Twee Grade van Moord

What it's about:

Two women, two murders. One homicide reflects the ultimate act of self-centredness, the other the greatest selfless act of them all. Aleksa Cloete, a well-known Cape Town psychologist, and her patient, Tanya Basson, are about to discover the difference—regardless of the law.

What we thought:

There are many reasons to go see Twee Grade van Moord on the big screen, but the biggest reason is its two lead actors, Marius Weyers and Sandra Prinsloo.

For the first time in 27 years, veteran actors Weyers and Prinsloo are reunited on screen in a gritty tale about love and loss.

Twee Grade van Moord tells the story of Aleksa Cloete (Prinsloo) and her husband Ben (Weyers) as they are faced with one of the toughest situations of their lives and its consequent decisions.

Directed by Gerrit Schoonhoven and written by Anita le Roux, Twee Grade van Moord manages to keep you glued to the screen by throwing you right into the middle of the story. First we meet Aleksa and Ben, who are still very much in love and happily married after many years. They have a gay son, Christaan (Roelof Storm) who is in a committed relationship with Ra’eed Shad (Keenan Arrison). Fy, played by Shaleen Surtie-Richards, is the trusting, but opinionated family domestic worker who knows everyone’s business. 

Their lives get turned upside down when Ben is admitted to hospital after passing out in the shower. As the story unfolds around Ben’s health, we also get to see the family through the lense of filmmaker Frankie Pietersen (Kim Cloete), who is making a documentary loosely based on Aleksa’s bestselling book. Things get even worse when one of Aleksa’s patients and a willing participant in the documentary, Tanja Basson (Hilda Cronjé), show up at her doorstep one night saying she murdered her boyfriend.

Although the film deals with dark topics, it manages to deliver a very real message. Focusing on every character’s personal struggle in dealing with the factors at hand, the film focuses on the fact that bad things can happen to anyone and that love isn’t always easy and romantic.

A stellar cast and surprising twists and turns make this Afrikaans drama a must-see.