Mexican-American director John Gutierrez takes us into the shadowy world of abalone smuggling in Cape Town for this taut thriller, which explores the psychological and material effects of displacement and the age-old conflict between humans and their environment. Inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, Sons of the Sea is the familiar tale of what happens when an unexpected financial windfall threatens to corrupt all those touched by it. Two brothers, one studious, one a street hustler, find their lives spiralling out of control when they discover a bag of valuable abalone in the hotel room of a murder victim. The clash between the brothers leads to a beautifully filmed chase in Silvermine, Cape Town, by a corrupt government official. The inevitable confrontation will have grave consequences for all the players.