Best South African movies

After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.

A Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an airplane raises havoc among a normally peaceful tribe of African bushmen who believe it to be a utensil of the gods.

A daredevil designs and operates his own theme park with his friends.

After an inspiring chance encounter with his idol, rookie journalist Jay Bahadur uproots his life and moves to Somalia looking for the story of a lifetime. Hooking up with a local fixer, he attempts to get embedded with the local Somali pirates, only to quickly find himself in over his head.

As a child, Ali Neuman narrowly escaped being murdered by Inkhata, a militant political party at war with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. Only he and his mother survived the carnage of those years. But as with many survivors, the psychological scars remain.

A half-striped zebra is blamed for the drought and leaves his herd in search of his missing stripes. He is joined on his quest by an overprotective wildebeest and a flamboyant ostrich; they defeat the tyrannical leopard and save his herd.

A retired assassin is pulled back into action when his friend uncovers a dangerous conspiracy at the heart of the South African government.

A young South African boy from the Johannesburg ghetto named Tsotsi, meaning Gangster, leaves home as a child to get away from his helpless parents. Now a teenage thug, Tsotsi finds a baby in the back seat of a car he's just stolen. He decides that it is his responsibility to care for the infant and in the process learns that maybe the criminal life isn’t the best way.

A group of unwitting sorority sisters accidentally awaken the serial-killing Leprechaun after they build a sorority house on his hunting grounds.

When Sawa's mother and policeman father are found victims of a grisly double homicide, she begins a ruthless pursuit for the man who murdered them. With the help of her father's ex-partner, Karl Aker, and a mysterious friend from her past, she becomes a merciless teen assassin, blasting her way through the dark world of human trafficking only to uncover a devastating truth

When a troubled model takes a new drug at a party, she suffers a shocking transformation. Pursued by authorities and a dangerous gang, she hunts for a fix to reverse these effects, only to discover her mutations could save the human race.

After a failed sabotage mission, a trio of anti-apartheid freedom fighters ends up in a tense bank hostage situation. Based on a true story.

When Destiny, captain of three-time national champions "The Rebels," is challenged to a global cheer showdown by an edgy new team called "The Truth," the Cheer Goddess organizes a virtual battle for squads from all around the world. It seems like the whole world wants to take down Destiny and her team, and they just might succeed, unless Destiny can rise to the challenge, set her ego aside and figure out who her real friends are.

Nine friends, all harboring a dark secret, go camping in the woods. After a wild night of partying, they wake up with suicide bombs strapped to their chests, all with varying times on their countdown clocks. They decide to work out how to disarm the bombs or find help - until they discover they can 'take' one another's time by killing each other.

After his best friend is killed in a shark attack, Quinn, a lovable yet tenacious seal assembles a SEAL TEAM to fight back against a gang of sharks overtaking the neighborhood. But this merry band of international seals are not at all trained for such a mission. They seek the help of a much more skillful combatant, Claggart, but even his tricks and flips can’t whip these guys into shape. However, with a little bit of ingenuity, intelligence and a lot of heart, our SEAL TEAM may actually be able to bring peace back to their undersea community.

Barry is a drug-addled, abusive bastard who - after yet another bender - is abducted by aliens. Barry takes a backseat as an alien visitor assumes control of his body and takes it for a joyride through Cape Town. What follows is an onslaught of drugs, sex, and violence as our alien tourist enters the weird and wonderful world of humankind.

The Jungle Beat animals think it’s the best thing ever when an alien arrives in the jungle bringing with him the power of speech. They also surprisingly think it’s the best thing ever when they find out that he’s been sent to conquer them.

A young man in 1981 South Africa must complete his brutal and racist two years of compulsory military service while desperately maintaining the secrecy of his homosexuality.

Three friends come together to defend their valuable mining company from…aliens?! What could possibly go wrong?

Over the course of one fateful day, a corrupt businessman and his socialite wife race to save their daughter from a notorious crime lord.

