With streaming services, and their entertainment offerings, some months have more enticing options than others. In the case of Showmax, June is an especially strong month for series, movies, documentaries and kids’ fare, as the streamer capitalises on its relationship with HBO and HBO Max.
We simply picked our personal standouts for this post, but you can see everything joining Showmax this month here. It’s a lot!
Series
On the returning show front, fans can look forward to Season 4 of thought-provoking sci-fi series Westworld (episodes drop weekly from 27 June), Season 3 of acclaimed Italian drama My Brilliant Friend (binge from 9 June), and Season 2 of British crime drama The Bay (watch now). Mayans M.C., Superstore and Devils are also back, but below are our new series to watch.
Spinning off from James Gunn’s big screen antihero sequel The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker is the first television series set in the DC Extended Universe. Gunn has been extremely hands on with the project, writing all eight episodes of Peacemaker Season 1, and directing most of them as well. John Cena returns as the title character, a jingoistic killer forced to join a top secret A.R.G.U.S. task force. Watch Peacemaker Season 1 in its entirety now.
Limited series Station Eleven is based on the Arthur C Clarke Award-winning 2014 novel by Emily St. John Mandel, and offers a bittersweet look at life after a civilization-ending pandemic. Covering multiple timelines and characters, the soft sci-fi show centres on a group of survivors who make their living as traveling performers. The cast of Station Eleven includes Mackenzie Davis, Himesh Patel, David Wilmot, Lori Petty and Gael García Bernal. Watch all ten episodes right now.
For sci-fi of a local flavour, with survival horror spice, there’s Pulse, a Showmax Original series. In Pulse, an international group of game creators find themselves fighting for their lives when an electromagnetic pulse bomb fries every electrical circuit in their office high-rise – including people’s minds. Shot in South Africa and Mauritius, Pulse stars Thapelo Mokoena, Tarryn Wyngaard, Carel Nel, Sven Ruygrok and Earl Wan. Watch the six-episode Pulse from 23 June.
Movies
Before we jump into the standout films joining Showmax in June, it’s worth mentioning a few other recent additions you may have missed. These notables include the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot, F9: The Fast Saga and M. Night Shyamalan’s Old. Time to get your blockbuster fix.
Speaking of blockbusters, you don’t get bigger than King Kong and Godzilla. The two super-sized monsters face off, with humanity caught in the middle, in Godzilla vs. Kong, a combo sequel to Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Alexander Skarsgård and Millie Bobby Brown headline the human cast in this long-awaited clash of titans – who last traded punches in 1962. Watch from 27 June.
For the first time on South African screens, there’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League. This recut of the 2017 Justice League sees original director Snyder return to deliver his dark, gritty and slo-mo-heavy vision. Snyder’s cut bumps the film’s running time up to 4 hours, but the epic end result is everything that DC Comics fans could want from the ultimate superhero team-up.
The plot? With Superman (Henry Cavill) apparently dead, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) attempt to assemble a team of metahumans, including Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) to defend Earth against evil galactic overlord Darkseid, his disgraced lieutenant Steppenwolf, and an army of Parademons. Watch from 16 June.
Get your action, twists and a badass heroine fix in The Protégé. Maggie Q is Anna, the world’s most skilled contract killer. When her mentor, legendary assassin Moody (Samuel L Jackson), is killed, she targets his dangerous murderer (Michael Keaton), only for a strange connection to develop between them. From Casino Royale director Martin Campbell. Watch from 20 June.
Finally, smash-hit South African romcom Kaalgat Karel is now on Showmax too. The synopsis: A hapless streaker, seeking to win the heart of a strait-laced single mom, must find a way to bear his soul rather than his buttocks. In Afrikaans with English subtitles.
Documentaries
Showmax is bringing social activism and race relations-themed documentaries en masse in June. We’ve picked something a little different to spotlight – even though it’s played a critical role in on-screen representation and inclusivity. The acclaimed Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street explores the origins and influence of the most impactful children’s series in TV history: Sesame Street. This ground-breaking, Muppet-driven educational show eventually got a South African version in the form of Takalani Sesame. Watch Street Gang right now.