Reyka: trapped in a cane field

KZN becomes a character in its own right.

- ELRI BOUCHER

The name Reyka comes from the Icelandic word for smoke, and just like smoke hides the light, the cane fields of KwaZulu-Natal hide the bodies of a serial killer’s victims in M-Net’s (*101) African original crime drama, Reyka (2021-now).

In those dense fields, all sorts of evil deeds can be hidden until the cane is stripped down and the ugly harvest of death is revealed. The terrain is rough and secluded – removed from towns and people who can hear victims scream and struggle. The surroundings themselves become a kind of predator, as they leave you with that uneasy spine-tingling feeling. When Reyka was filmed on location in KwaZulu-Natal, this atmosphere was captured in the series and the sugar cane fields became a character in their own right.

Actress Kim Engelbrecht (Marlize DeVoe from 2017-2018 in the superhero series The Flash, 2014-now) who plays Reyka Gama, a criminal profiler on the hunt for a serial killer, and series director Zee Nthuli tell us more about filming in KwaZulu-Natal and how the location became an integral part of this thrilling, proudly local crime drama.

‘IT TAKES ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN’