‘Savage Beauty’ flips the script

The second season of the thrilling South African drama series, ‘Savage Beauty’, has returned to Netflix with more sex, murder and scandal.

The first season follows Zinhle Manzini, who has just been made the face of Bhengu Beauty. At the same time, misfortune begins to plague chief executive Don Bhengu and the rest of his family, causing a slew of problems and secret revelations to follow.

As it turns out, Zinhle has not encountered this multimillion-rand family by accident. She has known of them for a long time and carefully lied and schemed her way into the fabric of their lives, just to tear them apart. Zinhle wants revenge and she’ll go to great lengths to get it.

By the end of the season, she has gotten a confession out of Don and is on the verge of escaping, before a cliffhanger ending leaves viewers wondering how she will dislodge herself from the drama.

This new season has a few unexpected twists and turns and if you were expecting Zinhle to have an easy time of destroying the Beghu family, think again.

The actors carry the show really well. There are so many gripping moments where just an expression or the inflection of a voice does the job. Dumisani Mbebe, who plays Don, is a powerhouse whose skills are unmatched, while Nthati Moshesh as his wife Grace, brings serious girlboss energy, but with more depth and nuance. Jesse Suntele plays the “unfortunate” rich kid caught in the middle of his parents’ drama, trying to prove that he can be just as cunning and business savvy as they are. He and Nambitha Ben-Mwazi, who plays his black-sheep-of-the-family sister Linda, are the heart and soul of the series.

‘Savage Beauty’ has elements of classic films like ‘Kill Bill’ in terms of a quest for revenge and ‘House of the Dragon’ for the family infighting, as well the Korean film ‘Parasite’ in the way some vengeful characters latch onto a family.

These multiple pieces are woven together expertly by the writers, who also manage to deliver a twisted and at times convoluted plot that keeps one at the edge of their seat. Because of the depth of the storylines though, some things fell to the wayside and much of the series feels like a rush of montages and flashbacks. While exciting, it is also jarring and the series may have benefited from an extension to 10 episodes to better build each narrative.

While I was initially unsure about the show, it just gets better and reminds one of the jaw-dropping, family-feuding soapies and telenovelas from back in the day.

Definitely a win!

• Anne Hambuda is a poet, writer and social commentator. Follow her online or email her annehambuda@gmail.com.