If viewers watching 4 Walls (aka 4 Mure) get a Quentin Tarantino vibe from it – especially his work on 1995 hotel-themed anthology Four Rooms – then they’re not the only ones.
Beer Adriaanse, who stars in the first episode of the South African series, agrees but also sees the influence of another movie maestro.
“I definitely think Tarantino’s stylised work might’ve been an inspiration,” he tells . “I feel more of a Hitchcock vibe with the way the cameras move and the use of lighting, something like Vertigo.”
The Afrikaans-language five-part series was created by writer Tertius Kapp and director Jaco Bouwer, and filmed during the height of South Africa’s Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
The duo took what could have been a big disadvantage and made it work for them. They used a small cast on the same hotel room set and shot the five episodes in chronological order.
Carel Nel, who has roles in two different episodes of 4 Walls, explains to , “In terms of lockdown this was one of the easiest shoots I’ve done and the most fun I’ve had.”
‘4 Walls’ Source: Distributor
The storylines in each 25-minute episode cover a wide range of genres. While several are tinged with the blackest of gallows humour, others are serious and even harrowing.
The show has two recurring characters. Firstly, there’s the obnoxious old maid Marcelina (portrayed by veteran South African actress Lida Botha), who has a habit of barging into the room without knocking.
Whether she’s stoically looking on as a petulant pop star destroys the furniture, turning to the camera to talk directly to the audience or casually washing a bloody handprint off the bathroom wall, her appearances can either be amusing or unsettling depending on the moment.
Secondly, there’s Room 7 itself, which stamps its own sinister personality on proceedings.
4 Walls’ first episode (‘Ivan’) is a sci-fi tale revolving around a crooked financial advisor who’s on the verge of being arrested for his white-collar crimes on the evening of 10 September 2020.
‘4 Walls’ Source: Distributor
Drunk and distraught, Ivan goes to sleep and awakes the next morning only to discover that he’s somehow travelled back in time to 11 September 2001, better known as 9/11. He has three hours to make some phone calls and change the course of history. But will Ivan take this opportunity to save thousands of lives or use it for more selfish purposes?
The second instalment (‘Paul + Zoë’) is a romance dealing with two teenage lovers, rich Paul (Brent Vermeulen) and Zoë (Devonecia Swarz), the daughter of a family servant. They are intent on fleeing to Cyprus so they can be married and escape Paul’s odious, violent father JP (Deon Lotz) before he tracks them down.
Episode three is a tense thriller featuring Jimmy, an ageing assassin who’s come out of retirement for one last mission. The paedophile who allegedly murdered Jimmy’s grandson is on the verge of being found not guilty of the crime.
But with the courthouse located across the street from the hotel, Jimmy – played by Johan Botha, the real-life husband of Lida – sees this as the perfect opportunity to gain vigilante justice with his sniper’s rifle from the window of Room 7. Things become complicated when he’s discovered by Marcelina, who has her own gruesome agenda.
‘4 Walls’ Source: Distributor
The next episode (‘Desirée’) is a biting satire on the fragility of fame and the pitfalls of social media.
Arrogant, entitled singer Desirée (Ilse-Lee van Niekerk) and her long-suffering assistant Hannes (Wessel Pretorius) are staying in the hotel after a gig, although she’s not impressed with the rundown surroundings.
Upset and alone in bed, she gets hammered and makes a racist tweet before passing out. Desirée then has to deal with the consequences in the following days and weeks as her career implodes and she becomes a virtual prisoner in Room 7.
“I don’t understand why everyone always wants to know everything about everyone,” Marcelina muses. “Or want everyone to know everything about them. That’s stupid!”
Just when viewers think 4 Walls has reached its bleakest depths, there comes the fifth and final instalment (‘Sandra’), which ties together the entire series on the back of a good old-fashioned horror yarn.
It’s 29 February and young professional Sandra (Tinarie van Wyk Loots) wants to stay in the room even though Marcelina warns her that it’s been booked.
“On Leap Day, Room 7 stares right into your soul,” she says.
Sandra refuses to leave despite the maid’s warning. However, after a series of unnerving incidents she realises she’s sharing the room with a ghost. Worse still, when she tries to flee, the doorknob won’t work and she can’t get out.
More than once during the series, Marcelina turns to the camera and assures viewers that no matter what happens in the outside world, all of Room 7’s occupants are safe “between these four walls”.
If that statement was true, then 4 Walls wouldn’t be half as interesting.
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