Shannon Esra
Sondra
Overview
Regret and redemption take center stage as Sondra, struggling actor and professional mess, faces the consequences of a lifetime of her own bad decisions
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Messy, Unapologetic Heart of Do Your Worst
I’ll admit it: I went into Do Your Worst expecting a South African riff on Bridget Jones’s Diary, all awkward charm and romantic mishaps. What I got instead was something messier, funnier, and far more interesting—a film that refuses to sand down its protagonist’s edges, even when those edges cut. Samantha Nell’s comedy-drama isn’t just about a woman navigating her 30s with a trail of bad decisions; it’s about the kind of woman who owns those bad decisions, even when they’re humiliating, even when they hurt.
And that, as it turns out, is a rare thing to see on screen.
Sondra (Shannon Esra) is a struggling actor who describes herself as a “professional mess,” and the film takes her at her word. She’s not the plucky underdog of rom-com lore; she’s the woman who shows up to an audition drunk, who sabotages her own relationships with a mix of self-loathing and bravado, who treats her best friend Carla (Kate Liquorish) like both a lifeline and a punching bag.
Esra plays her with a kind of reckless abandon—one minute, she’s all swagger, the next, she’s crumpling under the weight of her own failures. It’s a performance that demands your attention, even when you want to look away.
The film’s best moments are the ones where Sondra and Carla are fighting, drinking, or otherwise dragging each other through the wreckage of their lives. Roger Moore was right when he said the two “are at their funniest when they’re fighting, indulging and humiliating each other.” There’s a scene early on where Carla, exasperated, tells Sondra she’s “a walking red flag,” and Sondra, instead of denying it, just grins and says, “Yeah, but I’m your red flag.” It’s the kind of line that could feel like a punchline in a lesser film, but here, it lands as something more complicated—a declaration of love, a cry for help, a joke that’s not really a joke at all.
Audience Opinions
Limited evidence
"A quirky South African dramedy with heart and humor, though viewer reactions are still emerging."
Early impressions highlight the film’s charm and offbeat humor, with praise for its ensemble cast and relatable themes. However, some find the pacing uneven, and feedback remains sparse, latestnetflix.com argues, making consensus difficult to gauge at this stage.
What viewers praise
- Engaging ensemble cast The performances, particularly from Shannon Esra and Kate Liquorish, are widely noted as a standout feature, bringing warmth and authenticity to the story.
- Offbeat humor The film’s quirky, lighthearted tone resonates with those who enjoy character-driven comedy with a touch of drama.
- Relatable themes Viewers appreciate the exploration of everyday struggles and relationships, which adds depth to the comedic elements.
Common complaints
- Uneven pacing Some find the story’s rhythm inconsistent, with moments that drag or feel disjointed.
- Limited depth A few viewers feel the plot and character arcs could have been fleshed out further to avoid a superficial feel.
Recommended for
Fans of indie dramedies South African cinema enthusiasts Character-driven comedy lovers Ensemble cast appreciators
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsNetflix paid enough that they could shoot Joburg in 18 days
Samantha Nell's first feature, Do Your Worst, did not sneak onto the service as a festival leftover. Wits University quoted her in May 2023. "Netflix bought the film and has licenced it for a number of years." She said they could not have made it without that deal. It covered a large portion of the costs. Producer Bongiwe Selane, who earlier made Happiness Is a Four-Letter Word, also unlocked a Department of Trade and Industry tax rebate. TMDB lists a $500,000 budget. Nell called the 18-day schedule a feat of planning with Selane and cinematographer Pierre de Villiers. That is the production gossip. latestnetflix.com's take is that A South African raunch comedy about a failed actress named Sondra got a global license before anyone had time to reshoot.
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Jacaranda FM's drive show put Nell and Shannon Esra on the air as the film hit more than 190 countries in March 2023. Nell, an NYU Tisch Asia graduate whose short The Beast played Cannes Directors' Fortnight in 2016, said they wanted characters people recognise. "It's about laughter, but it's also about seeing ourselves, and our friends, and the friends we don't tell our parents about." Selane said she takes female-centered stories in a modern South African city, and that this one is edgier and unfiltered. Zoe Laband wrote it from a story she built with Sonia Esgueira. Crew United logs AAA Entertainment and Blingola Media, a worldwide Netflix first showing on 10 March 2023, and a 91-minute runtime. , ,
Sondra turns 40, and her best friend goes nuclear
Esra plays Sondra, a Joburg actor whose career and bathroom are both in trouble. Kate Liquorish is Carla, the best friend Jacaranda described as so toxic she is radioactive. Wayne van Rooyen is Grant, the construction worker who remodels the bathroom and the plot. Rea Rangaka is Jerry. Dorothy Ann Gould and James Borthwick play the fed-up parents who kick her out. AAA's own page is blunt about the anatomy joke and the redemption arc. Netflix rates it TV-MA and files it as a South African buddy comedy, raunchy and midlife. Esra has been on camera since she was 16, including Isidingo and the lawyer Sandra Stein. Several of the names, including Nell, Esra, van Rooyen, and Sharon Spiegel-Wagner, came out of Wits. , ,
Nell, a born Joburger, told Wits the city is a mess and also fine, which is the tone. She was already talking about a second feature, Miles from Nowhere, a satire set in a Jewish old-age home. Do Your Worst is the one that actually landed on the app, shot fast, licensed early, and still sitting there as a 2023 English-language comedy from Johannesburg rather than a prestige thriller. Crew United even lists the bathroom romance in the official synopsis. The rumor is not a leaked salary. It is that Netflix underwrote a dirty little local picture, and Nell finished it in eighteen days. , ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.