’ Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2024, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz puts the dichotomy of the human spirit on full display,” says Variety, “showing the possibility of love and the unimaginable monstrosity that hatred can bring.”

The Sympathizer S1 | Mondays from 12 August at 21:00

Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Sympathizer follows a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and into his new life as a refugee in Los Angeles, where he learns that his spying days aren’t over. 

Hoa Xuande (Cowboy Bebop) leads a largely Vietnamese cast, with Robert Downey Jr. earning an Emmy nomination for his multiple roles here. The supporting cast includes Golden Globe winners Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) and David Duchovny (Californication), as well as John Cho (Star Trek).

The HBO/A24 co-production is #9 on Metacritic’s round-up of the Best TV Shows (So Far) This Year and has an 88% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Time Magazine says it’s “ambitious, brilliant television.”

Apples Never Fall S1 | Binge from Monday, 12 August

Based on the bestselling novel by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, Apples Never Fall centres on Stan and Joy, who have sold their successful tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. Everything changes when a wounded young woman knocks on their door, bringing the excitement they’ve been missing. 

As Joy, four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening won Best Actress at Series Mania this year, opposite Emmy winner Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) as Stan. 

Also look out for Emmy nominee Jake Lacy (The White Lotus) and Alison Brie (GLOW) as their adult children, who are forced to re-examine their parents’ ‘perfect’ marriage as their family’s darkest secrets begin to surface.

Dr Death S2 | Binge from Monday, 19 August

The first season of Dr Death – with Joshua Jackson as Christopher Duntsch – was nominated for Best Limited Series at the Critics Choice Awards and Best Horror Series at the Critics Choice Super Awards, among other accolades.

Now the true-crime anthology series is back, this time focusing on “Miracle Man” Paolo Macchiarini, a charming surgeon renowned for his innovative operations. When investigative journalist Benita Alexander approaches him for a story, the line between personal and professional begins to blur.

Dr. Death S2 has an 80% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As The Daily Beast says: “Dr. Death works by playing on the primal fear of betrayal by those who hold our lives in their hands and choose to play not God but the devil. The fact that there are enough such cases to keep a podcast and television series going is disturbing.”

House of Gods | Tuesdays from 13 August

The Australian drama series House of Gods follows the lives of an ambitious Iraqi Australian family grappling with newfound power and privilege when their charismatic patriarch is elected Head Cleric of their local mosque. 

The series takes us behind the walls of the imam’s family and the community he leads as he rolls out his vision of a modern Islam. But as his grand ambitions become a reality, those closest to him begin to question whether he is acting solely for the greater good or if he is intoxicated by power. A tale of faith, family, secrets and lies, the six-episode series explores the great personal cost of ambition.

“Australia’s House of Gods started out as The Sopranos in a mosque, channelled Succession and ended up in a category all of its own,” Deadline headlined. 

Bel-Air S3 | First on Showmax | Mondays from 19 August

Bel-Air successfully reimagines Fresh Prince as a drama, with last season nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at both the 2024 Black Reel and Image Awards, with Jabari Banks up for Best Actor at both as Will.

In Season 3, Will makes an exciting pivot – and finds a partner in Carlton, who’s desperate for a fresh start.

Adrian Holmes is back in his Image Award-nominated role as Uncle Phil, as is Nigerian-American actor Olly Sholotan as Carlton.

Bel-Air is once again executive produced by Oscar winner Will Smith and Morgan Cooper, whose viral fan trailer inspired the show’s reimagining as a drama.

International movies

May December | Stream from Thursday, 29 August 

Oscar winners Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore star in May December, which follows married couple Gracie and Joe, whose 23-year age gap sparked a tabloid scandal two decades ago. Their marriage comes under renewed strain when Hollywood actress Elizabeth Berry comes to spend time with the family to better understand Gracie, whom she’s set to play in a film.

Portman, Moore and Riverdale’s Charles Melton were all up for Golden Globes in the lead roles, while the movie has won 45 awards, and has a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Vanity Fair says it’s, “a wicked, complex delight,” while Vulture hails it as “both humane and scathing … a booby trap of a movie … It makes you feel one thing, and then makes you wonder if you should be feeling something entirely different.” 

Talk To Me | Stream from Thursday, 15 August

Named Best Horror Movie at the 2024 Critics Choice Super Awards, Talk To Me follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand. They soon become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

Sophie Wilde won Best Actress in a Horror Movie at the 2024 Critics Choice Super Awards, as well as the BAFTA Rising Star Award and the Cannes Film Festival’s Female Revelation Award.

Directed by YouTuber twins Danny and Michael Philippou (of RackaRacka fame), the Australian indie film was a breakout hit, becoming distributor A24’s highest-grossing horror movie ever and #3 highest-grossing movie overall. 

