The Trek – When the Earth Takes Revenge

The soundtrack is a highlight. Much like the minimal dialogue, the subtle sounds — woven through the imagery like dust and wind — support the mounting tension that grows more tangible as the ox wagon creaks its way across the landscape. There are also regular flashbacks to a time before the family set out on their long journey. In these flashbacks, it’s striking how the colour green is used to symbolically breathe life into the frame. Even Jacoba’s dress and the lush green forest around them — these images set against the washed-out browns and hoarse tones of a dizzying, scorched earth — create a distinctive contrast between the here and the then in The Trek. Gradually, the viewer becomes aware of the sin the Uys family committed, and how Atshumao, together with his brother’s malevolent spirit, becomes part of the vengeance and reckoning from the past.

The casting is excellent. Morné Visser is convincing as Karel Uys, the farmer and father who will do whatever it takes to protect his family — but it’s Rob van Vuuren’s Henry Blake who really stays with you. Blake’s strange behaviour after a blow to the head, and his uncontrolled laughter, add to the ominous atmosphere that gives the film its dark rhythm.

The Trek marks Meekaaeel Adam’s debut as director, and it’s clear this talented filmmaker is a storyteller with a unique eye. What did bother me was the voice of Atsumao’s brother, Gogosoa (Collin “The Bushman” Meyer), who represents the earth. This spirit speaks in Khoi-Khoi, and even reading the English subtitles, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of this monologue was really necessary.

The visual elements in the film are so strong that, for me, this supernatural voice began to feel over-explanatory after the film’s first half. This, of course, brings the “show don’t tell” argument back into focus — the delicate balance a storyteller must strike between how much information the viewer is trusted to piece together themselves, and how much needs to be spelled out. Although the film could have been trimmed, I do think the power of The Trek lies in its unanswered questions rather than in the answers themselves.

Nevertheless, The Trek is a feather in the cap of Adam and his team, who acquitted themselves well. Adam mentions that they shot the film in the Nieuwoudtville area of the Northern Cape in just twenty-three days. That’s no small feat for any filmmaker, and a homegrown “western” horror could — and hopefully will — open more doors for this largely neglected genre. The earth gives and the earth takes, and in this case, the Uys family has changed nothing.

Be sure to go and see The Trek, and brace yourself for a dark adventure with an even darker final destination.