Let’s cut right to the chase here, Tiger Stripes made me sad. Trauma horror has become pretty big in the past decade or so, and that’s fine. Some people love trauma horror, some people absolutely despise it. For me, I fall more into the middle of this category. Enough sad stuff happens daily all around the world, and I, along with many others, use horror as an escape. It’s the controlled chaos that exists with you for 90 to 120 minutes and then lets you reflect on why it exists. Sitting with Tiger Stripes made me sadder and sadder the more I sat with it.
Understanding Zaffan’s Puberty Struggles
It should be known, this is something I’ve never/will never have to deal with. I’m a male, and I don’t want kids. So dealing with a young female going through the thralls of puberty is entirely out of my ballpark of understanding. But it’s easy to empathize with. Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal) turns out to be the first friend in her friend group, comprised of Miriam (Piqa) and Farah (Deena Ezral), to get her period. Farah spins a yarn of lore by taunting Zaffan about a demon who comes and licks the blood off of pads in order to possess them. To boot, her mother is incredibly hard on her, and her dad just seems to exist.
Children in horror, and film in general, have it harder than most actors. On one hand, it feels bad to criticize a child for their acting chops, on the other hand, we’ve seen many examples of wonderful child actors. Each child actor in Tiger Stripes gives such a raw and realistic performance that it almost feels at points like you’re just watching a documentary. A lot of the horror of Tiger Stripes comes from the isolation Zaffan endures as a result of her puberty. Her friends isolate her for one of two reasons: they’re either doing it because they think it’s gross (their words) or because they’re scared when they must go through it. Either way, it’s just really sad.
Psychological Horror and Social Commentary
When I say this film made me sad, I think that’s the point. There is some body horror, but it takes a backseat to the psychological horror intricately strewn throughout from debut feature film writer/director Amanda Nell Eu, and writer Samm Haillay. From my outside point of view, Tiger Stripes highlights the lack of resources and emotional support women have had throughout history, and even currently. It makes this male viewer step back and realize how easy I have it compared to others. The ‘reveal’ of the film towards the end looks a bit cheesy and takes away some of the emotion I had invested, but that’s okay. Tiger Stripes is an incredibly compelling horror-adjacent tale of struggle and acceptance.