Published Sep 03
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The five best international series on Showmax this September, from The White Lotus to Gangs of London
THE WHITE LOTUS S1 | Binge now, first on Showmax
Set over the course of a week, HBO comedy-drama The White Lotus follows hotel guests at an exclusive Hawaiian resort as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise. With each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel’s cheerful employees, and the idyllic locale itself.
Written and directed by Mike White (Enlightened), The White Lotus stars Emmy nominees Connie Britton (Nashville) and Natasha Rothwell (Insecure), Teen Choice winner Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls) and nominee Alexandra Daddario (True Detective), and Screen Actors Guild nominees Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), Steve Zahn (War for the Planet of the Apes), and Jake Lacy (Girls, The Office), as well as Murray Barlett (Looking) and Fred Hechinger (Eighth Grade).
Having topped IMDb’s Most Popular TV list, The White Lotus has an 88% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Time billing it as “the must-see show of the summer… a darkly hilarious, existentially terrifying wealth satire” and The Guardian as “2021’s best, and most uncomfortable, show.”
GANGS OF LONDON S1 | Binge now, first on Showmax
Nominated for the Best Drama BAFTA earlier this year, Gangs of London tells the story of a city torn apart following the assassination of the head of its most powerful crime family.
Created by Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery (The Raid), Gangs of London stars BAFTA nominees Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror), Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You), and Lucian Msamati (His Dark Materials, Game of Thrones), as well as 2021 Critics Choice Super nominee Sope Dirisu (His House) and multi-award winners like Ray Panthaki (Away, Marcella) and Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark in Game of Thrones).
Gangs of London has a 91% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus says: “A modern crime family masterpiece, Gangs of London builds its own empire atop tried and true mafia turf - complete with engaging drama, exhilarating action, and fine performances all around.”
RICK AND MORTY S5 | Binge from 6 September 2021
Sociopathic genius scientist Rick Sanchez lives with his daughter Beth’s family, constantly bringing her, his son-in-law Jerry, granddaughter Summer, and grandson Morty on insanely dangerous adventures across the multiverse.
Rick and Morty won its second Outstanding Animated Program Emmy in three years in 2020 and is currently the 14th highest-rated series of all time on IMDb, with a 9.2/10 rating from nearly 400 000 fans. That makes Rick and Morty the second-highest-rated animated series of all time, behind only Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Alison Brie, a Critics Choice nominee for Glow and Community, and an Annie Award nominee for Bojack Horseman joins the voice cast this season, as do the likes of six-time Grammy-nominated comedian Jim Gaffigan (Bob’s Burgers, Star vs. The Forces of Evil), and Teen Choice winner Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus, Gravity Falls, American Pie).
THE ROOKIE S3 | Binge now
Four-time People’s Choice Award winner Nathan Fillion (Castle, Firefly) stars as the LAPD’s oldest rookie, John Nolan, in the ever-popular police procedural The Rookie. Nominated for a 2020 Emmy for its stunt coordination, the series has an 8/10 score on IMDb.
The cast includes Alyssa Diaz (Ray Donovan’s Teresa), Black Reel nominee Richard T Jones (Santa Clarita Diet), Mekia Cox (Chicago Med’s Robin), MTV Movie Award winner Shawn Ashmore (X-Men’s Ice Man), Melissa O’Neil (Dark Matter, Condor), and Eric Winter (The Mentalist, Days of Our Lives’ Rex Brady).
Also look out for Saturn and IGN Summer Movie Award winner Brandon Routh (The Atom/Ray Palmer in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow, Scott Pilgrim, Superman Returns) and Annie Wersching (Bosch, Runaways) this season, along with Black Reel nominee Harold Perrineau (Claws, Lost, Oz), Emmy nominees Frankie Muniz (Agent Cody Banks, Malcolm in the Middle) and Michael Graziadei (Daniel Romalotti in The Young and the Restless), and People’s Choice and Teen Choice nominee Emily Deschanel (Bones, Animal Kingdom).
THE EQUALIZER S1 | Binge now
Oscar nominee Queen Latifah (Chicago) was nominated for a 2021 Black Reel Award for Best Actress: Drama in The Equalizer, a reimagining of the classic 80s action series and the 2014 blockbuster movie with Denzel Washington.
She plays Robyn McCall, a single mother and former CIA operative who helps those with nowhere else to turn.
Critics Choice Award winner Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black), Golden Globe nominee Chris Noth (Mr. Big in Sex in the City, Peter Florrick in The Good Wife), Screen Actors Guild nominee Adam Goldberg (Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Mind), and Laya DeLeon Hayes (the voice of Doc McStuffins) co-star.