Rage (2020)

In Rage, Showmax’s first Original horror movie, a group of school-leavers goes to a tiny coastal town to celebrate the end of their school careers. Roxy, Sihle, Kyle, Leon, Tamsyn and Neo plan to party the nights away, but instead of being suspicious of the rowdy outsiders, their hosts welcome them with open arms.

So far, so fun. But things get trippy on a visit to the beach when the friends experience a disturbing birth ritual. None of them is sure when it was real or not – but then fertility figures start appearing in random places. And the best holiday of their lives turns to horror as the kids start disappearing, one by one.

Rage is the first feature film from Jaco Brouwer, who is best know as an award-winning theatre director. He was also nominated at this year’s now-cancelled SAFTAs for his work on popular Afrikaans series Dwaalster. The cast includes Jane de Wet and Tristan de Beer, who both made waves in last year’s The Girl From St Agnes, Nicole Fortuin, whose most recent film, Flatland, earned critical acclaim, as well as two-time Silwerskerm winner Carel Nel (Dwaalster, Hum, Slaaf) as Albert; Fiesta, Kanna and Fleur du Cape nominee David Viviers (Kanarie) as Leon; Sihle Mnqwazana, who co-wrote and acted in The Fall, a New York Times critic’s choice play, as Neo; and Shalima Mkongi (Isithembiso, Nkululeko) as Sihle.