Best international series on Showmax this February

THE LAST OF US S1 

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The most popular show on IMDb currently, with a 9.3/10 rating from over 100 000 fans, HBO’s The Last of Us is set 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie out of an oppressive quarantine zone. But what starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal journey as the pair cross the U.S., depending on each other for survival.

As Ellie, Tess, and Joel respectively, Bella Ramsey (His Dark Materials and Game of Thrones), Anna Torv (Fringe), and Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones) are currently the three highest-ranked actors on IMDb‘s Starmeter.

Co-created by Emmy winner Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and game creator Neil Druckmann, The Last of Us‘s cast also includes Emmy winner Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus), Critics Choice winner Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) and Teen Choice nominee Storm Reid (Euphoria).

The Last of Us has a 97% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Empire proclaiming it “a masterpiece” and The Guardian giving it five stars and hailing it as “one of the finest TV shows you will see this year… Desperately moving… A phenomenal blend of horror and heart, with a cast that could no be more perfect.”

HBO has already ordered Season 2, after The Last of Us had HBO’s second-largest debut, behind only House of the Dragon after one full week of availability, and Episode 2 had the largest week-two audience growth of any HBO Original drama series in the history of the network.

JULIA S1 

Julia is inspired by Julia Child, the legendary cookbook author and television superstar who changed the way Americans think about food, television, and even women.

BAFTA winner Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax) plays Julia Child, with four-time Emmy winner David Hyde Pierce (Dr. Niles Crane in Frasier) as her husband Paul.

Julia has a 93% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As The Guardian puts it, “Julia is about a successful woman’s rise to even more success, against the odds… Men tell Child what she can’t do, and she goes ahead and works out a way to do it anyway.” 

Julia was nominated for Best Television Series: Drama at the 2023 Satellite Awards; Best Episodic Comedy at the 2023 Writers Guild of America Awards; and two 2023 Casting Society of America awards, among other accolades. 

EAST NEW YORK S1 

East New York follows recently promoted police captain Regina Haywood, who leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are hesitant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting.

Amanda Warren (NCIS: New Orleans) stars as Deputy Inspector Haywood, alongside the likes of Emmy winner Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue) and Emmy nominee Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Castle), and Screen Actors Guild winners Kevin Rankin (Breaking Bad) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Orange is the New Black).

Created by Emmy winner William M. Finkelstein (The Good Fight, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, L.A. Law) and Black Reel nominee Mike Flynn (Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Queen Sugar), East New Yorkhas an 88% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As Variety says, “​​East New York sets a new course for the broadcast cop drama.”

YOUNG ROCK S2

Young Rock, the popular sitcom based on the life of Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock, aka Black Adam), is back for a second season, with the 2032 timeline (in which Dwayne is running for President) far more prominent this go-around, which means we’ll be seeing more of Dwayne himself.

Season 2 was nominated for three People’s Choice Awards: The Comedy Show of 2022, Comedy TV Star of 2022 and Favorite Male TV Star (both for Johnson himself), bringing the count to seven following Season 1’s four nominations. 

Uli Latukefu (The Champion in Black Adam) steps into the spotlight early in the season to bring Dwayne’s doomed football career to a close, and look out for Oscar nominee Sean Astin (Stranger Things, The Lord of the Rings) and Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (Star Wars’ Saw Gerrera, Bumpy Johnson in Godfather of Harlem)among the cast this season. 

THIS ENGLAND 

Co-written and directed by BAFTA winner Michael Winterbottom (The Trip, Greed, Welcome To Sarajevo), This England stars Oscar winner Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson and Ophelia Lovibond (Minx) as Carrie Symonds. 

The six-part Sky Original drama takes us inside the halls of power during Johnson’s tumultuous first months as Prime Minister, as he grapples with Covid-19, Brexit, and a controversial personal and political life. 

In their five-star review, The Evening Standard calls This England “splendid television, history distilled on-screen… Watch it and weep.”