The Recce (2019)

In The Recce, Greg Kriek shines as Henk Viljoen, a soldier in the Angolan Border war who is mistakenly declared killed in action and abandoned by his superiors.

The South African Special Forces Brigade are colloquially known as the Recces and these highly specialised soldiers were notorious in the South African Border War. Captain Henk Viljoen is one of these, and when he’s left behind enemy lines, he’ll need all his training to survive and make it home to his wife and daughter.

This is an action-packed, heart-in-your-mouth army movie and it’s bleak. But that’s what war is – it’s not glamorous or heroic. Henk and his fellow soldiers are as brave as their superiors, operating for the apartheid government, are vile. The acting flows, the screenplay is filled with tension that’s perfect for a war story.

Acclaimed actor Marius Weyers plays General Visagie and Elsabé Daneel plays Henk’s grieving mother, Sandra.

Daniel Dercksen from writingstudio.co.za sums it up perfectly: “This is no ordinary story of survival across the treacherous war-torn African landscape. This is also one of the first films in decades to explore issues regarding not only the Border War (the armed conflict between South Africa, Namibia and Angola, 1966-1990), but also the pain and suffering families had to endure during and after the conflict that lasted almost 20 years.”