20 May 2024
Shadowland S1
Inspired by reporting in The Atlantic magazine, legendary documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger sends documentary teams across America to embed with subjects who have rejected mainstream narratives. These include a beloved rural Pennsylvania pizza shop owner facing twenty years in prison for her role in the January 6th riots, an anti-vaccine activist pushing a dangerous fake cure for Covid-19, and a mother divorcing her husband because she fears his beliefs put their children’s lives in danger.
A deeply immersive six-part docu-series, Shadowland reveals how conspiracy theories have moved from the margins to the mainstream, exploring how people come to their beliefs, and what makes these theories so alluring.
Shadowland was named Best Documentary Series at the 2023 Telly Awards, with Time calling it “terrifying” and Decider hailing it as “fascinating, upsetting, sometimes depressing, sometimes revelatory journalism.”
Berlinger was nominated for an Oscar and Emmy for Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory and won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Brother’s Keeper, the SXSW Audience Award for Under African Skies, the True Vision Award at True/False for Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and the Critics’ Choice Real TV awards for Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes and Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, among many other awards.
Youngins S2, now on Showmax
Soft Life, now streaming on Showmax
More Mzansi gold
Outopsie S1-3
Senior forensic pathologist Dr Hestelle van Staden reveals what really happens behind closed doors in captivating cases where forensic pathology played a central role.
Great African Crimes with Mandy Wiener (2024)
This one-off special explores three dramatic cases that left South Africa stunned: Daisy de Melker, the so-called Sea Cottage incident, and the Krugersdorp bank robbery.
Zarelda de Bruin on her breakout debut role in Spooksoeker
The 17-year-old Zarelda de Bruin plays Melissa in the Showmax Original Spooksoeker, now available to stream. Catch new episodes every Thursday.
9 reasons that 2024 was the best year yet for local TV
Stream the best local content on Showmax in 2024, featuring iEmmy winners, record-breaking documentaries, SAFTA winners, and globally acclaimed hits.