As The Wrap says, “Talk To Me is, unquestionably, the horror movie of the year … A fast, funny, very scary campfire story.”

Evil Dead Rise | Stream from Monday, 5 August

Moving Sam Raimi’s iconic horror franchise out of the woods and into the city, Evil Dead Rise tells the twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

The highest-grossing film of the series, Evil Dead Rise was nominated for Best Horror Movie at the 2024 Critics Choice Super Awards, where it was also up for Best Actress in a Horror Movie and Best Villain (both for Alyssa Sutherland, aka Vikings’ Queen Aslaug). 

Evil Dead Rise has an 84% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Standard raving: “This scary movie, as well as being fantastically violent and jolting, is profoundly amusing and full of soul.”

The Blackening | Stream from Thursday, 22 August

Horror fans know the Black character is always the first to die. But what if the entire cast is Black? 

The Blackening is out to skewer the genre tropes, centring on a group of Black friends who reunite for a weekend getaway, only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. 

The Blackening has an 87% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with IndieWire calling it, “the first great horror parody of the post-Get Out era,” and Deadline Hollywood hailing it as “hands-down one of the best comedies of the year.”

Look out for the likes of Antoinette Robertson (Dear White People), Sinqua Walls (White Men Can’t Jump, Power) and Melvin Gregg (House Party, Snowfall), as well as Teen Choice nominee Grace Byers (Empire) and Nigerian-American star Yvonne Orji (Insecure). 

After Everything | Stream from Monday, 5 August

The fifth and final film in the blockbuster After film series, After Everything follows now-bestselling author Hardin Scott in the aftermath after breaking up with his true love, Tessa. 

Teen Choice winners Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Josephine Langford return as Hardin and Tessa, opposite the likes of Mimi Keene (Ruby in Sex Education) and Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton in True Blood).

Also watch After We Collided, After We Fell, and After Ever Happy on Showmax.

Joika | Stream from Monday, 19 August 

Joika (aka The American) is based on the true story of Joy Womack’s attempt to become the first American woman to graduate from Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet Academy – the most competitive dance school in the world.

Talia Ryder (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) stars as Womack, who oversaw the film’s choreography and trained Ryder alongside New York City Ballet principal dancer Daniel Ulbricht. Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) co-stars as Volkova, the Bolshoi’s magnetic and masterful tutor.

The Miracle Club | Stream from Thursday, 29 August

Oscar winners Dame Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates co-star with Oscar nominee Laura Linney in The Miracle Club, a story of friends who win the trip of a lifetime: a pilgrimage from Dublin to Lourdes that seems like the personal miracle they all need. But when they are joined by Chrissie, returning to Dublin after decades in America, deep wounds from the past are re-opened.

“The transcendent performances of this dream cast are alternately hilarious and heartbreaking,” says Saturday Evening Post. “We get to see Kathy Bates crooning ‘He’s So Fine’ in a church talent show, with 88-year-old Maggie Smith shimmying behind her as a backup singer. That alone, dear reader, is worth the price of admission, and then some.” 

Land of Bad | Stream from Monday, 19 August

A US Army special forces unit is ambushed during a mission to retrieve an intelligence asset and their only remaining hope lies with a remote Air Force drone operator assisting them through a brutal 48-hour battle for survival.

Liam and Luke Hemsworth co-star along with the likes of Oscar winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator, L.A. Confidential), three-time Emmy nominee Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us, Heroes), and Ricky Whittle (American Gods). 

The Daily Beast calls it “the bro-iest bro-fest that ever bro’d,” “the most macho movie of the new year” and “irresistible.”

Madame Web | Stream from Friday, 30 August

The #21 biggest blockbuster of the year (so far), Madame Web switches up the superhero genre with the standalone origin story of one of Marvel’s most enigmatic heroines.

People’s Choice winner Dakota Johnson (from the Fifty Shades films) stars as Cassandra Webb, a Manhattan paramedic who develops the power to see the future… and realises she can use that insight to change it.

Emmy nominee Sydney Sweeney (Anyone But You, The White Lotus, Euphoria), Celeste O’Connor (Lucky in the Ghostbusters movies) and Teen Choice nominee Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Transformers: The Last Knight) co-star.

Documentaries

The Commandant’s Shadow | Stream from Monday, 29 August

Two lives. Two stories. One wall that divided them. 

The Commandant’s Shadow follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the 87-year-old son of Rudolf Höss, as he faces his father’s terrible legacy for the first time. His father was the camp commandant of Auschwitz and masterminded the murder of over a million Jews.  