A workaholic dad, trying to win over his kids, heads to the coast of Durban for a big work meeting — under the guise of a family road trip vacation.

When two corrupt police officers investigate the brutal murder of a young girl, tensions come to a head in their small, racially-segregated town.

It's South Africa 1990. Two major events are about to happen: The release of Nelson Mandela and, more importantly, it's Spud Milton's first year at an elite boys only private boarding school. John Milton is a boy from an ordinary background who wins a scholarship to a private school in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Surrounded by boys with nicknames like Gecko, Rambo, Rain Man and Mad Dog, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home. Along the way Spud takes his first tentative steps along the path to manhood. (The path it seems could be a rather long road). Spud is an only child. He is cursed with parents from well beyond the lunatic fringe and a senile granny. His dad is a fervent anti-communist who is paranoid that the family domestic worker is running a shebeen from her room at the back of the family home. His mom is a free spirit and a teenager's worst nightmare, whether it's shopping for Spud's underwear in the local supermarket

This South African movie tracks the rise of a once-petty criminal to the heights of the criminal underworld. After cutting his teeth on hijacking, before moving onto bigger game, an ambitious man hits a setback when most of his gang are shot.

Director Alfred Hitchcock is revered as one of the greatest creative minds in the history of cinema. Known for his psychological thrillers, Hitchcock’s leading ladies were cool, beautiful and preferably blonde. One such actress was Tippi Hedren, an unknown fashion model given her big break when Hitchcock’s wife saw her on a TV commercial. Brought to Universal Studios, Hedren was shocked when the director, at the peak of his career, quickly cast her to star in his next feature, 1963’s The Birds. Little did Hedren know that as ambitious and terrifying as the production would be to shoot, the most daunting aspect of the film ended up coming from behind the camera.

While her free-living bestie urges her to embrace singlehood, a commitment-craving social media expert can't stop following the life of a former love.

An ex-fireman with PTSD goes on the run when accused of a crime he doesn't even remember committing, leading him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy to the highest degree.

Rescued from poachers, an endangered baby pangolin embarks on a journey back to the wild with help from a devoted human guardian in this documentary.

Emma le Roux just wants to go home for the holidays. Gentle, beautiful, pacifist Emma. She's made the trip to her father's farm a thousand times. Piece of cake. But not today. Today she will cross paths with members of a violent drug syndicate. Everything starts falling apart, and fast. At first they were driven by hate and revenge. Suddenly, it's survival.

Two brothers — one a narcotics agent and the other a general — finally discover the identity of the drug lord who murdered their parents decades ago. They may kill each other before capturing the bad guys.

The year is 1991, and Spud Milton's long walk to manhood is still creeping along at an unnervingly slow pace. Approaching the ripe old age of fifteen and still no signs of the much anticipated ball-drop, Spud is coming to terms with the fact that he may well be a freak of nature. With a mother hell-bent on emigrating, a father making a killing out of selling homemade moonshine, and a demented grandmother called Wombat, the new year seems to offer little except extreme embarrassment and more mortifying Milton madness. But Spud is returning to a boarding school where he is no longer the youngest or the smallest. His dormitory mates, known as the Crazy Eight, have an unusual new member and his house has a new clutch of first years (the Normal Seven). If Spud thinks his second year will be a breeze, however, he is seriously mistaken.

A mother and her three daughters — romantic Bee, sensible Evie, and child of nature Daisy — occupy the titular glass building, which has been completely sealed off to protect its occupants from a dementia-inducing toxin called the Shred that’s poisoning the air outside. Fearful of becoming like the lost souls who wander the abyss outside, the family keep a grasp on their past by performing sacred rituals. When Bee breaks the rules and lets an injured stranger into their midst, the family dynamic is shattered forever, as hidden truths upend the illusions the women have worked so hard to protect.

Years ago, the young Five Fingers fought for the rural town of Marseilles against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, Tau, one of them, returns to Marseilles, seeking only a peaceful life. When he finds the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight to free it.

