The best international series and movies on Showmax in March, from Grand Crew to The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

First seasons of Grand Crew, Vigil, Brave New World; Oscar winners The Father starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Coleman, Judas and the Black Messiah; The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard; The Little Things and more

TV SHOWS:

GRAND CREW S1 | Binge from 9 March, first on Showmax

Created by Phil Augusta Jackson (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Insecure, Key & Peele), Grand Crew follows a group of young Black professionals who gather at their favourite bar to wine down and unpack the ups and downs of life and love in LA, proving that life is always better with your crew.

The show’s instantly lovable cast includes triple-Emmy-nominee Nicole Byer (Nailed It, A Black Lady Sketch Show) and Echo Kellum (Arrow’s Curtis Holt / Mr Terrific), while Emmy nominee Garrett Morris (2 Broke Girls, The Jamie Foxx Show, Saturday Night Live) narrates.

As The Mary Sue says, “The whip-smart comedy is one of the best new sitcoms on network television… During the pandemic, many viewers have been returning to their favourite comfort shows like The Office and Friends. Grand Crew is a welcome new entry into the genre, and is hopefully on its way to becoming a new classic. So sit back, grab a glass of wine, and meet your new friends.”

PEN15 S2 PART 2 | Binge now, first on Showmax

PEN15’s second – and final – season brings us eight new episodes to close out the gloriously weird and uncomfortably honest story of 13-year-old besties Maya and Anna, living through the horrors and highs of teenhood in the year 2000. Thirty-something creators Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine return as the puberty-stricken versions of themselves, surrounded by actual 13-year-olds.

PEN15 was nominated for three Emmys last year, including Outstanding Comedy Series, and Season 2 holds a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s also been nominated for Critics’ Choice and Writers Guild of America awards, among other honours.

“It is bowing out at the peak of its powers,” says Guardian, while AV Club says, “PEN15 leaves behind an indelible legacy in the genre.”

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES S3 | Binge now, first on Showmax

In the final series of A Discovery of Witches, Matthew and Diana return from their time-traveling trip to 1590 to find tragedy at Sept-Tours. They must find and piece the Book of Life back together, as their enemies gear up against them.

Adapted from Deborah Harkness’s bestselling All Souls trilogy, A Discovery of Witches is a vampire meets witch story of forbidden love, starring Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey, The Crown) and Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies, I Am Number Four), who are both up for 2022 Critics Choice Super Awards for their lead performances. Also look out for Black Reel nominee Parker Sawyers (Barack Obama in Southside With You) joining the cast this season.

A Discovery of Witches has an 85% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with BAFTA, National Television Awards and Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films nominations to its credit.

VIGIL | Binge now

From the creators of Line of Duty, Vigil investigates the mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler and a death on-board the submarine HMS Vigil, which bring the police into conflict with the Navy and British security services.

DCI Amy Silva (BAFTA winner Suranne Jones from Gentleman Jack and Doctor Foster) and DS Kirsten Longacre (BAFTA winner Rose Leslie from Game of Thrones, The Good Fight) lead an investigation on land and at sea into a conspiracy that goes to the very heart of Britain’s national security.

Vigil’s stellar ensemble cast also features Emmy nominee Stephen Dillane (Stannis in Game of Thrones), Anjli Mohindra (Bodyguard), Shaun Evans (Morse in Endeavour), MTV Movie Awards nominee Connor Swindells (Adam in Sex Education) and BAFTA nominee Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot).

Vigil has an 84% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Wall Street Journal hailing it as “one of the better thriller series of the year…“ and Radio Times including it in their Top 10 of 2021 list, saying, “From the shock death inside the opening 10 minutes of episode one to the thrillingly tense climax in the final instalment, this was a terrifically gripping and propulsive affair that proved a huge hit with the viewing public.”

BRAVE NEW WORLD | Binge now

Based on Aldous Huxley’s classic 1932 novel, Brave New World imagines a utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family, and history itself.

Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story), Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey, Harlots), and Harry Lloyd (Viktor in Arcane) lead an impressive cast, which also includes Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Black Reel nominee Kylie Bunbury (When They See Us), Joseph Morgan (The Originals), Nina Sosanya (Love Actually) and Emmy nominee Demi Moore (Empire).

Brave New World won Royal Television Society Awards for its costumes and visual effects, but be warned: unlike the book, the series isn’t going to make it into any high school syllabus. Brave New World carries an 18SN age restriction, with The Guardian suggesting that it should have been renamed Brave Nude World and adding, “Not since Game of Thrones have I seen so many nude scenes so happily, lavishly and gratuitously staged for our viewing pleasure.”

CHICAGO MED S6 | Binge now

The dedicated doctors, nurses and staff of Gaffney Chicago Medical’s state-of-the-art trauma centre are back for Season 6 of the hit medical drama from multi-award-winning executive producer Dick Wolf (Law & Order).

