Going through puberty can be hard enough on the best of days, but for Zaffan, a fiery wild child growing up in a rural community in the Malaysian countryside, the changes are more monstrous and puzzling than she imagined. Before long her classmates and friends start to shame, bully and shun her. Hysteria spreads at school among whispers of some beast or dark figure on the prowl. A self-absorbed visiting Medical Officer makes it his mission to restore order, but when he sets his sights on Zaffan as the source of the problem and starts preparing an exorcism, a battle of wills takes shape and Zaffan must decide what freedom is worth.

Inspired by cautionary Southeast-Asian folktales centered on outcast women, fairy tales and (Malaysian) monster cinema, TIGER STRIPES riffs on coming-of-age genre movies to mold itself into a self-empowering and energetic debut with shades of GINGER SNAPS. The Cannes 2023 Critics’ Week Grand Prize winner is a fantasy tale of metamorphosis that takes viewers deep into the lush greenery of its Malaysian setting to channel universal feelings of belonging, body image and budding individuality. 

Driven by a remarkable cast of first-time performers, Amanda Nell Eu’s TIGER STRIPES stages a fierce rebellion against the stifling constraints of traditionalism and the expected status quo. It’s a celebration of not fitting in that ultimately argues ‘being ostracized’ isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world if the community you’re supposed to belong to is trying to shape you into something you’re not.