Love some TV time? Showmax has you covered in Valentine’s month with a wide variety of new series, movies, documentaries and more. You’ll find everything from a homegrown historical epic to horror and sci-fi, with fan-favourite franchises all featuring.
As usual, we’ve included our top picks below, while the full schedule (subject to change) can be found here.
Series
Calling the Trekkies. This month, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy makes its debut, offering a fresh take on the Star Trek universe – and a great jumping on point for newbies. Set in the far-future of the franchise, around 900 years after the original series, Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets are recovering from cataclysm. That means training up a young group of cadets – the first in over a century – as Starfleet officers. Holly Hunter’s Captain Nahla Ake heads up the academy.
Stream the ten-episode Season 1 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy from Monday, 2 February. Three episodes are already available, with weekly drops thereafter.
That homegrown historical epic we mentioned? Season 2 of acclaimed, and multi-award-winning, Shaka Ilembe arrives on Showmax this month. Season 2 picks up as Shaka (Lemogang Tsipa) arrives at KwaNobamba with his mother Nandi (Nomzamo Mbatha) to claim his throne as the new Zulu king. Known for its commitment to historical and cultural authenticity, Shaka Ilembe is the most expensive TV production in South African history, and it looks it too! In Zulu with English subtitles.
Binge Shaka Ilembe S2 from Friday, 6 February.
If you love a mix of mystery and comedy ala Only Murders in the Building, then you definitely want to make time for The ‘Burbs – adapted from a classic 80s Tom Hanks film. With a baby in tow, married couple Samira (Keke Palmer) and Rob (Jack Whitehall) move back into Rob’s childhood home in “the safest town in America”, only to discover dark secrets about their picturesque corner of suburbia, and its eccentric inhabitants. Look out for our The ‘Burbs review soon.
Binge all eight episodes of The ‘Burbs from Wednesday, 11 February.
Finally, for families, there’s Season 1 of animated series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Serving as a follow-up to 2023 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (our review), the 12-part 2D series features the same voice cast (minus Jackie Chan) and sees Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey learn new things about themselves as they each go it alone for the first time. This is all while dealing with the repercussions of coming out of the shadows.
Binge Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Friday, 27 February.
Film
Your two new movie comedy options for the month are Rebel Wilson’s Bride Hard (available from 16 February) and franchise reboot/sequel The Naked Gun. In the latter, Liam Neeson stars as deadpan Lt Frank Drebin Jr, the son of Leslie Nielsen’s Drebin Sr, who must follow in his father’s footsteps to uncover a conspiracy and save Police Squad from being decommissioned. Pamela Anderson also co-stars in this well-received spoof.
Stream The Naked Gun from Monday, 2 February.
It’s a little late for Valentines Day but if you’re in a cynical mood about matters of lurve, thriller Companion (our review), which throws in some sci-fi and sharp comedy, is the movie for you. This one is best watched absolutely blind to avoid having the film’s 180-degree plot twists spoiled for you, but, in summary, a weekend getaway with friends at a remote cabin turns into a nightmare for Iris (Sophie Thatcher), when she realises her boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) is using her in a very unexpected way.
Catch Companion from Saturday, 21 February.
Also delivering the thriller goods is survival tale Dangerous Animals, which proves that terror has a place under bright blue skies, not just after dark. It all starts when free-spirited surfer Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is lured onto the boat of eccentric Australian captain Tucker (Jai Courtney). Turns out he’s an unhinged serial killer obsessed with sharks. So begins a desperate battle for survival, but what do you do if you’re stuck in the middle of the ocean?
Watch Dangerous Animals from Thursday, 26 February.
Documentaries
Our documentary recommendation for the month is the latest Showmax Original, Brakpan Chronicles, from the makers of Sex in Afrikaans and Tiek Tok Boem! The two-part doccie series takes viewers 30km east of Johannesburg to the mining town that has long been the butt of white trash jokes, and sets out to explore the reality. Viewers will be exposed to landmarks like Carnival City and The Rock Raceway, and meet a host of eccentric locals, like a champion one-legged slapfighter.
Watch Brakpan Chronicles from Friday, 20 February.