This season, Chicago’s medical heroes are pushed to the limit as they fight on the frontlines of a global Covid-19 pandemic. Together, they must adapt to the new normal as they confront new and unprecedented medical challenges.

The cast includes four-time Emmy nominee Oliver Platt (Fargo, The Big C) as the newly widowed Chief of Psychiatry Dr Daniel Charles, as well as Teen Choice nominee Yaya DaCosta (The Butler), Emmy winner S Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order) and Tribeca winner Dominic Rains (A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night).

A MILLION LITTLE THINGS S3 PART 1 | Binge now

Friendship isn’t a big thing. It’s a million little things. In Season 3, just when the friends seem to find their new normal, their lives are upended when Covid-19 rocks their world – forcing them to once again lean on each other in ways that are both moving and aspirational.

A Million Little Things has an 8/10 rating on IMDb. As TV Fanatic says, “Can you think of a show that better encapsulates the feeling of living in the disaster year that is 2020?.. A Million Little Things is akin to Chicken Soup for the Soul…as if you were snuggling up with a warm blanket, eating comfort food, and spending time with beloved friends. In times like these, you learn to cherish any moment that gives you that feeling.”

The ensemble cast includes David Giuntoli (Nick in Grimm), Screen Actors Guild nominee Romany Malco (Weeds), three-time Teen Choice nominee Grace Park (Hawaii Five-O), James Roday Rodriguez (Shawn in Psych), Stephanie Szostak (Iron Man 3), and Floriana Lima (The Punisher), as well as three-time Kids Choice nominee Lizzy Greene (Nicky, Rick, Dicky and Dawn).

WU-TANG: AN AMERICAN SAGA S1 | Binge now

Set in early 1990s New York, at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic, Wu-Tang: An American Saga is the fictionalised account of the formation of legendary hip hop supergroup Wu-Tang Clan.

MTV Movie Award winner Ashton Sanders (Moonlight, Judas and the Black Messiah) and Black Reel winner Shameik Moore (the voice of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s Miles) co-star as Bobby Diggs and Sha Raider respectively.

Created by Grammy-nominated Wu-Tang leader RZA with Alex Tse (Watchmen), Season 1 of the series was nominated for an Emmy and three Black Reel Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series.

MOVIES:

THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD | Stream from 14 March 2022

The world’s most lethal odd couple – bodyguard Michael Bryce (Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds) and hitman Darius Kincaid (Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson) – are back on another life-threatening mission. Still unlicensed and under scrutiny, Bryce is forced into action by Darius’s even more volatile wife, the infamous international con artist Sonia Kincaid (Oscar nominee Salma Hayek).

As Bryce is driven over the edge by his two most dangerous protectees, the trio get in over their heads in a global plot and soon find that they are all that stand between Europe and a vengeful, powerful madman (Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas). Joining in the fun and deadly mayhem is Oscar winner Morgan Freeman as… well, you’ll have to see.

Hayek was nominated for a People’s Choice Award as Favourite Female Movie Star for the action-comedy, which topped the US box office on its release and was the 52nd biggest film of 2021 globally.

THE FATHER | Stream from 21 March 2022

Anthony is 80, mischievous, living defiantly alone and rejecting the carers that his daughter, Anne, encouragingly introduces. Yet help is also becoming a necessity for Anne; she can’t make daily visits anymore and Anthony’s grip on reality is unravelling. As his memory ebbs and flows, how much of his own identity and past can Anthony cling to? How does Anne cope as she grieves the loss of her father, while he still lives and breathes before her?

At 83 years old, Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs) last year became the oldest-ever Best Actor winner at the Oscars. The Father also took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, with another three nominations, including Motion Picture of the Year and Supporting Actress (Olivia Colman from The Crown). The Father has now won over 30 international awards, including two BAFTAs.

The Father has a 98% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus praises the film’s “stellar performances” and “devastatingly empathetic portrayal of dementia.”

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH | Stream now

Judas and the Black Messiah is inspired by the true story of the betrayal and assassination of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Black Panther Party.

As Hampton, Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Black Panther) won the Oscar, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor, while H.E.R’s Fight For You also took home an Oscar for Best Original Song. The film also picked up Oscar nominations for Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actor (LaKeith Stanfied fromAtlanta) and Best Cinematography.

Judas and the Black Messiah has a 97% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus says, “An electrifying dramatisation of historical events, Judas and the Black Messiah is a forceful condemnation of racial injustice – and a major triumph for its director and stars.”

THE LITTLE THINGS | Stream now

The Little Things stars Oscar winners Denzel Washington (Fences, Training Day) and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody, Mr. Robot) as Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon and Sergeant Jim Baxter, two cops on the hunt for a serial killer who’s terrorising Los Angeles. As their search begins to dredge up echoes of Deke’s past, disturbing secrets emerge, which could threaten more than his case …

Oscar winner Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, House of Gucci) was nominated for both a 2021 Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor in the film.

Written and directed by BAFTA nominee John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks), the crime thriller also features Natalie Morales from Parks and Recreation.

