As we prepare to celebrate International Women’s Day and commemorate women’s achievements all over the world on Thursday, 8 March, here is a list of femme-centric series available on Showmax that you can watch as you wind down and celebrate yourself for being awesome!
1. SMILF
This comedy series created, written and directed by Frankie Shaw will leave you in stitches – and shocked to the core. It’s based on Shaw’s short film of the same name. The main character, Bridgette, played by Shaw, is a single mother living in South Boston who is trying to balance raising her son, excelling at work and trying to find love. So this is not a cliche series, I promise you, it tries to give a realistic view of dating post-birth with just the right amount of (very adult) humour. Watch now »
2. The Dovekeepers
The Dovekeepers is a historical drama about the siege of Masada during the Jewish-Roman war. It’s based on the accounts of Flavius Josephus, a Roman historian who chronicled the lives of three women, Yael, Shirah and Aziza, who were keepers of the messenger doves during the siege. The series is a riveting visual representation of how these three women and 900 Jewish families and Sicarii rebels defended their fortress on the Masada mountain from the Romans. Watch now »
3. Big Little Lies
The series is about three women living in the wealthy seaside town of Monterey in California. Their lives are an endless charade of keeping up appearances and fulfilling their roles as affluent wives and mothers, but when a murder occurs in their area, we see a different side to each of them. Could one of them be the killer? Watch now »
4. Jamestown
Twelve years after the British founded the colony of Jamestown in America, a ship from England arrives, carrying women bound to marry the male settlers who have paid for their journey. Among them are the spirited Alice, Verity and Jocelyn, who threaten to disrupt the settlement’s paradigm of the ideal woman and her role by insisting on the same rights and opportunities as the men. Watch now »
5. Call The Midwife
This series set in 1950s London follows the team of young midwives and nurses at Nonnatus House as they look after the poor mothers in the community, and it also celebrates the nuns who live there. It’s not often that older women get to portray such interesting characters on TV. Sisters Julienne, Monica Joan, Winifred and the others reveal themselves throughout the series to be so much more than old women in habits. Watch now »
6. The Astronaut Wives Club
This period drama is a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of seven women whose husbands are chosen by NASA to be among the first astronauts to be flown to space. The series is an interesting anthology of the lives of these women, particularly how they handle the upheaval of their quiet lives when their husbands leave for space. Watch now »
7. Jordskott
Jordskott is a Swedish series about a detective, Eva Thornblad, played by Moa Gammel, who returns to her hometown seven years after the disappearance of her daughter. Because her body was never found, it was assumed that she drowned in the nearby lake. As soon as Eva returns, another child goes missing, and she begins to investigate the case on a hunch that the two are linked. Watch now »
8. A Girl in the River
This Oscar-winning short film is about a Pakistani woman who didn’t know that falling in love could mean death. Unlike many women just like her, she survived an honour killing, and now takes us into the dark world of her life after her father and uncle tried to murder her, in this unmissable documentary. Watch now »
9. Veep
Veep is an American comedy series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, the Vice President of the United States. The series follows Meyer and her team as they attempt to make their mark and leave a legacy without getting tripped up in the day-to-day political games that define the American government. Watch now »
10. Angel from Hell
When Amy, a crazy and permanently drunk woman, pops up into Allison’s life claiming to be her guardian angel, she writes her off as a lunatic, but when Amy’s predictions come true, Allison starts to reconsider. Starring the brilliantly funny Jane Lynch as Amy. Watch now »
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