Tiger Stripes

Not too big of a fan of the plot (personally felt some aspects were stretched to the point of comic absurdity), but I thought some scenes were excellent.

Also, the lead girl is superb. She brought to life the struggle with identity and transition from childhood to adolescence quite powerfully. It helps that the supporting characters were all very bad actors, so that her talent was more pronounced and better highlighted.

There's that typical clichéd attempt to tokenize the Indian and Chinese, but luckily it wasn't shoved right in the face of the audience.

The movie itself also felt a bit too overwrought and long.

Is this a horror film? It shouldn't be categorized as such, just because there's a few horror elements.

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 Cat People (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.

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.

At its finest, Tiger Stripes conjures the thrills of Mr Midnight novels, issues of Mastika or early Pontianak films (the latter two were direct sources of inspiration).

The narrative propels forward through the eyes of 12-year-old Zaffan, a precocious and spirited girl, dealing with puberty - specifically, as she experiences getting her period for the first time - and the estrangement as a result of it. Zafreen Zairizal carries the role with real charisma and playfulness that makes you root for her from the start. Her performance is supported by equally strong turns from Piqa and Deena Ezral, who play Zaffan's friends. The filial and societal strains Zaffan endures leads to an inevitable climax, but it is here Eu pulls an outstanding coup de cinema, through sheer practical effects that captures the magical realism of Nusantara folklore we have all grown up with.

After years of slop from the Marvel-industrial machine, and as we enter a new advent of AI and visual effects, there is still grace and beauty in practical, tactile approaches.