The festive season is upon us, which means more eating, drinking, and streaming. With that said, there are plenty of incredible local offerings to enjoy on Showmax this festive season.
What To Stream This Festive Season
SOFT LIFE S1 | Showmax Original | Mondays until 10 February 2025
In a bid to settle her mother’s rising medical bills, a beautiful township woman plunges into the secretive world of high-society companionship. Fearful of how her profession could shatter everything she holds dear, she must keep her dual life hidden.
Zizipho Buti (Generations: The Legacy) stars as Owami. National Film and Television Awards Best Newcomer winner Katlego Lebogang (Spinners, Yoh! Christmas) and Mampho Brescia (Isibiya) play Zinhle and Zam: the star employee and owner at the escort agency respectively. Also look out for Ayanda Daweti (Scandal!, Gomora), SAFTA winner Nambitha Mpumlwana (The Lab), and African Movie Academy Awards nominee Chumani Pan (Igazi, Inkabi and Ashes to Ashes).
Created by Vusi Zion for Afriprime, the 16-rated drama series is produced by Urban Brew Studios. SAFTA winners Nozipho Nkelemba (Gomora) and Nthabiseng Mokoena (The Wife) direct.
Watch the trailer
SPOOKSOEKER S1 | Showmax Original | Thursdays until 27 February 2025
When Warno Alberts turns 15, he suddenly becomes aware of ghosts in his dorpie – and that it’s now his job to banish them.
Based on the bestselling young adult novels by multi-award-winner François Bloemhof, Spooksoeker introduces Rico Immelman as Warno and Zarelda de Bruin as the literal girl-next-door Melissa. There’s also Silwerskerm 2023 Best Supporting Actor winner and double Aardklop 2024 nominee Joshwin Dyson (2024 Oscar entry Old Righteous Blues) as Warno’s best friend Allies.
SAFTA nominee Roeline Daneel (Reyka S2) and Laudo Liebenberg (DAM, One Piece) play Warno’s parents, while the stacked cast also includes SAFTA winners June van Merch (Sara Se Geheim) and Morné Visser (Dis Ek, Anna). Additionallt, the likes of Daneel van der Walt, David Isaacs, Deon Coetzee, Ira Blanckenberg, Ivan Zimmerman, Izel Bezuidenhout, Jane de Wet, Terence Bridgett, Marguerite van Eeden, and Waldemar Schultz feature in supporting roles – some as ghosts…
Watch the trailer
MAAK STIL DIE GEBLAF |11 December
Maak Stil Die Geblaf won the Best Short Documentary Award at this year’s Silwerskerm Festival, as well as Best Direction in the documentary category for Marisa van Tonder.
Filmed in a farming community in the Hex River Valley, the heartwarming story follows a small group of 11-year-old children and their four-legged friends as they train for a dog jumping competition in Stellenbosch. Along the way, they learn compassion towards animals as they discover their own voices and navigate a path into their futures.
Watch the trailer
VERGEET VAN MY | 11 December
Written and directed by Beer Adriaanse, Vergeet van My won Best Editing for Pierre-Arnold Theron in the documentary category at the 2024 Silwerskerm Festival.
Adriaanse is a Silwerskerm-winning actor (Wonderlus), a SAFTA-nominated writer-director (Hotel, Taktiek), and the former drummer of Zinkplaat.
When his parents were cleaning out their storage room in 2021, they came across a forgotten black crate. Out of this came photographs, journals and plastic bags full of DV8 video cassette recordings that captured various tours over a 10-year period. Against the backdrop of a boom in alternative South African music, the archive material tells a story of discovery, youthful rebellion, growing up, and the dream of being part of something bigger.
With music from Zinkplaat, Foto Na Dans, eF-eL, Straatligkinders, Tidal Waves, and New Holland, this is a doc you can dance to.
Watch the trailer
OUTOPSIE S1-3 | 19 December
Named Best Factual Programme at the 2024 SAFTAs, Outopsie’s third season once again examines the evidence uncovered during post-mortem examinations in some of South Africa’s most high-profile criminal investigations.
Senior forensic pathologist Hestelle van Staden, author of Outopsie: Bloed Vertel ‘n Storie, takes us through a step-by-step breakdown of each autopsy, with key players also sharing their experiences, from the crime scene to the evidence presented in court. Each case is shocking, unique, and, at times, stranger than fiction.
Season 3 includes the investigations into two murders that involved unusual weapons, an apparent double suicide, and the 2007 murder of seven-year-old Sheldean Human.
Watch the S2 trailer
WHITE LIES S1 | 23 December
M-Net’s hit murder mystery White Lies stars Critics Choice Super nominee Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones) as Edie, an investigative journalist whose estranged brother is murdered in his luxury Bishopscourt home, leaving his teenage children as the prime suspects.
As Edie investigates, she finds herself at loggerheads with veteran detective Forty Bell (SAFTA winner Brendon Daniels from Spinners) while grappling with the crumbling local police force, a corrupt political system, and the secretive world of extreme Cape wealth.
In a five-star review, News24’s Thinus Ferreira hailed it as “masterful TV storytelling… eye-popping and Sherlock Holmesian.”
Watch the trailer
CHRISTMAS CLOTHES | 06 December
Set in Soweto on Christmas Eve, Christmas Clothes stars Omhle Tshabalala (Scandal!, Classified, Unseen) as Nqubeko, a teenager who embarks on a quest to reclaim his stolen Christmas clothes from a neighbourhood bully (Tshepo Mohale).
Produced by Media Sync and directed by Athi Petela (M’tase Khaya), the heartwarming Christmas film also features SAFTA winner Thami Mngqolo (Generations, Isono, Muvhango) and Khanya Sosibo (Generations: The Legacy, The Estate) as Nqubeko’s parents.
Also look out for rising stars Slindokuhle Tshabalala (Youngins, Nikiwe) and Siphosihle Khanyile (Adulting, The Estate).
Watch the trailer
MARIE SE LAASTE DAG | 06 December
At this year’s kykNET Silwerskerm Awards, Marie se Laaste Dag won Best Short Film and Script by an emerging filmmaker, as well as Best Cinematography.
The story is set in 1994 when, after years of tense negotiations and the first democratic elections, the government of national unity is ready to report for duty. Marie, who’s been secretary to mineral resources minister Hendrik van der Merwe for years, needs to organise her boss’ first meeting with the incoming minister of defence, Mayihlome Khumalo. Marie is ready to embrace the ideals of a new South Africa. She is even willing to risk her job for a brighter future for South Africa.
Mandri Sutherland (Trompoppie, Taktiek) stars as Marie, with SAFTA winner Deon Lotz (Taktiek, Skoonheid, Axis Mundi), Dumisani Mbebe (Savage Beauty, How to Ruin Love) and Jacaranda FM presenter Rozanne McKenzie co-starring.
SAFTA-nominated In Gesprek and Carte Blanche presenter Lourensa Eckard showcases her comedic talent as director on the short film, which she penned alongside Arendsvlei writer Mercy Kannemeyer.
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