Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema

The film opens with Lucky Kunene lying in bed, covered in blood as police raid his room and haul him away on murder charges. The immediate shock gives way to a cut to the interrogation room, where he agrees to tell his full back-story.

In the interrogation room, Kunene explains that he will share the events that led to his arrest. The scene sets the frame for a life story told in flashback.

As a teenager in Soweto, Lucky learns he will not receive a scholarship to continue his schooling. In desperation, he teams up with his friend Zakes and begins taking risks to earn money.

Lucky and Zakes meet the local crime lord Nazareth, a former guerrilla, who steers them into a string of small robberies. The crimes gradually escalate from petty heists to more dangerous schemes.

Their illegal ventures culminate in large-scale car-jackings, drawing the attention of rivals and law enforcement. Lucky's ambition grows, but his education and future opportunities slip away.

Lucky's final robbery goes wrong, leading to Nazareth's imprisonment and the deaths of much of Nazareth's crew. Lucky and Zakes narrowly escape and decide to lie low.

A ten-year jump takes the story to a new life in Johannesburg, where Lucky and Zakes now run a taxi business.

Their taxi venture collapses when Lucky himself is carjacked. This setback becomes the seed for his later housing empire as he forms the Hillbrow People's Housing Trust and expands influence.

Frustrated by limited mobility, Lucky builds the Hillbrow housing empire while Detective Blakkie Swart quietly gathers evidence and intent to bring him down.

Lucky meets Leah Friedlander after helping rescue her drug-addicted brother from dealers. Their connection deepens into a romantic relationship that affects his personal life and choices.

Lucky and Leah buy a house in the suburbs and move in together, binding their personal life to his expanding housing trust and city ambitions.

A drug dealer named Tony Ngu becomes a persistent problem, trying to push Lucky out of Hillbrow and undermine his empire as the crackdown tightens.

Ngu entices Leah's brother with drugs to lure him away, and Lucky goes after him only to discover he is dead, fueling his resolve to confront the drug network.

A drive-by leaves Zakes dead, triggering a brutal sequence. Lucky storms a strip club where Ngu is staying, and a fierce gunfight erupts. He murders Nazareth and is badly wounded, then chases Ngu onto the club roof.

The narrative catches up to the opening: Lucky lies bloodied in bed and is arrested for murder. The film hints he will escape from prison; in a later moment, he feigns illness to be moved to a hospital and escapes, eventually fleeing to Durban with help from friends.