Tiger Stripes

Responses from general people have been mildly positive but many have been experiencing how this isn't a horror movie and there's not much scares. It's more of a coming-of-age story rather then horror so just keep that in mind. This movie won the Critics' Week Grand Prize and having seen it, I can see why.

Director Amanda Nell Eu does a pretty good job other debut story about the coming-of-age setting of a 12 year old girl going through some bizarre changes and situations with gorgeous colorful camerawork, sound designs, themes and atmospheres, and good performance from the lead actress.

Malaysian cinema isn't often discussed and rarely I have seen films from the country and having known it's culture and background, the movie does a pretty good job on capturing the setting, atmosphere, culture and beliefs with some interesting ballsy choices like discussions of periods and showing Malay girls' sexuality. Throughout, Nell Eu's direction was pretty good on handling the narrative, sound, atmosphere and concepts. While some concepts are a bit cliched of certain horror tropes, the narrative mostly worked.

The performances are pretty good as the child performance are all solid. The sound designs are good, the characters, while a bit thin, remain interesting and engaging to observe, and it has a good score. The movie has horror themes explored but admittedly, since it is more of a coming-of-age story, the horror elements didn't feel as strong or ambitious as it could have been. Including some noticeable bad CGI.

Overall, despite the flaws, I found myself enjoying this movie because of it's ambitious style, concept and the direction it took. Again, this isn't the typical horror movie but it's more of a coming-of-age movie.

Tiger Stripes: A Malaysian coming of age shape-shifter body horror film. Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal) attends a conservative school, along with the other girls she is forced to wear a hijab and long robes. Being a rebel she takes the hujan off and dances on Tik-Tok. This gets her in trouble at school and with her pious mother. She is the first in her class to menstruate and this gradually leads to her being excluded by her friends and bullied. Her body changes though in surprising ways. Blotches, stiff hairs to start with but then claws develop. This is a tale which involves many Fortean tropes demons of the forest which Zaffan sees sitting in trees, mass hysteria of schoolgirls having fits, an exorcist Imam, a shape-shifting transformation into Werechild. Mostly though it is a story about revolt against medievalist misogyny and a girl fighting for her freedom. There is one scene in particular where Zaffan deals with an Imam which fair gladdened my heart and made me laugh out loud. It is in the tradition of Carrie and Ginger Snaps. Tiger Stripes: was released in Malaysia in a heavily censored version, and the director has disowned that cut of the film. Written and Directed by Amanda Nell Eu. 8/10.

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.

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.