WATCH: Afrikaans romcom ‘Eksie Perfeksie’ explores friendship with exes
Showmax has released the first trailer for its upcoming Afrikaans romcom, “Eksie Perfeksie”.
The move comes after Afrikaans was voted the second sexiest accent in the world by Enjoy Travel earlier this year, inspiring the creation of more Afrikaans romcoms.
“Eksie Perfeksie” follows the story of André, who impulsively moves in with his girlfriend, Dalene, only to find out she is friends with all her ex-boyfriends.
Intimidated by their constant presence, André tries to befriend them but soon discovers that all Dalene’s past relationships follow the same pattern.
The film stars Pietie Beyers (“Binnelanders”, "Die Onderonsie“ and Emma van Heyn, who appeared in the 2024 Silwerskerm selection of ”Gebokste Liefde“ and ”Matilda en Matthys“.
They are joined by singer and a well-known hunk Bobby van Jaarsveld (“Liefling”, “Spoorloos”) and former Mister World South Africa Sean van Noordwyk as two of Dalene’s many exes.
The cast also includes Maude Sandham (“Binnelanders”), Cindy Swanepoel (“Koek”) with Yvonne van den Bergh (7de Laan, Orion) making her first on-screen appearance in nearly a decade as their dominatrix.
Narrated by Pierre Breytenbach, the raunchy comedy, written and directed by Corné Koegelenberg, is based on a story by his girlfriend, Bibi Slippers.
The film tackles the divisive question: “Can you stay friends with your exes? This became a personal topic for Koegelenberg during filming.
“I’m not saying Showmax forced me to cast Pietie, but he’s Bibi’s ex, so I really didn’t want her writing an entire screenplay about falling in love with him,” laughed Koegelenberg.
“And then, even more annoyingly, he’s so good in this. We’ve actually become swimming partners and friends who go on lunch dates without Bibi, so I like to think I handled things better than André does, but possibly not by much initially.”
Eksie Perfeksie promises a fresh take on romance, with a relatable, flawed lead who looks like a normal guy.
“Things don’t always go right,” Koegelenberg said. “Sometimes, people are shy. Sometimes, they ask the wrong questions. Sometimes, they do the wrong things. We wanted to create layered characters with real, everyday problems that our viewers could relate to.”
Ultimately, Koegelenberg's aim is to make people laugh.
“We really wanted to make a ridiculous comedy,” he said. “I always remember the comedies of my childhood, which I probably wasn’t supposed to watch.
“Things like ‘There’s Something About Mary’ and ‘American Pie’ from the late ’90s, with a lot of below-the-belt jokes.
“I remember watching some of those films with my mother and it was weird. In Afrikaans, we don’t normally make movies like this and, when we do, we go too far.
“So, we wanted to try and create a balance between a good old-fashioned love story and some ridiculous comedy that would make you cringe.“
Watch the trailer below:
∎ “Eksie Perfeksie” premières on Showmax on Friday, August 9.