Tiger Stripes

Coming-of-age allegory/tale by way of demons (both personal and actual) with a dash of some werewolf energy. Absolutely gorgeous directing and cinematography, and main girl Zafreen Zairizal who played Zaffan was incredible. Fierce but fragile. What a performance. Big props also for the makeup and effects. Really different and beautiful creature design work. Also hi hello writer director if you see this please make a soundtrack playlist on Spotify :) Opening song had me dancing, and my heart always skips a beat when I see hot pink credits and title. This is a movie for all the cute ragey girlies.

Really cool piece

Not quite sure what genre

Not horror

More rites-of-passage puberty tale with highly humorous and also serious themes blended in; shamanism is very present here too

The Malay village and surroundings/nature it is set in so beautiful

The acting from the three girls; this a teen buddy movie too really very good; the ancillaries pull their weight too; the parents are excellent in this too; the über-laidback dad an absolute treat

Watching more and more films and series from Asia and the quality is really as good as anything from The West often on a par with

Highly advised for folks who are interested in good cinema shamanism and the thorny time in a person's life we call teenage.

PS For the ones of you who have not seen it; watching La marca de la pantera (1982) would explain why I titled the review Cat People for 12 year old. The 1982 was not the first but it was an excellent film.

Amanda Nell Eu debut effort is a surreal study of a 12 year old girl's coming-of-age experience told against the backdrop of rural Selangor

Tinged with magical realism, the story is a simple slice of life tale with Zafreen Zairizal's impactful performance as Zaffan being the definite showstealer. Told through her lenses, we see her navigate the changes of puberty and the challenges of a small conservative town school life in an ever evolving modern world

The cinematography (by Gaudi Award nominated Jimmy Gimferrer) is excellent, with some breathtaking shots and framing of Malaysia's rainforest and the Titiwangsa range. The background score was also superb, an almost raw tone from Indonesian duo Gabber Modus Operandi.

"Zaffan" (Zafreen Zairizal) is a young girl merrily enjoying her childhood until her body decides it's time to grow up - and so she awakens horrified and bloody. Her mother reassures her and off she goes to school - only to find that her friend, the prefect "Farah" (Deena Ezral) is rather disgusted by her new found maturity. It isn't long before "Zaffan" is being ostracised by her classmates and no matter how hard she tries, she cannot re-engage with her pals. The frustration this causes starts to manifest itself in dreams, then in more than those - in physical changes that seem to be rendering her more animal than human - as epitomised by her new favourite snacks! In a rural Malaysian community that is not without it's superstition, her shunning becomes more complete - but what can she do? Can the enigmatic "Dr. Rahim" (Shaheizy Sam) help out with his internet-friendly method and speciality products? The production standards aren't the best, but there's an engaging effort the young and enthusiastic Zairizal as she learns to shin up trees in record time and manage to work well enough with the very limited visual effects. It's not without some humour - especially at the end, and that helps it move along quickly with just enough emphasis on a subject rarely touched upon by cinema anywhere. It'll be fine on the television, and it is worth ninety minutes.