15 Best South African Movies to Watch

By Vlad Zakh · September 5, 2026

South Africa Drama thought provoking intense

South African cinema keeps working through the same subject from different angles, apartheid’s damage and its uneven aftermath, from a township carjacker’s slow redemption to an allegory disguised as alien-invasion sci-fi. Five Fingers for Marseilles sends a former gang member home to a terrorised community, Otelo Burning pits a swimmer’s Olympic dream against the unrest of 1989, Life, Above All has a girl holding her family together amid stigma, and Country of My Skull follows the Truth and Reconciliation hearings. Tsotsi, District 9, Skoonheid, Sarafina!, Yesterday and Mapantsula round out the list.

Five Fingers for Marseilles (2017)

01

Five Fingers for Marseilles (2017)

TMDB ★ 6.6

A former township gang member returns home to find his community terrorised by a new criminal power.

Directed by Michael Matthews · 2h 01m

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Otelo Burning (2011)

02

Otelo Burning (2011)

TMDB ★ 6.0

A talented young swimmer's Olympic dream collides with the political unrest of 1989 South Africa.

Directed by Sara Blecher · 1h 12m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Life, Above All (2010)

03

Life, Above All (2010)

TMDB ★ 7.4

A young girl fights to keep her family together as her mother's illness triggers community stigma and rumour.

Directed by Oliver Schmitz · 1h 40m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Country of My Skull (2004)

04

Country of My Skull (2004)

TMDB ★ 5.9

A journalist covers South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings after apartheid.

Directed by John Boorman · 1h 43m · Rated R

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Skoonheid (2011)

05

Skoonheid (2011)

TMDB ★ 6.3

A married Afrikaner man's repressed obsession with a younger family friend spirals into violence.

Directed by Oliver Hermanus · 1h 41m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Sarafina! (1992)

06

Sarafina! (1992)

TMDB ★ 6.7

A student's political awakening unfolds during the real 1976 Soweto uprising.

Directed by Darrell James Roodt · 1h 57m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)

07

Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)

TMDB ★ 7.2

A Black pastor searches Johannesburg for his son, accused of killing a white man's son.

Directed by Darrell James Roodt · 1h 46m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Yesterday (2004)

08

Yesterday (2004)

TMDB ★ 7.1

A rural mother diagnosed with HIV fights to survive long enough to see her daughter start school.

Directed by Darrell James Roodt · 1h 36m · Rated R

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

District 9 (2009)

09

District 9 (2009)

TMDB ★ 7.9

A bureaucrat overseeing an alien refugee camp starts physically transforming into one of them.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp · 1h 52m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Tsotsi (2005)

10

Tsotsi (2005)

TMDB ★ 7.3

A young Johannesburg gang leader's carjacking goes wrong when he discovers a baby in the back seat.

Directed by Gavin Hood · 1h 34m · Rated R

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Mapantsula (1988)

11

Mapantsula (1988)

TMDB ★ 7.2

A small-time Soweto criminal is radicalised after being swept up in anti-apartheid political detention.

Directed by Oliver Schmitz · 1h 44m

Where to watch

Stream: Film Movement Plus, Film Movement Plus Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2008)

12

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2008)

TMDB ★ 6.4

An ambitious young hijacker builds a criminal real-estate empire by illegally seizing apartment blocks.

Directed by Ralph Ziman · 2h 00m · Rated R

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Hijack Stories (2001)

13

Hijack Stories (2001)

TMDB ★ 6.1

A privileged Black actor researching a gangster role gets pulled into real Soweto crime.

Directed by Oliver Schmitz · 1h 30m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Number 37 (2018)

14

Number 37 (2018)

TMDB ★ 6.0

A wheelchair-bound man witnesses a murder from his apartment window and tries to profit from what he saw.

Directed by Nosipho Dumisa-Ngoasheng · 1h 51m

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Shirley Adams (2009)

15

Shirley Adams (2009)

TMDB ★ 6.8

A single mother's entire life narrows to caring for her paralysed teenage son after a shooting.

Directed by Oliver Hermanus · 1h 30m

Where to watch

Stream: MUBI, OVID, MUBI Amazon Channel

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.