Netflix’s South African drama “The Polygamist” has grow to be one of the streamer’s greatest worldwide word-of-mouth hits, climbing the charts far past Africa and turning its lead characters into world speaking factors about relationships and emotional abuse.
But the present’s success isn’t nearly its surprising plot twists.
Adapted from Zimbabwean creator Sue Nyathi’s 2012 novel of the identical title, “The Polygamist” follows the darkish secrets and techniques and emotional fallout hidden behind the glamorous life of a person with a number of wives and mistresses.
The sequence has surpassed 23 million views, touchdown on Netflix’s Top 10 non-English TV rankings throughout greater than a dozen nations.
Viewers are utilizing the sequence to begin conversations about emotional abuse, manipulation, narcissism, and why so many individuals stay in unhealthy relationships. Social media has been flooded with response movies, relationship debates, and private tales impressed by the present’s central character, Jonasi.
“It’s sparked this conversation, this dialogue,” actor S’dumo Mtshali instructed NCS’s Larry Madowo. “People begin to share their own personal stories. That’s the funny thing. They come up to me as Jonasi.”
Mtshali performs the charismatic but manipulative husband at the heart of the story. His efficiency has been so convincing that followers battle to separate the actor from the character.
“I’ll own being the most hated man on Netflix … until Netflix gives me another show,” he laughed.
For co-star Gugu Gumede, the present’s success unfolded virtually in a single day.
“It started in South Africa,” she mentioned. “That weekend was insane. Then every new day you’d wake up, and it was like a new country had been discovered. We were calling each other, saying, ‘What is going on?’ It took a while for it to sink in.”
Gumede mentioned the present’s worldwide attain has launched South African storytelling to audiences who could by no means have watched a Zulu-language drama earlier than.
“I’ve had over 250,000 new followers on Instagram alone,” she mentioned. “It’s gotten us and our work seen by people that would have never thought to watch South African stories.”
Despite its title, each actors insist the sequence isn’t actually about polygamy itself.
“I knew this isn’t polygamy,” Mtshali mentioned. “This is dirt. This guy is an absolute beast.”
Instead, he approached Jonasi as a person who weaponizes energy in a different way with every girl in his life.
“I knew I was going to be different through each of these perspectives — different to this woman, different to that woman,” he mentioned. “The story needed to be told.”
Gumede believes that’s why audiences linked so deeply.
“The biggest conversation it sparked was infidelity versus polygamy,” she mentioned. “Jonasi was not a polygamist in the true sense. This was a narcissist — a serial cheater who sanitized his cheating.”
Rather than debating the observe of polygamy, she says viewers started reflecting on the emotional abuse and energy dynamics taking part in out on display screen.
“It was such a mirror that was held up to society,” Gumede says. “People began asking themselves, ‘Who am I really? What has made me stay in situations that are no longer serving me?’”
That response doesn’t shock Kiaundra Jackson, a licensed household and marriage therapist in Los Angeles, who has constructed a big on-line following reviewing motion pictures, tv exhibits, and celeb gossip by means of a therapist’s lens.
Jackson mentioned viewers throughout cultures acknowledge one thing acquainted in Jonasi — not as a result of of polygamy, however as a result of of the emotional manipulation beneath it.
“I honestly feel like it resonated because people see themselves in it,” Jackson instructed NCS. “Maybe they experienced something firsthand. Maybe they witnessed it growing up. Maybe they know somebody who’s experiencing something like this.”
Jackson is cautious to not casually diagnose fictional characters, noting that psychological well being labels are sometimes overused on-line. But she mentioned Jonasi persistently shows behaviors related to narcissistic persona dysfunction, together with manipulation, an absence of empathy, an incapacity to just accept criticism, and a necessity to take care of management over everybody round him.
“What makes it tricky,” she mentioned, “is that people like this are often very charismatic. Behind the scenes, they can become a nightmare.”
She believes that’s why the sequence resonated past South Africa.
“Mental health concerns and unhealthy relationship dynamics transcend cultures,” Jackson says. “Anybody can experience these things.”
As “The Polygamist” has gained momentum, each Mtshali and Gumede say they’ve watched audiences use the sequence as a springboard for conversations about relationships, trauma, emotional abuse, and why folks keep in unhealthy relationships.
Strangers commonly cease Mtshali to inform him about folks in their very own lives.
“They begin to share their own personal stories,” he mentioned. “Which is great because it sparked this dialogue.”
Jackson sees that as one of storytelling’s biggest strengths.
“When people see someone on screen acting exactly like their partner, they realize, ‘This isn’t just happening to me,’” she mentioned. “It gives people language for experiences they may never have been able to name.”
“I’m glad characters like this continue to exist,” she added. “They help people realize they’re not alone.”
For Gumede, the present’s success represents one thing bigger than a one-hit sequence.
“It’s put a spotlight on South African storytelling,” she mentioned. “People are asking, ‘What other South African shows should I watch?’”
Mtshali hopes that world success finally results in higher working situations for South African actors, many of whom nonetheless don’t obtain residual funds when profitable exhibits are licensed internationally.
“We’ve seen how big our storytelling can be,” he mentioned. “Now things need to change.”
If the worldwide response to “The Polygamist” is any indication, audiences are prepared for extra tales that spark trustworthy conversations about relationships and abuse. Those conversations could grow to be one of the present’s most enduring legacies.