Look at the poster in the theater lobby and you might think that Tsotsi, the main character in the new South African film of the same name, looks almost angelic.

See the film -- based on a novel by Athol Fugard -- and in short order, you'll suspect there are few humans as devilishly hateful and inhumane as Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae), a small-time township thug, crook and murderous accomplice.

Tsotsi runs with a small crew and they travel into the heart of Johannesburg's business district to rob -- and sometimes kill -- people. Tsotsi attacks crippled homeless people, beats his friend Boston to a bloody, half-blind pulp and, one night, shoots a woman to steal her car, even though he can't drive.

When he finds a baby in the back seat, we fear what will become of the child. Although we're relieved that Tsotsi doesn't kill the boy but instead takes him back to his shack, the crumpled newspaper diaper and the insects on the baby's face after Tsotsi's version of a feeding will make you cringe.

With the arrival of the baby, Tsotsi starts to fall away from his mates; a division that began with his beating of Boston.

In order to feed the baby, Tsotsi terrorizes a local widow into breastfeeding the child. And it is here, in her home, that we really start to see a human heart beating behind the façade of a killer.

Visions of his own tortured youth -- his dad kicks the family dog so hard he maims it and young Tsotsi -- then named David -- flees and begins a life away from home, living in an unused segment of sewer pipe. Just as well, for him, it seems, since his mother was dying and he likely had no future with dad, either.

So, it's little surprise that Tsotsi sees his new baby as a version of himself and calls it David. Will this bright-eyed baby boy be able to turn Tsotsi's life around?

The story is -- depending on your view -- either an uplifting story of emotional redemption and rebirth or it's a hackneyed, over-simplified story of emotional redemption and rebirth.

In reality, it's a bit of both. While Tsotsi's awakening is astonishingly rapid and feels unlikely to viewers, in the end we do start to feel for him. That's no small feat for director Gavin Hood, since most everyone will be so utterly repulsed by the despicable Tsotsi and his animalistic viciousness in the opening minutes of the film that mustering even a modicum of sympathy for this character is a miracle.

"Tsotsi" opens Friday, March 31 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.