In a quiet village nestled in South Africa’s Cederberg mountains, young Carissa dreams of escaping her stagnant life and finding a future beyond her close-knit community. Her grandmother, Wilhelmiena, sees things differently, urging Carissa to embrace an educational opportunity offered by a luxury development planned for the region.

But the proposed golf estate comes with a devastating cost: it threatens the rooibos tea lands that have sustained the community for generations. When Carissa’s estranged grandfather, Hendrik, returns to the village, he offers her the chance to spend time with him on his mountain farm before the land disappears.

Sent away from home after a confrontation with her grandmother, Carissa finds refuge among the mountains and begins to experience a very different way of life. Working the rooibos fields alongside her grandfather, she slowly discovers a deeper connection to her family, her community and the land she once wanted to leave behind.

Set against the breathtaking landscape of the Cederberg, Carissa is a quietly powerful coming-of-age story about identity, belonging and the choices we make between the future we imagine and the roots that have shaped us.