Film Review #180: Amoeba

One of the sold-out titles at this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) was local film Amoeba , directorial feature debut of Tan Siyou.
World-premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) earlier in September, Tan’s film centres on a quartet of teenage girls in an all-girls secondary, forming a triad gang at led by new student Choo Xin Yu (played by Ranice Tay), as an act of rebellion against the repressive, authoritarian school setting.

Returning to Singapore after earning several accolades and nominations including the coveted FIPRESCI Prize and a Best New Director nomination at the Golden Horse Awards, as well as Best Youth Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the anticipation for Amoeba was high, and thanks also to Anticipate Pictures’ distribution, this film was met with overwhelming reception on its home-turf.
Rarely do I wish a film was longer, but for Amoeba , at its audience-friendly length of 98 minutes, I left the movie wanting more.

Having studied in an all-boys secondary school, I found myself surprised by how much I resonated with the journey of these girls. For a fictitious school, its school song in the film felt like a tune I’d known all my life; the disciplining, the uniform, the (sometimes) unimaginable expectations from both the institution and the parents, all seemed so familiar. Of course, one would expect a Singaporean filmmaker to be capable of portraying life in Singapore accurately, but Tan’s attention to detail and world-building was specifically worthy of compliments.
The main quartet, and in particular, Tay’s Choo, was some of the best characterisation efforts I’ve seen in film this year. The average filmography of the four actresses is fairly humble, although this was likely all the more fitting for the story. Their chemistry was off the charts; watching them come-of-age in this movie, Tan’s sensitivity pierced through the screen so sharply it was no wonder she’d gotten the awards recognition thus far.

Probably the finest touch to Amoeba was casting veteran Taiwanese actor Jack Kao as the crowd-pleasing Uncle Phoon. Kao’s charisma was undeniable yet did not diminish the girls’ own spark in the film. To watch Kao’s Phoon is to acknowledge that his naturally “gangster” demeanour was one of the keys to the girls’ bond and growth, and suffice to disregard the urge to trace the origins of his character - questions that normally would have popped up in my mind when I think about acting, like “what does he sound like normally?” or “how did he land this role?” etc., all didn’t matter.
This film offers much for us to reflect, but perhaps the most poignant thing to think about is its R21 rating. Teenagers who are in the depths of their puberty, their adolescence, their maturity, desperately need empathetic, patient guidance. This film has the power to do that.

Amoeba is set to release commercially in Singapore in March 2026.
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About the author: Jarrett is a devoted cinephile for over half of his life. Apart from movies, coffee keeps him awake and music keeps him alive. Having studied theatre and performed as an actor before, he's also a sucker for great performances.
Connect with Jarrett here: https://linktr.ee/jarrettandfilm

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Film Review #180: Amoeba

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