TOM & JERRY: THE MOVIE | Stream now

Our favourite cat and mouse are back in Tom & Jerry: The Movie, which sees Jerry move into New York’s finest hotel on the eve of the wedding of the century, forcing desperate event planner Kayla (Teen Choice and People’s Choice Award winner Chloë Grace Moretz) to hire Tom to get rid of the intruder. But, as mayhem ensues, their escalating cat-and-mouse battle soon threatens to destroy her career, the wedding, and possibly the hotel itself.

The 30th biggest film of 2021, Tom & Jerry earned over $127 million at the global box office, and was nominated as The Family Movie of 2021 at last year’s People’s Choice Awards.

A mix of live action and animation, it’s directed by multiple Black Reel nominee Tim Story (Shaft, Barbershop, Fantastic Four), and stars Black Reel winner Michael Peña (Dora’s dad in Dora and the Lost City of Gold); Scarlett Johansson’s husband and 12-time Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live writer Colin Jost; MTV Movie Award winner Ken Jeong (Crazy Rich Asians, The Hangover, Community); Patsy Ferran (who voiced Pearl inZog and Zog and the Flying Doctors); and Jordan Bolger (Peaky Blinders, The 100).

SHADOW IN THE CLOUD | Stream now, first on Showmax

Strap in, folks. IndieWire calls Shadow in The Cloud a “bonkers mash-up of monster movie and World War II drama”. The Hollywood Reporter says it’s “an absolute blast”. And Variety calls it, “Berserk and unforgettable”.

The high-action creature feature follows female flight officer Maude Garrett, tasked with transporting top secret documents aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress, where the sexist crew is about to become the least of her problems …

Winner of the Midnight Madness Award at Toronto International Film Festival, Shadow in The Cloud stars MTV and Teen Choice Award winners Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Nick Robinson (Jurassic World). Roseanne Liang was named one of Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Directors To Watch for the film.

BAD HAIR | Stream from 3 March 2022

A horror satire set in 1989, Bad Hair follows an ambitious young woman (Elle Lorraine from Insecure), who gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career comes at a great cost when she realises her new hair may have a mind of its own.

Three-time Emmy nominee Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives) was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, while Bad Hair was also up for Campy Flick of The Year at the 2021 GALECA Awards, chosen by The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.

Written and directed by Justin Simien (Dear White People), Bad Hair co-stars everyone from Emmy winners Lena Waithe (Master of None) and Blair Underwood (Dear White People) and nominees Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black), Nicole Byer (Grand Crew) and Robin Thede (A Black Lady Sketch Show) to Grammy winners Kelly Rowland and Usher, as well as Teen Choice winner James van der Beek (Dawson in Dawson’s Creek).

“Justin Simien’s pointed, fiendishly fun horror flick cackles at the gore when an ambitious music host gets a wig that literally slays,” says Variety, calling it “at once sly, resonant, and horrific.”

SUPERINTELLIGENCE | Stream from 10 March 2022

When an all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study the most average person on earth, Carol Peters, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As the A.I. decides whether to enslave, save or destroy humanity, it’s up to Carol to prove that people are worth saving.

Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids, The Heat) was nominated for a Kids’ Choice Award for Favourite Actress forSuperintelligence, which also stars James Corden, two-time Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale (The Irishman), and two-time Emmy nominee Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta).

LET THEM ALL TALK | Stream from 24 March 2022

Let Them All Talk tells the story of a celebrated author (three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep) who takes a journey with some old friends (five-time Emmy winner Candice Bergen and two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest) to have some fun and heal old wounds. Her nephew (Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges from Manchester by the Sea) comes along to wrangle the ladies, as well as her new literary agent (Gemma Chan from Eternals and Crazy Rich Asians), who is desperate to find out about her next book.

Directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brokovich), Let Them All Talk has an 88% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As the critics’ consensus there says, “When Steven Soderbergh rounds up a cast this talented, it’s definitely wise to Let Them All Talk – and this light yet rewarding dramedy more than lives up to expectations.”

SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT | Stream now

Six Minutes to Midnight is set in the summer of 1939, days ahead of the declaration of World War II, as English teacher Thomas Miller (Emmy winner Eddie Izzard) takes up a post at a finishing school in an English seaside town, where the influential families of Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to learn the language. Seeing what lies ahead, Miller tries to raise the alarm, but the authorities believe he is the problem.

Oscar winners Dame Judi Dench (The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) and Jim Broadbent (Iris, Moulin Rouge!), Swiss actress Carla Juri (Blade Runner 2049), and James D’Arcy (Dunkirk, Avengers: Endgame) co-star.

Directed by BAFTA nominee Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey), the war drama was nominated for two 2021 BAFTA Cymru awards – Best Actress (Dench) and Best Costume Design.

EVERYTHING ON SHOWMAX IN MARCH 2022

To see everything on Showmax in March 2022, including the Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominees The Sparks Brothersand Final Account, and the Cinema Eye-winning true crime series I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, click here. Please note this release schedule is subject to change.