NOVEMBER is on a downhill slide but there are still some gems coming to Showmax this month.
- Elsbeth S2 | Binge from Wednesday, 19 November
Elsbeth returns Carrie Preston to her Emmy-winning role from The Good Wife and The Good Fight as Elsbeth Tascioni, a brilliant but unconventional attorney who uses her sharp intuition to help the NYPD solve high-profile murders.
With a 92% critics’ rating, the show’s debut season was among Rotten Tomatoes’ Best TV Shows Of 2024, earning co-creators Michelle and Robert King a Writers Guild of America nomination.
Wendell Pierce (The Wire) won a Best Actor Award at the Critics’ Choice Awards Celebration of Cinema & Television as Captain Wagner, while David Alan Grier (St. Denis Medical) and Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty) were nominated for 2025 Black Reel Awards for their guest performances.
- Juror #2 | Stream from Monday, 24 November on Showmax, M-Net (DStv Channel 101) | 8.05pm on Sunday, 23 November
From Oscar-winning filmmaker Clint Eastwood, Juror #2 stars Emmy nominee Nicholas Hoult as a family man serving jury duty on a high-profile murder trial who finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma … one he could use to sway the verdict and potentially convict – or free – the accused killer.
The 40th directorial outing from the now-95-year-old Eastwood, Juror #2 is among Eastwood’s best works, says IndieWire: “Not only does the film rise to the occasion, it soars past it…Juror #2 both enriches our understanding of the Hollywood icon who made it and stands on its own as one of the best studio films released in 2024… [and] exudes the certainty of an artist who knows exactly what will define him after he’s gone.”
Boasting a 93% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a place among the American National Board of Review’s Top Ten Films of 2024, and multiple critics’ awards, Juror #2 also sports a stellar cast, including Oscar winner JK Simmons, Oscar nominee Toni Collette, Emmy winner Kiefer Sutherland, Critics’ Choice nominee Chris Messina and Teen Choice nominees Zoey Deutch and Leslie Bibb.
- Bel-Air S4 | First on Showmax | Wednesdays from 26 November, express from the US
The fourth and final season of Bel-Air sees Will trying to balance the fun and excitement of senior year with the expectations that have brought him to this moment, while Carlton deals with the fallout of some big decisions that could threaten his future.
Jabari Banks, Olly Sholotan, Coco Jones and Adrian Holmes all return in their Black Reel-nominated roles as Will, Carlton, Hilary and Uncle Phil, while this season’s guest stars include Emmy winners Snoop Dogg and Tyra Banks, who made her acting debut on the original The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1993.
Season three racked up a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as an Image Award for Marlon Wayans’s guest appearance. Previous seasons have won Outstanding Drama Series at the Black Reel Awards, among other honours.
- The Monkey | Stream from Thursday, 27 November
The Monkey is a horror movie from Longlegs writer-director Osgood Perkins, which Bloody Disgusting says is “a Stephen King adaptation like no other … death has never been funnier or gorier.”
When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tears their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree, forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.
Produced by multi-award-winning horror legend James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw), The Monkey stars Emmy nominee Theo James (The White Lotus, The Gentlemen, Tobias Eaton in Divergent) and Emmy-winning Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany. Also look out for multi-award-winning child star Christian Convery (Gus in Sweet Tooth), Critics’ Choice winner Elijah Wood (Frodo in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Emmy nominee Adam Scott (Mark Scout in Severance).
- Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night Of Your Life | First on Showmax | Stream from Friday, 28 November
Emmy-winning British actor, writer, and comedian Goldstein brings his irresistible charm and quick wit to the US for his first HBO stand-up special in Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night Of Your Life.
Best known for his roles in the hit shows Ted Lasso (on which he was also a writer) and Shrinking (which he co-created), Goldstein sheds his testy Roy Kent façade to share his hilarious insights on love, sex, masculinity, Sesame Street, and everything in between.
- Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This? | First on Showmax | Stream from Friday, 28 November
Host of the award-winning series Real Time with Bill Maher (on DStv Stream), acclaimed comedian and satirist Maher serves up another dose of reality in his 13th HBO stand-up special.
With his signature sardonic wit and unfiltered approach to discussing controversial issues, the comedian offers his scathing commentary on the hypocrisies of both conservative and liberal politics, as well as trends in modern parenting, sex and dating, and religion.
Taped at the CIBC Theatre in Chicago, Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This? is an unflinching and honest showcase by a comedian unafraid to call out extremes … no matter where they come from.
