August is almost here, and you know what that means—it’s time for a new watchlist. Showmax is coming in hot with a fresh batch of movies to match every kind of mood. Whether you’re looking for chaotic thrillers that will have you side-eyeing everyone or comedies that have you rolling on the floor, this lineup delivers.

Here are 12 movies worth adding to your Showmax watchlist this August.  

1. MY MOM JAYNE

Jayne Mansfield was a Hollywood legend. In My Mom Jayne, director Mariska Hargitay embarks on a journey to discover the mother she never knew—and reclaim her story beyond being a “blonde bombshell.”

The HBO documentary premiered at Cannes in May and has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hargitay is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress herself, best known as determined detective Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

2. THE WEEKND: LIVE AT SOFI STADIUM

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” remains Spotify’s most streamed song, with nearly five billion streams on a planet of eight billion people.

Live at SoFi Stadium was recorded during the first US leg of the four-time Grammy winner’s “After Hours Til Dawn” tour.

Nominated for two Emmys, the 90-minute special set a then record for the highest debut for a music special in HBO Max history.

3. LEE

Oscar winner Kate Winslet stars in Lee, the true story of photographer Elizabeth “Lee” Miller, a fashion model who became a war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

The directorial feature debut of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Lee also stars Oscar winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), and Emmy winners Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies), Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), and Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown).

Lee was up for Outstanding British Film of the Year at this year’s BAFTAs, with Winslet nominated for a 2025 Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama.

4. BABES

Labelled “the comedy of the year” by Awards Watch, Babes follows childhood best friends Eden and Dawn, now in different phases of adulthood. When single Eden decides to have a baby on her own after a one-night stand, their friendship faces its greatest challenge.

Emmy-nominated Broad City co-creator and star Ilana Glazer plays Eden. She also co-wrote and produced the film. Critics Choice-winning comedienne Michelle Buteau co-stars as Dawn, alongside comedians Hasan Minjah and Sandra Bernhard, Emmy nominees Oliver Platt and Stephan James, John Caroll Lynch (Ballard), and Oscar nominees the Lucas brothers (Judas and the Black Messiah).

The feature film directorial debut of Emmy nominee Pamela Adlon (Better Things), Babes has an 87% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

5. MAXXXINE

MaXXXine, the final bloody chapter in Ti West’s X trilogy, is set in 1980s Hollywood, where adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.

Mia Goth stars in the title role, as she did in the first two installments, X and Pearl, which earned her Critics Choice Super Awards for Best Actress: Horror and Best Villain.

The stellar support cast includes Emmy winners Bobby Cannavale and Elizabeth Debicki, Emmy nominees Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon, Golden Globe nominee Michelle Monaghan, Critics Choice Super nominee Sophie Thatcher, Grammy winner Halsey, and singer-songwriter Moses Sumney.

MaXXXine is up for Best Independent Film at the 2025 Saturn Awards, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.

6. JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX

Joker: Folie à Deux finds Arthur Fleck institutionalised at Arkham, awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love but also finds the music that’s always been inside him.

From Oscar-nominated writer, director, and producer Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux is the much-anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Oscar-winning Joker, which earned more than $1 billion at the global box office.

Joaquin Phoenix is back in his Oscar-winning title role, opposite Oscar and Grammy winner Lady Gaga as Lee Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn. She was nominated at the 2025 Queerties and the Critics Choice Super Awards for the role, with Observer (UK) praising her “weapons-grade charisma and star quality.”

7. ANORA

A young stripper from Brooklyn meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairy tale is threatened as his parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

Anora won five Oscars: Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actress for Mikey Madison, Best Supporting Actor for Yura Borisov, and Directing, Original Screenplay, and Editing awards for indie darling Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project). Anora also won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and over 150 other awards.

Anora was Rotten Tomatoes’ best-reviewed romance of the year, with a 93% critics’ rating.