South African producer / director JON DAY spent the last 5 years making a documentary about the mysterious rap-rave group, DIE ANTWOORD. Art directed by surrealist photographer, ROGER BALLEN. Narrated by NINJA & ¥O-LANDI'S daughter, 16 JONES.

When young Litha is introduced to the magic of a game reserve by the last remaining ranger, they are ambushed by poachers. In the ensuing battle to save the rhinos, Litha discovers a terrible secret.

Two South African boys, one white, Rhino, and one black, Zulu, go their separate ways after an incident. Many years later, they meet up again as adults, when one, after living for years in the United States, is now a wanted criminal. The two end up being a part of a madcap chase involving a check for a large amount of lottery money, pursued by Gen. Diehard and Rhino's ex-wife Rowena, who was the cause of the rift between the two protagonists.

A wildlife biologist working on fostering the protection of wildlife in Africa is forced to team up with a theme park designer who wants to create an over-the-top safari attraction

As Spud Milton continues his awkward stagger through adolescence, he learns one of life's most important lessons: When dealing with women and cretins, nothing is ever quite as it seems. "I'm practically a man in most areas," writes Spud confidently on his sixteenth birthday. The year is 1992 and, in South Africa, radical change is in the air. The country may be on the bumpy road to an uncertain future, but Spud Milton is hoping for a smooth ride as he returns to boarding school as a senior. Instead, he discovers that his vindictive arch enemy is back to taunt him and that a garrulous Malawian has taken residence in his dormitory, along with the regular inmates and misfits he calls friends. Spud's world has never seemed less certain; he attempts to master Shakespeare, wrestles constantly with his God, and the power of negative thinking, and develops an aversion to fried fish after a shocking discovery about his grandmother, Wombat.

Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.

Frank Rautenbach leads a strong cast as Angus Buchan, a Zambian farmer of Scottish heritage, who leaves his farm in the midst of political unrest and racially charged land reclaims and travels south with his family to start a better life in KwaZulu Natal,South Africa.

A group of homeless misfits must fight for survival when they discover a plot to exterminate every homeless person in the city.

This short film follows Dotty Grey who must fight to protect her memories from the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Ultimately, she is faced with a decision - either she continues to knit everything back together or accepts that she is losing her memory and should enjoy what is left of them.

Eastern Cape, South Africa. A lonely factory worker, Xolani, takes time off his job to assist during an annual Xhosa circumcision initiation into manhood. In a remote mountain camp that is off limits to women, young men, painted in white ochre, recuperate as they learn the masculine codes of their culture. In this environment of machismo and aggression, Xolani cares for a defiant initiate from Johannesburg, Kwanda, who quickly learns Xolani's best kept secret, that he is in love with another man.

This is an alien invasion film like no other – the aliens are miniature but still want to take over the world!

Returning to her home town, overwhelmed by the birth of her firstborn, nineteen-year-old Chloe van Heerden tries to come to terms with motherhood. Despite the support from her own mother, Chloe struggles with the demands of caring for a newborn child. The incessant crying of her baby, the growing sense of guilt and paranoia send her into a dark depression. With a heightened urge to protect her son, she sees danger everywhere.

Louis goes to South Africa where American tourists pay to hunt wild animals in privately owned reserves.

Two moms — once best friends, now arch-enemies — start a neighborhood war against each other when they find out their kids are head-over-heels in love.

Desperate for her three single sons to get married, a mother promises her house to the first one to tie the knot, setting off a race to the altar.

When an undercover cop is tasked with investigating a historic gold heist in Johannesburg, he’s forced to choose between his conscience and the law.

When his mistress threatens to expose the secret of their affair, a respected insurance broker seeks the help of his underworld brother to save his reputation.

Ace Ngubeni, a slick lobola negotiator, faces his toughest deal yet for a shy client - only to find the stakes are higher than cash.

Three sons try to make their mother’s dreams come true by bringing home wives for Christmas.

A CIA agent is sent to get Professor Braun before the KGB can seize him as the Prof's knowledge, together with a recently stolen diamond, could be used to make a laser cannon.

