The year is 1981 and the Apartheid reigns in South Africa. Like all White boys over the age of sixteen, Nicholas must complete two years of compulsory military service at the South-Angolan border to defend the Apartheid regime against the communist threat and “die swart gevaar” ("the Black danger"). But that’s not the only danger Nicholas faces. He must also survive the brutality of the army and deny allegations of being a "moffie" (weak, effeminate, illegal - a faggot in fact), which becomes even more difficult when sparks fly between him and a fellow recruit. Oliver Hermanus paints an intense portrait of a young White man as he confronts an extremely violent form of homophobia within an environment led by toxic masculinity. This film does not spare us from the murderous and sinister insanity of the infamous Apartheid regime.