While Hans Jurgen Höss enjoyed a happy childhood in the family villa at Auschwitz, Jewish prisoner Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was trying to survive the notorious concentration camp. At the heart of this film is the historic moment – eight decades later – when the two come face-to-face in Anita’s London living room, together with their children, Kai Höss and Maya Lasker-Wallfisch. 

The Commandant’s Shadow has a 93% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Times (UK) calling it “rich and fascinating … resonant indeed for all families everywhere, and for the dubious stories they tell about themselves.”

Edge of the Earth | Binge from Wednesday, 14 August

South African Grant “Twiggy” Baker, a three-time World Big Wave Surfing Champion, travels down Africa’s west coast to establish it as the next big wave surf location in Edge of the Earth, a four-part HBO documentary series following four groups of athletes on four continents embarking on four never-before-accomplished missions. 

The other episodes include a descent on Mount Bertha in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park, which has never been snowboarded or skied before; whitewater kayakers attempting to become the first group to cross Ecuador’s Llanganates National Park via the Chalupas River; and a free ascent on Kyrgyzstan’s Pik Slesova. 

Decider calls it “simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful and utterly terrifying …  balances character-based drama-building with truly epic cinematography that’ll drop your jaws and fill your heart.”

Villeneuve Pironi: Racing’s Untold Tragedy | First on Showmax | Binge from Wednesday, 21 August

Forty years on from the infamous and tragic 1982 Formula One season, the families of Canadian icon Gilles Villeneuve and French superstar Didier Pironi unite for the first time to reveal one of sport’s greatest untold stories.

In the midst of modern racing’s most dangerous era, two daring Ferrari teammates were vying for the world championship. It was thrilling to watch – until a series of events led to tragedy. 

Look out for the likes of Formula One world champions Jacques Villeneuve, Alain Prost, and Sir Jackie Stewart, who all weigh in. 

Super Greed: The Fight for Football | First on Showmax | Stream from Wednesday, 7 August

Super Greed: The Fight for Football tells the story of the most dramatic 48 hours in the history of football: the rise and rapid fall of the European Super League.

In April 2021, owners and execs of the 12 most powerful clubs attempted a brazen power grab. But in just 48 hours, years of secret negotiation lay in tatters. 

Super Greed: The Fight for Football tells the dramatic inside story of the doomed league, through the eyes of those who helped bring it tumbling down.

Reality TV

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy | First on Showmax | Binge from Friday, 16 August

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy brings together iconic former New York Housewives Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Luann de Lesseps, Dorinda Medley, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer and Kristen Taekman for what promises to be the trip of a lifetime. 

These Housewives fan-favourites reunite to embark on an unforgettable adventure in Saint Barthelemy in the Caribbean.

Daily Beast calls the series “a brilliant throwback to the franchise’s best cast” where “six of the greatest Housewives in the series’ history reunite for what might be its most nostalgic spinoff yet … a delectable mixture of hilarity and tension that will delight RHONY fans old and new.”

Survivor S46 | Binge from Tuesday, 20 August

18 new castaways, three new tribes, 26 days to outwit, outlast, outplay … and take home $1 million.

Multiple-Emmy-winning host Jeff Probst is ready to whisk us off to the idyllic Mamanuca Islands in Fiji for an all-new season of Survivor, filled with gruelling challenges, emotional tribal councils, alliances, betrayals and just about all the drama one island paradise can handle.  

The mega-hit reality competition show has won seven Emmys and is now up for two more, with 2024 nominations for Outstanding Host and Cinematography.  

Also watch 

1 August

Dig, Domino Day, Living Next To Danger, Mavka: The Forest Song, Money Monster, Scooby-Doo And Krypto Too!, Sins In The Family, Unknown

5 August

House of Wax, Puppy Swap, Race to Survive: New Zealand,The Butterfly Effect, War Dogs

8 August

Butcher’s Crossing, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, How To Frame A Family, Jupiter Ascending, Kangaroo Jack, Love in Taipei, Richard the Stork 2, Sheroes, The Brave One

9 August

Bust Down

12 August

Analyze That, Analyze This, Buddy Games: Spring Awakening, Hashtag Proposal, Speed Racer, The Amazing Panda Adventure, Yogi Bear

15 August

Corpse Bride, Dark Shadows, Rear View Mirror, See Spot Run, Signs of Your Heart

18 August

Land of Bad

19 August

Breaking Point, Snag, The Last Boy Scout

22 August

Double Barrel, Playboy Cops, Quan Do, The Killer Meteors, Tiger Cage 2

23 August

Basketball Wives S11

26 August

Beautiful Wedding, Cat Person, The Marry Me Pact

29 August

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match