MOVIE · 2009

Invictus

Drama134 min

In post-apartheid South Africa, Nelson Mandela takes office in a country still split by fear, anger, and distrust. Looking for a way to bring Black and white citizens behind a shared cause, he turns to an unlikely symbol: the national rugby team, long associated with white rule and widely disliked by much of the country. As the 1995 Rugby World Cup approaches, Mandela backs the struggling Springboks and presses captain Francois Pienaar to see the team as more than a sports side. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon anchor a story about political pressure, public resistance, and a tournament that becomes bound up with the country’s fragile attempt at unity.