THE SMELL OF APPLES (TIFF 2026) – Review by Rachel West
There comes a moment in every child’s life when they learn that the world, and the people within it, are not always kind. For sheltered 11-year-old Marnus in The Smell of Apples, it’s realizing that the privileged place he holds in 1970s South African society is built on cruelty and oppression at the hands of his idol – his father.
Director John Tengrove’s feature film, which held its world premiere at TIFF, is both a coming-of-age story and a searing look at what Apartheid looked like from the perspective of those who benefited from it the most. Based on the 1993 bestselling novel by Mark Behr, The Smell of Apples condemns as much as it interrogates, doing so entirely from a child’s perspective to devastating effect.
In sunny 1974 South Africa, Marnus (Dawian van der Westhuizen) lives a life of privilege in the upper echelons of society, even if he doesn’t realize how lucky he is. He’s a sheltered boy whose life revolves around his best friend, Frikke (Wian Carstens), his big sister, Ilse (Karoline Watson), and his beautiful mother, Leonor (Maude Sandham). He worships his father, Johan, the youngest general in the army, whose approval he goes to great lengths to earn.
Keeping the family running is his devoted nanny and housemaid, Doreen (Celeste Matthews Wannenburgh). When her grandson Neville (Courtlin Baron) comes to stay with the family—much to Johan’s displeasure — Marnus unwittingly sets a series of brutal events in motion that have a catastrophic effect not just on himself, but on those around him.
South African director Tengrove treats the film’s subject matter with great care, striking a balance between boyhood innocence and the stark realities of a cruel regime. Telling the story from a child’s point of view, Tengrove, working from a script he co-wrote with Chris Ciancimino, makes the impact of Marnus’ awakening to reality earth-shattering. His innocence may be lost, but what replaces it is an uncomfortable understanding of the cost of the world he once took for granted.