Amandla is an anti-apartheid resistance slogan and means power. Apartheid in South Africa is still in full force when, in 1987, the two brothers Impi and Nkosana grew up on a farm as the sons of servants. The white owners are liberal people who aren't too particular about racial segregation. Black Africans have it relatively good there. Even a tender love bond develops between Impi and the blond daughter Elizabeth. But they have to be on their guard when neighboring farmers come to visit. When three racist upstart Boers arrive on the farm one day, tragic incidents occur with terrible consequences. The two Zulu boys are now on their own. Several years after surviving this childhood tragedy, the now grown brothers each find themselves on the opposing sides of the law. One is a gangster, the other is a police officer. A heinous gang crime tests their loyalty to one another.

Turning forty was meant to be a low-key event for Princess, but when her best friend throws her an unforgettable party, her entire world is shaken up.

To rekindle their marriages, best friends-turned-in-laws Shanthi and Jennifer plan a couples' getaway. But it comes with all kinds of surprises.

1901, South Africa. As the Second Anglo-Boer War rages on, a wounded General seeks refuge in the small home of a woman and her young daughter. As the hurt man settles in, he begins noticing that something is off about the two women, particularly the daughter, and before long, he’ll learn the real reason for why they’ve invited him and for how they’ve survived on their own for so long.

François van Heerden, a mid-40s Afrikaans family man, has become devoid of any care or concern for his own measure of happiness, and so convinced of his ill-fated existence, that he is wholly unprepared when a chance encounter unravels his clean, controlled life.

After falling ill, Yesterday learns that she is HIV positive. With her husband in denial and young daughter to tend to, Yesterday's one goal is to live long enough to see her child go to school.

A biological experiment goes bad, this time releasing a gaggle of mutated great white sharks with a taste for human flesh. Soon enough, shark expert Nick West is on the case, leading a crew to study them and eventually bring them back into captivity. West's plans hit a snag, however, when Australian shark hunter Roy Bishop is called in to wipe out the fishy menace.

Poena is Koning follows the sexual awakening of Poena Pieterse and his high school buddy Vaatjie, who have decided that they have to lose their virginity by the time they finish school. But they've picked the worst moment to embark on their sexual escapade – it's matric exam time and their quest results in major distractions from their studies. The consequences are dire.

A grieving British girl unravels her murdered mother's secrets connected to a South African witch doctor's curse. She wants to put an end to this haunting hex by traveling to South Africa, but instead it casts her deeper into sinister depths.

To prevent a corporate takeover, a hardworking businesswoman hires a fake fiancé to secure a massive contract from a family-minded wine estate.

A couple's seemingly perfect relationship falters when one of them learns about the other's infidelity — but who said that relationships were easy?

Basson has five days to make it to his father's funeral in Cape Town, but needs to complete certain tasks on this trip before he can call the family company his own. On the road he meets free-spirited bohemian girl, Amory. As they journey across the breathtaking landscape of South Africa, they meet wonderful characters that allow for hilarious moments and life-changing experiences. Their trip takes a sudden turn for the worst when a villainous figure makes an appearance. Basson and Amory are faced with disappointment and heartache. On the road called life, it is inevitable that you will take some wrong turns. But no matter how hard the road might be, on route to true love is where you will find your true north.

The movie forsaken is a true story about a young pastor’s son that called upon God when his 2 year old daughter fell sick and eventually had to fight for her life. His faith in god stood fast, and he believed that God can and will heal his daughter. But time could become a man’s worst enemy! As his daughter became Weaker and weaker, she eventually knocked on death’s door. The man’s faith started to fade away and he kept questioning God. The young father eventually broke down and gave up hope. With the bible against the wall in an act of desperation, he called out that there is no god. For the next 30 seconds he felt what it was like without God. It shocked him back to reality as he experienced this cold, silent and lonely time. He eventually came to a point when he realized that if he weighed up eternal life to His earthly circumstances, that choosing God was a given.