Murder, Mystery and a Holiday from Hell : DIE OORD

What could possibly go wrong on a family holiday?

Sun. Sea. Caravans. Family drama.... Maybe a murder?

Okay, fine. A murder.

But what if that murder looks suspiciously like the work of an imprisoned serial killer known as Prediker? What if the wounds, the plastic bag and even the Bible verse have all been seen before? And what if someone inside this seemingly idyllic campsite knows far more than they’re letting on?

Welcome to Die Oord.

And suddenly that December camping trip doesn’t sound quite so relaxing.

Created by Christiaan Olwagen, written by Olwagen, Lorraine Burger and Igna Botha, and directed by Eva du Preez, Die Oord takes the familiarity of the South African seaside holiday and turns it into something considerably darker.

The writing is intense.

Not intense in the sense that every five minutes somebody needs to be murdered to keep you watching. Quite the opposite. Die Oord understands suspense. It defines it. It knows when to give you information, when to hold it back and, perhaps most importantly, when to let you think you’ve figured everything out before pulling the rug from underneath you again.

And somehow, it does all of this without dragging.

Across ten episodes, the central mystery is surrounded by smaller dramas, secrets, relationships and resentments that make Kalfiebaai feel populated by actual people rather than a collection of suspects waiting for their turn to look suspicious. Visually, the series is equally refreshing.

There is a freshness to the cinematography that contrasts beautifully with the darkness of the story. The beaches, campsite and coastal setting make you feel as though you’ve gone on holiday with these families.Except their holiday has a serial killer problem.

Slight inconvenience....

At the centre of it all are Jana Kruger as Martie Pretorius and Erica Wessels as Elsabé Cilliers, sisters carrying far more baggage on this holiday than whatever they managed to fit into the caravan. Kruger and Wessels play the guilt, resentment, history and denial between these women beautifully. Neither ever needs to overplay what exists between them.

You feel the years underneath their conversations, and both performers remind us exactly why they are such formidable screen talents.

Then there’s Stian Bam.

Bam is certainly no stranger to playing characters with a darker edge, and Prediker gives him plenty to work with. There is something wonderfully unnerving about his performance. He never needs to scream serial killer at us. We already know. And that somehow makes him worse.

But one of Die Oord’s greatest strengths is its ensemble.

Nicole Holm as campsite tuck-shop owner Miems Louw is an exquisite casting choice. Add her social-media antics and pair her with her rebellious children, JP and Jacomien, played by Damian de Villiers and Christie van Niekerk. Suddenly you find yourself chuckling in the middle of a murder mystery. Which, frankly, is quite an achievement.

De Villiers and Van Niekerk have wonderful comic instincts, but neither allows the humour to flatten their characters. There is wit, rebellion and genuine sibling chemistry there.

Keep an eye on these two.

Actually, keep an eye on all the youngsters. Because the younger cast of Die Oord is ridiculously exciting. Minke Marais, Luandri Reynders, Liam Bosman, Heinrich Wentzel, Damian de Villiers, Christie van Niekerk and Angelo Johnson represent an impressive collection of fresh South African screen talent. Each is given their own relationships, secrets and smaller dramas to navigate alongside the central mystery, and they do so with remarkable confidence.

There isn’t a sense that the “young characters” have simply been added to give the adults children.

They have stories. They have secrets. And, in Die Oord, secrets are dangerous.

There is plenty more experience surrounding them too, with a formidable ensemble including Melissa de Vries, Laudo Liebenberg, Jacques Bessenger, Amalia Uys, Zak Hendrikz, Zane Meas, Antoinette Kellermann, Chris van Niekerk, Clayton Evertson and Carel Nel completing the strange little ecosystem of Kalfiebaai.

And that ecosystem is precisely what makes the series work.

Everybody knows everybody. Everybody is watching everybody.

And absolutely everybody seems to have something they’d rather you didn’t know.

Die Oord could very easily have become another dark murder mystery....

Instead, it gives us something distinctly South African: sunshine, caravans, family politics, humour, religion, secrets and murder all sharing the same campsite.

It’s tense without becoming exhausting. Funny without undermining the danger.

Beautiful to look at without forgetting there’s a body on the beach.

And just when you think you know where it’s going…

You probably don’t.

So pack the sunscreen.

Pack the camping chairs.

Pack the braaitongs.

Maybe leave the Bible at home.

Because at Die Oord, a family holiday might just be murder.

DIE OORD

Created by Christiaan Olwagen. Written by Christiaan Olwagen, Lorraine Burger and Igna Botha. Directed by Eva du Preez

Starring Jana Kruger, Erica Wessels, Melissa de Vries, Stian Bam, Liam Bosman, Nicole Holm, Damian de Villiers, Christie van Niekerk, Minke Marais, Luandri Reynders, Heinrich Wentzel, Angelo Johnson and an extensive ensemble.

Die Oord is a 10-part kykNET drama series and is also available via DStv Stream and Catch Up.