8. FLIGHT RISK

The #1 box office hit Flight Risk follows a pilot transporting an air marshal and a fugitive to trial. As they cross the Alaskan wilderness, tensions soar and trust is tested, as not everyone on board is who they seem.

Directed by Oscar nominee Mel Gibson (Braveheart), Flight Risk stars Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg, Emmy nominee Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), and Emmy winner Topher Grace (BlacKkKlansman).

9. WHITE BIRD

From the best-selling author of Wonder, the book that sparked a movement to “choose kind,” comes the inspirational next chapter, White Bird.

The story follows Julian (Kids’ Choice nominee Bryce Gheisar, reprising his role from Wonder), who has struggled to belong ever since he was expelled from his former school for his treatment of Auggie Pullman.

To transform his life, Julian’s grandmother (Oscar winner Helen Mirren from 1923 and The Queen) finally reveals to Julian her own story of courage. During her youth in Nazi-occupied France, a boy sheltered her from mortal danger. They found first love in a stunning, magical world of their own creation, while the boy’s mother (Emmy winner Gillian Anderson) risked everything to keep her safe.

10. NOSFERATU

Nominated for four Oscars this year, Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her.

Written and directed by Cannes and Sundance winner Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman), Nosferatu stars Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol), Emmy nominee Nicholas Hoult (Renfield, Warm Bodies), and Teen Choice Movie Villain winner Bill Skarsgård (aka Pennywise in the IT films). Also look out for Golden Globe winner Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emmy nominee Emma Corrin, and four-time Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe.

At the 2025 Critics Choice Super Awards, Nosferatu is up for Best Horror Movie, Best Actor (Skarsgård), and Best Actress (Depp).

11. FLIGHT 149: HOSTAGE OF WAR

On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein took the world by surprise by invading Kuwait. Four hours later, British Airways Flight 149, travelling from London to Malaysia, would make its scheduled stop in Kuwait City, where Saddam captured the plane and broadcast to the entire world that the 367 passengers and 18 crew members on board were now his hostages.

For decades, UK authorities denied they knew the invasion had begun before the plane landed. Then, in 2023, an MI6 officer broke his silence, contradicting the official account. The hostages are now launching a legal case against the British government and British Airways in their search for the truth about why the plane landed in the first place.

Directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Jenny Ash (Osama Bin Laden: The Inside Story), Flight 149: Hostage of War features testimony from the hostages themselves, politicians from both sides of the Atlantic, and the Kuwaiti resistance who risked their lives to hide some of the hostages.

12. DOG MAN

Part dog. Part man. All hero. The #16 biggest box office hit of 2025 so far, Dog Man kicks off with a harebrained but life-saving operation that fuses a faithful police dog and his human police officer together as a new hero, sworn to protect and serve … and fetch, sit, and roll over.

A spin-off from Captain Underpants, DreamWorks’ adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s bestselling graphic novel series has already been nominated for the 2025 Kids’ Choice Award for Favourite Animated Movie and boasts an 81% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Dog Man is co-written and directed by Peter Hastings (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Pinky and the Brain), who also barks up a storm as the voice of Dog Man himself. Also listen out for Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, and Emmy winner Ricky Gervais (The Office) as evil genius Flippy the Fish.

Also on Showmax:

• Monster High: The Movie—August 1
• Canary Black—August 4
• Dreamgirls, Like A Boss, Nobody’s Fool, The Image of You—7 August
• Five Fingers For Marseilles—8 August
• A Quiet Place 1-2—11 August
• Shepherds and Butchers—13 August
• Bounty Hunters, Kung Fu Stuntmen—14 August
• Pearls of Wisdom, The Chemo Club—15 August
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Dragon Tiger Gate, The Wasp—18 August
• Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Paw Patrol: The Movie, Special Female Force—21 August
• uCarmen eKhayelitsha—22 August
• GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, GI Joe: Retaliation, Snake Eyes—25 August
• Downsizing, Pain & Gain, Skincare, The Moon Warrior—28 August