South Africa fuels ‘Novocaine’ brutal action

Novocaine, an action comedy now streaming on Showmax, is set in San Diego, but was filmed in South Africa over eight weeks. Scenes range from bank robbery sequences shot in Paarl’s CBD to moments filmed in Sea Point’s Kleinsky’s Deli, with the prosthetics and make up crew including local talent.

Novocaine follows a mild-mannered bank employee who cannot feel pain and is drawn into a violent struggle to survive when a routine day spirals out of control. The movie, which released in cinemas earlier this year, is streaming on Showmax from today (1 December 2025). It aired as M-Net’s Sunday night movie yesterday on DStv Channel 101.

Squeamish viewers should be warned, this one is not for the faint hearted. From ripping off nails to having his hand boiled in hot water, Nathan Caine’s condition, called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain, turns the action into a series of gruesome set pieces as he fights his way through escalating danger.

While lead actor Jack Quaid’s job was to play Nate’s lack of physical reaction, the design team had to make injuries painfully real. Novocaine shot more in sequence than usual because of the extensive and evolving blood stains needed on Nate’s clothing.

South African costume designer Danielle Knox tracked 35 distinct injuries, from a punched-out tooth to what Quaid says is his favourite effect: the “crispy hotdog hand”.

Two more South Africans also helped shape the film’s look. Clinton Aiden Smith, a prosthetics designer from a local company called Cosmesis, and Christa Schoeman, head of makeup and hair, aimed to keep the wounds realistic. Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen say they were impressed and slightly alarmed by Smith’s commitment to accuracy, as he showed them real crime scene photos to illustrate how the injuries should look.

To speed things up once Quaid arrived, Smith had a 3D scan of the actor made in advance and printed about 12 life sized busts. This let the team prebuild the wound prosthetics so they fitted his face and body.

In a behind-the-scenes YouTube video on the Paramount channel, Smith said: “The prosthetics are quite involved in this film. A lot of the things we are doing are so technical. There are a lot of moving parts.”

In the same video, Schoeman said: “It’s very rare that you get a script that is completely driven by the makeup and the effects, by the prosthetics.”

The local service company Blue Ice Africa was responsible for the film’s travel, crew, logistics, locations and the budget. This included locally sourcing props like a booby-trapped house and a black-and-white classic American cop car.

Blue Ice head of production Daniela Springer, says: “We know the right people. There are left-hand drive vehicles that can be wrapped as taxis or police cars. We built an ambulance for Novocaine.”

Adam Friedlander, Blue Ice founding partner, says: “We shot in the docks. We shot in Bellville. We shot in Woodstock and Observatory. We shot all over the place. All the street dressing that you see: it required a lot of work from our amazing art department. You’ve got to flip the side of the road, and American sidewalks and signage are different. Everything you see had to be created in that regard.”

Quaid (Hughie in The Boys) was nominated for a Critics Choice Super Award for Best Actor in an Action Movie. Amber Midthunder (Prey) co-stars as Sherry with Ray Nicholson (Smile 2) as bank robber Simon Greely. The cast includes South African Evan Hengst (Wyfie, Suidooster).