How do we pick our Plums?
Here at The Plum List, we have strict criteria for deciding which shows on South African streaming services (Showmax, DStv Now, Netflix and Amazon Prime) get our plummy stamp of approval.
We take your data and your time seriously, and would hate to recommend a series or movie that’s not worth either of those finite commodities.
Series or movies have to fit into one or more of the following categories to be listed as Plum Picks.
1 Critical darlings
We always look at ratings first. Anything with an IMDB rating of over 7.5/10 and/or a Rotten Tomatoes rating of over 75% is an obvious Plum Pick, but it helps if they also top the Golden Globe, Emmy and Oscar nomination lists come awards season.
Here are some examples:
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Game of Thrones
- Killing Eve
- A Star is Born (film)
- Bohemian Rhapsody (film)
- Crazy Rich Asians (film)
2 People’s choice
A film like Netflix’s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, for example, is a Plum Pick, despite its relatively low critics ratings.
- Pre-buzz: this release was being hyped for months before it was released.
- It’s an Original: originals are now being produced by Netflix, Showmax and Amazon.
- It’s popular with viewers. In the case of Mowgli, 89% of Google viewers loved it. The Plum List exists to help everyday binge-watchers find their next fix, not to appease critics – so we consider anything that has a Google user rating of more than 80%.
Other series that may fall in this category include:
- How to Get Away with Murder
- The Walking Dead
- The Remix
- Period. End of Sentence.
3 Surprise gems
Sometimes a movie or series comes out of nowhere and blows us away.
The End of the F**king World, The OA, Haters Back Off, American Vandal are some of the Netflix series that nobody saw coming.
4 Local is king
Ratings, buzz and surprises aside, the one thing we pride ourselves on at The Plum List is shining a spotlight on South African excellence, which doesn’t get as much attention in the global media as any of the international titles we also feature.
South African series that are popular with fans are immediately a Plum Pick, as are those that have garnered praise from critics at home.
Here are some of the SA shows and movies we endorse:
- Showmax Originals, including The Girl from St Agnes, Tali’s Wedding Diary and Trippin With Skhumba
- Comedy Central Roasts: of AKA
- Trevor Noah’s Son of Patricia
- The River
- Housekeepers
- Boer Soek ‘n Vrou
- Date My Family