In an upscale Pretoria estate, Mienkievan Schalkwyk plays the perfect “poppie” wife —until a gruesome discovery in her garden sets off an unravelling that tears apart her façade and ignites her rebellion against the role she was raised to play.

This uniquely South African dark comedy was a finalist in 2023 South African Writer's Guild Muse Award.

Synopsis:
Tottermot follows Mienkie Van Schalkwyk, a typical ‘poppie’ wife, fitness trainer and dog-show devotee living in a pristine Pretoria estate. Beneath her pastel perfection lies trauma, debt, and a covert drug business inherited from her sister Liza—now in exile in Texas. Mienkie’s husband, Doppies, an earnest, traditional Afrikaans man, embodies the cultural ideal: head of the home, dependable, organising braais on weekends and hunting in the winter. Alles was netjies en in hulle plekkies until a drunk party girl stumbles into their yard during loadshedding and is mauled by Zorba, Mienkie’s German Shepherd. Rather than risk losing her dog, Mienkie convinces Doppies to hide the body in their freezer.
Tensions escalate as estate security investigates, and the girl’s parents come searching. Liza reveals Zorba is an assassin trained with a kill command—Tottermot. As the drug business spirals and Mienkie confronts a turf rival, her tactics turn deadly. Doppies, clueless to her double life, struggles with work losses and the unravelling of their marriage. When he proposes fleeing to a farm, Mienkie finally admits she never wanted the life she was raised to desire.
In a haunting final scene, they face one another—exhausted, broken. He begs for a reset. She refuses the role. And together, they whisper “Tottermot”— and let the cards fall where they may.