Fiela se Kind (2019)

The iconic movie gets a 2019 overhaul, but Fiela Se Kind is as heart-wrenching as ever on Showmax.

Fiela se Kind is more of an institution in SA than “just entertainment”. Written by award-winning author Dalene Matthee in 1986, it was turned into a mega-hit movie in 1988. That one starred a young Shaleen Surtie-Richards and Katinka Heyns, and is also available to stream on Showmax. Now, the beloved story has been rebooted. The lesson is still the same: heart and love will overcome everything in its path.

Zenobia Kloppers takes over from Shaleen Surtie-Richards as tender-hearted coloured mom Fiela Komoetie, who finds a lost white boy in the Knysna forest – Benjamin Komoetie, played by Luca Bornman. But after raising him for nine years as her own, Benjamin is ripped from Fiela’s arms and taken “home to his own kind”. But she isn’t giving up.

You will cry. That’s a given. It’s the same tale, but it’s a lot “prettier” visually thanks to the enhancements in tech since 1988. The actors are the real standout stars – they put on such gut-punching performances that you feel part of their worlds.