Valentine’s may be over, but weekend chilling with Bae is still very much in especially with the exciting line-up of movies on ShowMax in celebration of the month of love.
Also, I Am LAYCON, the first ShowMax Nigeria original production is currently streaming on the service. The reality show follows the life of Big Brother Naija season five winner, Lekan ‘Laycon’ Agbelese as he settles into a life of fame and music, after his run in the BBNaija house.
So, if a weekend in with Bae is the plan, these love-struck movies currently streaming on ShowMax plus a dose of reality TV drama from I Am LAYCON are the perfect companions to top things off.
1. The Photograph
Starring Issa Rae (Issa in Insecure) and Lakeith Stanfield (Snoop Dog in Straight Outta Compton), the movie follows the estranged daughter of a famous photographer who falls in love with the journalist who is investigating her late mother’s life.
The Photograph has a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 74% while the website’s critics consensus reads “gorgeous visuals, an affecting love story, and simmering chemistry between Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield keep The Photograph solidly in focus.”
2. Fifty Shades of Grey
What’s a Valentine’s Day binge-fest without the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy? Fifty Shades follows the love story between a recent college graduate, Anastasia Steele, who meets the incredibly wealthy and mysterious Christian Grey.
The movie is based on the 2011 best-selling novels of the same name by E. L. James and stars Dakota Johnson (21 Jump Street, The Five-Year Engagement) and Jamie Dornan (The 9th Life of Louis Drax) in leading roles.
Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker are available for binging on ShowMax.
3. Crazy, Rich, Asians
Another adopted film, Crazy, Rich, Asians, is based on the 2013 novel of the same title by Kevin Kwan.
The movie follows a Chinese-American professor (Constance Wu – Hustlers) who travels to meet her boyfriend’s (Henry Golding – Last Christmas) family and is surprised to discover they are among the richest in Singapore.
The movie received several nominations at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for Wu.
4. Me Before You
If you were a fan of Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, then prepare to catch everyone’s favourite Mother of Dragons in a completely different light.
Clarke stars as Louisa ‘Lou’ Clark, a happy, outgoing woman who supports her working-class family and takes a job to serve as caregiver for a wealthy, young man (Sam Claflin – The Hunger Games) who becomes paralysed from the neck down after he was hit by a motorbike.
Me, Before You is a love film with a twist and won the People’s Choice Awards for Favourite Dramatic Movie.
5. The Sun Is Also A Star
Yara Shahidi (Black-ish, Grown-ish) stars opposite Charles Melton (Riverdale) as a young lady who lives with her family in New York then meets and falls in love with a young man but her family is facing deportation back to Jamaica.
Amy Nicholson of Variety wrote of the movie: “this crowd-pleaser convinces us to spend one day savouring an American Dream.”
6. Love Life
Love Life is a 10-episode series that trails the love life of Darby Carter (Anna Kendrick – Twilight, Pitch Perfect).
“There is formidable charm and poignancy here because Darby seems so ordinary,” Globe and Mail says. “The high drama is never amplified and comes in small moments of joy and pain.”
Love Life was recently renewed for a second season, which will centre on a whole new love story.
7. Four Weddings and A Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral follows four American friends – Maya, Craig, Ainsley, and Duffy whose lives are turned upside down after they reunite for one of their friend’s wedding in London.
The show was created by Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project) and stars Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei from Game of Thrones), Rebecca Rittenhouse (The Mindy Project) and John Reynolds (Stranger Things).
Maria Fontoura from rollingstone.com said of the show: “The main thing the show lacks is the frisson of a cast that clicks as though they were real. What it offers instead is something much closer to Kaling’s sweet spot: a comforting and predictable… sitcom.”