The best drama series and movies to stream on Showmax
These tearjerking drama series and movies will bring on all the feels – stream them all on Showmax, but be sure to keep the tissues handy, and bring along your nerves of steel.
We’ve got heart-pounding crime dramas, psychological thrillers where we know things aren’t all going to be okay, romantic dramas that clutch at our hearts, and devastating stories that unfold in emergency rooms, on the streets, in troubled homes and in workplaces of all kinds.
Here (2024)
Forrest Gump stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are reunited for this quirky yet emotional drama. Follow the lives of multiple generations who have lived in the same home over a century.
We Live In Time (2024)
An emotional and unconventional love story led by Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. Almut and Tobias meet, fall in love and start a family, but their love is tested by cancer.
Goodrich (2024)
Andy Goodrich needs help raising his kids after his wife checks into rehab – so he leans on his daughter from his first marriage in this bittersweet family drama.
Reckless S1
In Reckless, a wealthy family’s empire is at stake when two brothers’ street-racing leads to tragedy. New episodes land on Mondays only on Showmax.
Made in Kenya
Doc S1
A powerful medical drama based on an incredible true story. Dr. Amy Larsen (Molly Parker) loses her memory during a car accident and must return to being an intern as she rebuilds her life.
Mountainhead (2025)
Succession creator Jesse Armstrong delivers a star-studded satire about a group of super-rich tech gurus who meet for a boys’ trip as an international crisis unfolds.
BOBO (2024)
Bobo, an 18-year-old from Nairobi’s Mathare slum, must win a modelling competition to save her family. Starring newcomer Faith Muthoni.
Made in Kenya
Power Book III: Raising Kanan S1-4
Teenaged Kanan Stark works to join the family drug business in Queens in the prequel series to the hit show Power.
Happy Face S1
A young woman’s world is turned upside down when she discovers that her father is an infamous serial killer in this tense series.
Widow Clicquot (2023)
This extraordinary period drama tells the story of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, who, at the age of 20, became the head of the Veuve Clicquot champagne family.
The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies
Two very different women, Alice, a formidable PA, and Cheryl, a bestselling fantasy author, become trapped in a triangle of epic proportions.
The Responder S2
An embattled first responder tackles a series of night shifts in Liverpool while trying to keep his head above water personally and professionally.
Accused S2
An engrossing anthology courtroom drama based on the acclaimed BBC crime series. Each episode follows a new defendant as they await their verdict, while flashbacks reveal how they ended up in court.
The Chocolate Empire S1
Jimmy Gathu plays a formerly successful businessman who is newly released from prison in this drama that uncovers the sacrifices and deception it takes to get to the top.
A Very Royal Scandal
This compelling British miniseries driven by Michael Sheen explores Emily Maitlis’s journey as a Newsnight journalist and Prince Andrew’s disastrous interview with her.
It Ends With Us (2024)
In this compelling, emotional film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel, a woman finds herself reliving her childhood trauma when she falls for a charming neurosurgeon.
Suits LA S1
Ted Black, a former New York prosecutor, moves to LA to build a new law firm specialising in criminal and entertainment law in this spin-off of Suits.
The White Lotus S1-3
Follow the outrageous exploits of the employees and guests of an exclusive resort in this buzz-worthy HBO comedy drama.
Salaam Dar S1
Dancer Salima moves to Dar es Salaam, where she faces family tensions, harassment, and rivalry until a viral video propels her to fame. Can she hold onto her dreams?
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
The late Oscar-winning director William Friedkin adapts Herman Wouk’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. A young lieutenant is accused of a mutiny against his captain
Looking for something lighter?
Bringing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice back from the grave
Production designer Mark Scruton and The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice production team reveal how they brought Tim Burton’s cult horror comedy movie into the modern world.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
A family tragedy brings Lydia Deetz back to Winter River, where her daughter discovers the portal to the afterlife … and meets the creepy Beetlejuice.
Embrace the cringe in The Rehearsal Season 2
Hateable or relatable? We’re here to look at our 10 favourite characters with awkward, offputting energy – starting with The Rehearsal’s Nathan Fielder.
Mr Throwback S1
In this hilarious basketball comedy, a down-on-his-luck memorabilia dealer looks for redemption by reuniting with his sixth-grade teammate, NBA legend Steph Curry.
Funny Woman S1-2
Based on the Nick Hornby novel Funny Girl, this is the story of a Blackpool beauty queen who tries to make is a comedian in the 1960s.
Hacks S1-4
Emmy winner Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder make an odd partnership in the acclaimed HBO dramedy Hacks, about a legendary Vegas comedian and her new writer.
Problemista (2023)
A struggling toy designer from El Salvador becomes an assistant to an erratic art-world outcast to stay in the US in this Julio Torres comedy.
Would you join The American Society of Magical Negroes?
Writer-creator Kobi Libii cracks open his bag of tricks to reveal what’s really going on in The American Society of Magical Negroes. And we suggest 5 more Black comedies with culture.
These shows are out of this world
The Institute S1
In this Stephen King sci-fi series, a kidnapped 12-year-old genius awakens at The Institute, a facility full of children who all possess unusual abilities.
Wild Wild Space (2024)
A high-stakes HBO doccie that chronicles the modern-day, celestial land grab – a fast-paced, high-stakes race of epic proportions in which companies compete to blast satellite-carrying rockets into low Earth orbit.
The Last of Us S1-2
Five years after the events of Season 1, Joel and Ellie are living a relatively peaceful life in Jackson, Wyoming – until the past comes calling. Stream The Last of Us S2, plus all of S1, on Showmax.
The Last of Us co-creator on why we all feel so protective of Ellie
Emmy winner Craig Mazin, co-creator and executive producer of The Last of Us, discusses why audiences feel so protective of Ellie. The new season premieres on M-Net and Showmax from 14 April 2025.
Breathe (2024)
Air-supply is scarce in the near future, forcing a mother and daughter to fight to survive when two strangers arrive desperate for an oxygenated haven.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
The second instalment in an epic two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s acclaimed novel. Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge.
Dune: Part Two – what lies ahead for Paul and Chani?
Dune: Part Two’s leads Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, and director Denis Villeneuve discuss their fates and the nitty-gritty of riding a sandworm across the desert.
Showrunner Alison Schapker on Dune: Prophecy
The Dune: Prophecy showrunner talks about creating the HBO series, now streaming on Showmax, with new episodes every Monday until 23 December.
Showmax is the home of HBO in Africa
Duster S1
Working on taking down a crime syndicate, the first Black female FBI agent recruits a gutsy getaway driver in this gritty series set in 1972.
Embrace the cringe in The Rehearsal Season 2
Hateable or relatable? We’re here to look at our 10 favourite characters with awkward, offputting energy – starting with The Rehearsal’s Nathan Fielder.
The Rehearsal S1-2
In this bizarre HBO docuseries people get a chance to rehearse for their own lives in a world where nothing ever works out as expected.
Tokyo Vice S1-2
In this powerful HBO crime thriller based on true events, a Western journalist working in Tokyo takes on one of the city’s most powerful crime bosses.