AH, GIRL (TIFF 2026) – Review by Rachel West
Ah Girl, the feature film debut of Ang Geck Geck Priscilla, is a tender and bittersweet tale of childhood in 1990s Singapore.
Drawing on her own upbringing and childhood memories for the script, Priscilla centres her story on Swee Swee (Xuan Jing Ong), a plucky seven-year-old navigating the separation of her carefree but disengaged parents alongside her younger sister, Ah Tian (Sydney Wong). Nicknamed “Ah Girl” at home, Swee Swee’s personality shines through from her first moments on screen. She is weird, she is fun, she is expressive, and she is lonely.
With her family life falling apart at home, Swee Swee tries to be the glue that holds it together. Told from a child’s perspective, where only fractions of big ideas and adult problems make sense, her actions are not always met with understanding or kindness. Through her eyes, the film finds both the humour and heartbreak in a little girl trying to make sense of a world she isn’t old enough to understand.
Ah Girl relies heavily on nostalgia for a time when smartphones and the latest technology weren’t commonplace, further reinforced by its use of the 4:3 format. Priscilla expertly grounds the film at a child’s level, stitching together moments from her experience in a haphazard way that mimics the memorable moments of Swee Swee’s day. She’s a shrewd businesswoman selling bubble gum to her classmates in an era when chewing gum was banned in Singapore, and the next minute she’s catching spiders to impress a boy she likes and is devastated by a dramatic haircut. This framing of the narrative shows viewers glimpses of childhood where these seemingly mundane moments to an adult are formative experiences for a young girl. Priscilla frequently includes low-angle shots looking up at adults, reminding viewers just how big the world can feel to a small child.
In both its telling from a child’s point of view and its reflection of a family that is neither perfect nor wealthy, Ah Girl has earned comparisons to Sean Baker’s The Florida Project. While it doesn’t indulge in the “poverty porn” for which that film was criticized, Ah Girl does offer an honest portrait of a family simply trying to get by.
A parent can shape a child’s whole world, and unfortunately for Swee Swee and Ah Tian, their self-absorbed mom and dad seem apathetic to their girls’ lives and emotions. The adults are far more interested in dating than parenting, and while their grandmother tries her best to provide stability, the sisters’ childhood innocence is hurt by the indifference of adults, no matter whether their actions are intentional or not. These little hurts add up, and at age seven, Swee Swee just wants to fix everything for her family. She’s surrounded by people, but it always feels like she’s on the outskirts, feeding into her loneliness at home and school.
The strength of Ah Girl rests on the small shoulders of its two child stars, Ong and Wong. Expressive and charming, Ong’s performance resonates with innocence and purity. As the film starts to veer towards some more cloying elements, Ong manages to rein it in, bringing Swee Swee back to her natural sense of wonder and keeping the character grounded. Wong is as good as Ah Tian, whose younger age serves as a reminder of the developmental gap that exists between children, even when they are close in age. She’s too young to grasp what’s going on in the adult world, so Swee Swee acts as her saviour and protector, keeping her shielded from emotionally devastating actions.
With such a tender approach and visual style, Ah Girl is a refreshing debut from a filmmaker and two young leads who all show lots of future potential. More importantly, it captures the strange contradictions of childhood: the world can feel small and familiar, while the problems of the adults around you can feel impossibly big.
