“We weren’t interested in a clean hero,” says writer-director Alastair Orr of Hunting Jessica Brok. “Jessica is rage, instinct, and trauma—she’s what happens when healing is interrupted by violence.”
In Hunting Jessica Brok, director Alastair Orr delivers a visceral survival thriller that pulses with emotional intensity and regional grit. With a screenplay co-written by Orr, David D. Jones, and Garth McCarthy, the film blends brutal action with psychological depth, offering a distinctly African take on vengeance and maternal resilience.
Set against the unforgiving South African wilderness, the film follows a retired special forces operative whose quiet life is shattered when her daughter is kidnapped by a vengeful group of psychopaths.
The film stars Danica De La Rey Jones as Jessica Brok, a retired special forces operative who’s traded combat for quiet—until her past comes roaring back.
Jessica, once a ghost in combat boots, now lives off-grid with her daughter and runs a vulture rescue centre. But when her ex-lover Daniel shows up wounded and hunted, she’s forced to confront a brutal truth: the war she thought she left behind never ended. A group of vengeful psychopaths is coming—and they’ve taken her daughter. What follows is a visceral descent into survival, vengeance, and emotional reckoning.
Creative Synergy Behind the Screen: Crafting Jessica Brok’s Reckoning
The screenplay is the result of an explosive collaboration between David D. Jones, Garth McCarthy, and Alastair Orr, who also directs the film with a visceral edge.
The film was inspired by a fusion of South African survivalist mythos, post-war trauma, and the emotional complexity of motherhood under siege.
The screenplay began as a character-driven survival thriller rooted in South African landscapes and trauma-informed storytelling. Orr, who also directed, worked closely with the writing team to shape Jessica Brok as a figure of maternal vengeance and psychological depth.
Orr and co-writers Jones and McCarthy envisioned Jessica not just as a warrior, but as a woman haunted by her past and forced to weaponise her grief. The idea stemmed from real-world accounts of female operatives who disappeared into civilian life, only to be pulled back into violence when their families were threatened.
In early interviews, Orr described the film as a “chemical reaction of guilt, training, and maternal instinct,” aiming to explore what happens when someone who’s tried to heal is forced to become a weapon again. The African wilderness plays a symbolic role too—both as a physical battleground and a metaphor for emotional isolation and primal survival.
The team also drew inspiration from genre classics like The Brave One and The Night Comes for Us, but grounded the story in distinctly African textures, rhythms, and moral stakes. The result is a film that’s as much about identity and emotional reckoning as it is about combat and revenge.
Their collaboration brings together gritty action, psychological tension, and a distinctly South African pulse, crafting a story that’s as emotionally charged as it is adrenaline-fueled.
Jones brings a calculated intensity to the character work, McCarthy layers psychological tension with brisk dialogue, and Orr injects the action with raw physicality and cinematic grit.
“We weren’t just writing a revenge story,” Orr says, “we were building a character who weaponises pain into purpose.”
Their process reportedly began with a shared desire to anchor high-octane violence in emotional realism—drawing inspiration from South African landscapes and survivalist mythos. The trio’s dynamic reimagines Jessica not just as a warrior, but as a mother haunted by her past and driven by instinctive fury.
The journey from script to screen was a tightly coordinated, all-African production that emphasised emotional grit and technical precision.
Once greenlit, the production was handled by Known Associates Entertainment and A-Game Productions, with post-production completed entirely in South Africa by The Refinery.
How Hunting Jessica Brok’s South African identity shapes the film’s tone, texture, and thematic depth
Set against the stark beauty and hostility of the South African wilderness, the film uses terrain not just as backdrop, but as character. The mountains, arid plains, and vulture sanctuaries become metaphors for emotional isolation, survivalism, and fractured identity. This deeply rooted sense of place separates Hunting Jessica Brok from typical Hollywood thrillers—it carries the pulse of the continent in every scene.
South Africa’s complex history with violence, trauma, and resilience subtly informs Jessica’s psyche. She’s not just a warrior, she’s a woman shaped by inherited scars—what it means to protect, to persevere, to reckon with buried grief. This fusion of local textures and universal emotion makes the film feel both intimate and epic.
Director Alastair Orr leans into the gritty realism that’s increasingly defined South African genre cinema. It’s raw, physical, and unpolished—favoring handheld shots, brutal choreography, and emotional close-ups. This approach amplifies the urgency and authenticity, placing character ahead of spectacle.
Alastair Orr is a South African filmmaker and entrepreneur celebrated for his visceral directing style and genre-defying storytelling. He’s directed cult horror and thriller films such as Indigenous (2014), House on Willow Street (2016), and Triggered (2020). Orr is also the founder of The First Order Group and heads The Refinery, a leading post-production company in Cape Town and Johannesburg. His background in visual effects and editing informs his kinetic, emotionally raw filmmaking. With Hunting Jessica Brok, Orr merges psychological depth with brutal action, continuing his mission to elevate African genre cinema on the global stage.
David D. Jones is a South African screenwriter and producer originally from South Bend, Indiana. He studied Computer Animation at Purdue University before pivoting toward storytelling and screenwriting, where he found his true passion. Jones has written and created multiple television series and feature films, often blending genres to explore psychological tension and moral ambiguity. His credits include Triggered and Hunting Jessica Brok, where his character-driven approach adds emotional weight to high-stakes narratives. Known for his versatility and genre fusion, Jones continues to develop projects that challenge conventional storytelling.
Garth McCarthy is a South African writer, director, and producer whose work spans independent cinema and international co-productions. He’s known for films like Blink, A Tragic Tale (2015), The Groom (2018), and Hunting Jessica Brok. McCarthy founded Rorschach Pictures, a production company aimed at creating globally viable films shot in South Africa. His screenplays often explore psychological trauma, survival, and moral reckoning, and he’s recognised for his ability to craft emotionally charged thrillers with regional authenticity and international appeal.
