Tiger Stripes (FANTASTIC) Gives Rise to Female Coming-of-Rage Body Horror
Title: Tiger Stripes
First Non-Festival Release: October 19, 2023 (Limited Theatrical Release)
Director: Amanda Nell Eu
Writer: Amanda Nell Eu
Runtime: 95 Minutes
Starring: Zafreen Zairzal, Deena Ezral, Piqa
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
This film’s review was written after its screening at the Fantastic Film Festival in 2023.
Growing up presents specific challenges for all people across identities. Girls, however, face some unique challenges that are often exacerbated by outside factors that boys their age don’t really have to deal with as much.
Zaffan (Zafreen Zairzal) knows this all too well. Growing up in Malaysia, Zaffan is navigating girlhood alongside her friends until some changes begin happening with her body. Not only did she just get her period, she is also finding herself turning into a magical creature. Forced to learn from a local legend in the woods while duking it out with vicious pre-teens in her class, Zaffan will discover what it means to grow up in a world that isn’t ready for her to do so.
Malaysian body horror coming-of-age film Tiger Stripes is bursting with raw female rage from its young protagonists.
In film, periods are often used as a catalyst for the transformational horror onscreen, and Tiger Stripes is no different. Before Zaffan experiences this milestone, she is largely concerned with things that would occupy the minds of young girls anywhere. Hanging out with her friends, going to school, avoiding responsibility at home, and generally getting up to mischief make up most of her days and nights. Once she has her first period before her friends, Zaffan finds herself living a very different life.
Beyond the understandable horror at her circumstance, Zaffan’s transformation serves a dual purpose of showcasing how society can shun and limit women and girls for their existence. With almost no one who can understand, Zaffan must learn how to deal with the changes on her own, making her life more difficult. When she fails to cover up these changes, Zaffan is met with ire from her mother, her friends, and her teachers. Her erratic behavior and lack of control over her body is met with irritation at best and fear at worst. Punished by her mother for not opening up and sneaking around behind her back, ostracized by her friends for missing out on lessons or accidentally soiling herself, Zaffan finds herself increasingly isolated as the changes take over. While it’s scary enough that Zaffan is experiencing something truly terrifying, it is even scarier that she feels like there is no one left to trust or help weather these changes alongside her.
What makes Tiger Stripes unique in its approach to its depiction of maturation is Zaffan’s remaining hold on girlhood. Straddling the line between the campy and serious, Tiger Stripes provides plenty of commentary on girlhood in the internet generation in Malaysia. Plenty of Zaffan’s story is accessible to a wide audience as she struggles with change in her life. Her friends come and go, she makes silly Tiktoks and gets into mischief, and she wades into new interests. Even as Zaffan transforms more into a tiger, she holds onto her youth in meaningful and touching ways. Nothing can illustrate this more than when Zaffan and Mariam daydream about running away together and making their own home in the woods.
A positively electric performance by Zafreen Zairzal as Zaffan allows the Malaysian horror drama to affect and engage. It’s hard to dismiss the raw talent of a young performer tasked with making her gradual metamorphosis into a tiger look realistic. When everything is normal, Zairzal imbues a certain naivety to Zaffan that makes her animalistic side seem even more off-kilter. Zairzal deserves her flowers for such a varied and complex portrayal for her film debut. Zaffan captivates audiences and her townspeople thanks to Zairzal’s talent.
With all its positives, there are points when Tiger Stripes tends to drag. The story begins to sag once Zaffan’s transformation gets out of control and others are aware of her powers. The mystery is lost and instead the focus turns to Zaffan doing her best to evade detection before then dealing with the attempts to ‘cure’ her. The visual effects also translate very poorly to film. It does give Tiger Stripes a very specific aesthetic that fits its TikTok themes, but it does make it feel less polished than its cast would otherwise indicate.
Offbeat, energetic, and sentimental, Tiger Stripes is a gem of a horror film that balances many emotions in its relatively simple narrative. Growing up is scary and Tiger Stripes illustrates this with its wild depiction of transformation alongside a truly exceptional performance by a child actor. Budgetary constraints aside, Tiger Stripes delivers something unique and affecting with a style unlike its contemporaries. You don’t have to travel all the way to Malaysia to enjoy a good story, and thankfully this one will be available in the States sometime in early 2024 according to Dark Star Pictures.
Overall Score? 7/10
