THE POLYGAMIST

The Polygamist Turns Power, Love and Betrayal Into a Global Hit

Jonasi Gomora has built an empire. His personal life may be the thing that brings it all crashing down.

Netflix's The Polygamist follows Jonasi, a self-made CEO whose success, wealth and carefully constructed public image hide an increasingly complicated web of wives, mistresses and secrets.

But those secrets don't stay hidden forever.

As Jonasi's relationships begin colliding, the women in his life are forced to confront not only his betrayals but their own struggles with love, identity and self-worth. And the more his personal world unravels, the harder it becomes for Jonasi to separate the powerful man everyone sees from the choices he's made behind closed doors.

Based on Zimbabwean author Sue Nyathi's 2012 novel, the 22-episode South African series uses polygamy as the backdrop for a much broader story about adultery, family, betrayal, parenthood and the consequences of ambition.

Those themes have apparently connected far beyond South Africa.

Since debuting on Netflix, The Polygamist has reached No. 1 in 21 countries and the Top 10 in 62, accumulating more than 27 million views. It also spent seven consecutive weeks on Netflix's Global Top 10 Non-English Shows list.

The success has even introduced a new audience to the book that inspired it, with sales of Nyathi's novel reportedly tripling following the show's release.

For a man who appears to have everything, Jonasi's biggest problem may ultimately be something his money and influence can't fix:

The people closest to him finally seeing the man behind the power.

The Polygamist is now streaming on Netflix.