Halle Berry and Djimon Hounsou have joined Red Card, an Africa-set thriller that follows a Kenyan wildlife ranger and an FBI team as they race to dismantle an international trafficking network. The story spans the Maasai Mara in Kenya and the port city of Casablanca in Morocco, giving the film a grounded, cross-border scope that mirrors real-world investigations. Early reports describe a tense rescue mission kicked off when the ranger’s teenage son disappears after a fraudulent sports-agent pitch.
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Hounsou is set to play Max Elmi, a veteran ranger who has spent years fighting poachers in Kenya. Berry will portray Amanda Bruckner, an FBI supervisor who coordinates with international partners. Another character, special agent Dane Harris, is referenced in reporting, though the role has not yet been publicly cast.
The film is written by George Gallo, known for Bad Boys, and Nick Vallelonga, who co-wrote Green Book. Joel Souza is attached to direct.
Red Card is expected to shoot on location in Kenya’s famed Maasai Mara and in Casablanca. Local outlets note a plan to begin production later this year, aligning with Kenya’s push to attract international productions. These choices promise sweeping visuals and authentic settings while supporting Kenya’s growing screen sector.
The film’s premise centers on human trafficking through the lens of a family searching for a missing child. That focus reflects current data. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports assisting law enforcement with 29,568 missing-child cases in 2024 and notes that roughly one in seven of those children were likely victims of child sex trafficking.
Global monitoring shows the problem’s scope extends well beyond any single country. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2024 report found a 25 percent increase in detected trafficking victims compared with 2019. Forced labor, sexual exploitation, and forced criminality remain the most common forms.
The digital front is shifting fast. NCMEC told Congress that reports to its CyberTipline with a connection to generative AI rose from about 4,700 in 2023 to 67,000 in 2024. That jump underscores how technology keeps changing the way abuse is facilitated and detected.
Coverage of Red Card notes that the project has support from child protection and philanthropic groups, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the Soloviev Foundation. That kind of backing often signals an intention to treat the subject with care and to consult experts during development.
Berry brings the profile of an Oscar winner who has moved fluidly between character-driven dramas and action. Hounsou brings intensity and gravitas shaped by years of work across franchises and prestige films. The pairing suggests a character-first thriller with room for quiet, human moments inside the chase narrative. Recent coverage also hints at a personal story engine that keeps the stakes focused on family, not spectacle.
The remaining key piece is the casting of Dane Harris and the full FBI team. Locations are clear, the creative team is in place, and production timing is taking shape. Keep an eye on official announcements as filming windows lock and as local crews and conservation authorities in the Mara confirm permitting and access details.
Stories like Red Card can drift into pure cat-and-mouse spectacle. This one appears to keep the camera on the people who shoulder the hardest parts of the work. Rangers who protect wildlife in dangerous corridors. Parents who navigate false promises that prey on a child’s talent and dreams. Investigators who coordinate across borders and systems. If the film follows through on that grounding, it can do more than entertain. It can make the mechanics of trafficking more visible and the path out feel more collaborative.
