Tiger Stripes

"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.

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.

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.