Zaffan goes to a strict girls’ school in rural Malaysia, where her youthful high spirits – dancing and climbing trees in the rainforest – mark her out as a rebel. At 12, she is also the first girl in her class to reach puberty, meaning that her body changes in ways regarded as shameful. When girls start to collapse around her with inexplicable fainting fits, she is identified by teachers as a dark spirit who has cursed the school. Little do they know that she does have a secret self – one with a tail and teeth. Drawing on the playfully scary spirit of old-school Asian monster movies as well as traditional myths, Tiger Stripes is raw, joyful and buoyed by great performances from its young rookie cast.