The South African Show That Conquered Netflix

Netflix has spent billions trying to work out what makes a global hit.

Sometimes the answer is apparently a cheating South African businessman with far too many women in his life.

The Polygamist, a 22-part South African drama released in June, has become one of Netflix’s biggest African success stories, reaching No.1 in 21 countries, making the Top 10 in 62 and attracting around 28 million views. It also spent seven consecutive weeks in Netflix’s global Top 10 for non-English shows, longer than any previous South African Netflix title.

Not bad for a show that could very easily have remained a local hit.

Based on Sue Nyathi’s 2012 novel, the series follows wealthy businessman Jonasi Gomora, played by S’dumo Mtshali, whose complicated collection of wives, mistresses, lies and betrayals eventually begins collapsing around him. Gugu Gumede plays Joyce, his long-suffering wife, whose apparently perfect life turns out to be rather less perfect than Instagram might suggest. The show is unapologetically South African, rooted in local culture, family structures and arguments around tradition, patriarchy and modern relationships.

And that might be exactly why it travelled.

For years, television executives appeared terrified that audiences wouldn’t watch something unless it had been carefully sanded down into something universally familiar. Then streaming came along and repeatedly proved the opposite.

Squid Game didn’t become enormous because Netflix tried to make it feel American. Lupin didn’t work because someone removed the Frenchness. And The Polygamist hasn’t travelled because it disguises where it comes from.

It travels because the details are local and the emotions are not.

A powerful man making terrible decisions? Universal.

Marriage falling apart? Universal.

Jealousy, betrayal, money, sex, family politics and people pretending everything is fine while their lives are clearly on fire?

Extremely universal.

Executive producer Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube has said the show’s success proves that culturally specific African stories can resonate globally, while Mtshali has pointed out that Jonasi represents a type of toxic masculinity audiences can recognise almost anywhere.

There is also something wonderfully old-fashioned about the whole thing. This is not a six-part prestige drama where everyone stares thoughtfully through windows. It is a proper soap. Twenty-two episodes. Affairs. Secrets. Revenge. Family warfare. Social scandal. Big emotions. Netflix itself describes it as a “supernovela”, which feels wonderfully appropriate. And perhaps that is another reason it worked.

Streaming has spent years chasing shorter seasons, bigger stars and increasingly expensive productions. Meanwhile, audiences still clearly enjoy the oldest trick in television: give us characters we care about, make their lives complicated and keep giving us reasons to watch the next episode.

The success has already had an impact. Netflix used its tenth anniversary in South Africa to announce a fresh slate of local productions, with The Polygamist held up as evidence that South African stories can travel far beyond their home market.

Which may be the most interesting thing about this unexpected hit. Streaming was supposed to make entertainment global. Perhaps what it actually did was make local entertainment global. And that is much more interesting.