15 June 2021
Betty S1-2
Based on Crystal Moselle’s critically acclaimed feature Skate Kitchen, HBO’s half-hour series Betty follows a diverse group of young women navigating their lives through New York’s predominantly male-orientated skateboarding scene. The comedy stars Dede Lovelace, Moonbear, Nina Moran, Ajani Russell, and Rachelle Vinberg, who all reprise their roles from the original film.
Betty has a 97% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where Season 1 was the fourth best-reviewed young adult series of 2020. As the critics consensus there puts it: “Earnest, audacious, and effortlessly cool, Betty captures the spirit of skating and friendship with style.”
“Betty looks like how being a teenager feels,” says Variety about Season 1, “…with such visceral verve that you can practically feel the wind whipping through your own hair through the screen.” They also praise the performances, saying, “Every actor is … so immediately comfortable in their roles and rhythms that the show often feels more like a documentary than a scripted show. But it is, and an especially well-plotted one given that it only has six episodes to give everyone a decently satisfying arc.”
Take Me Home S2, now streaming
Stream new episodes of The Chocolate Empire
The best movies to stream

An easy guide to 10 alien invasions
From Teacup’s Assassins and Harbingers, to A Quiet Place’s Death Angels, we break down what to expect when aliens take an interplanetary holiday to raise hell on Earth.

10 inspiring villain origin stories on Showmax
If you want to become a superhero just get bitten by a spider or find some tacky magic jewellery, loser! If you want to become a villain, though, that takes hard work – just ask Knull in Venom: The Last Dance.

The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, plus 10 real-life revolutionaries
Discover the origins of The Hunger Games in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and then stream 10 more shows and movies about real-life revolutionaries.

7 iconic Gen Z characters in series and movies on Showmax
Documentary series The Habits of Gen Z asks defining questions about South Africa’s youth. So we’ve turned to 7 series and movies to place Gen Z in a global context.