When Amoeba opens in Singapore cinemas on 26 March, it does so with the gravity of a homecoming long delayed. The film—Tan Siyou’s debut feature—returns after an expansive international festival journey that began with its world premiere at last year’s 50th Toronto International Film Festival.
The accolades followed very quickly, which include FIPRESCI Prize and Taiwan Film Critics Society Award at the 62nd Golden Horse Film Awards; Best Youth Film at the 18th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Australia); Best New Horizons Film at QCinema 2025 (Philippines); and Youth Jury Award Winner and Fei Mu Awards for Best Actress at the 9th Pingyao International Film Festival.
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Written and directed by Tan, and distributed by Anticipate Pictures, Amoeba is loosely based on real life, set within a landscape that most female viewers can relate to: The all-girls school, the rules that govern not just behaviour but appearance, and the quiet pressure to comply. “The film is very personal so the writing process was a lot of confronting memories… of constant public shaming, of fraught friendships, of complicated girlhood,” she shares.
The title comes from a story she told herself as a teenager—that she was an amoeba. “In a system that felt like a training camp, where even the colour of your bra is policed, the amoeba represented a way to withdraw and survive”.
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At its centre are four local actresses—Ranice Tay, Nicole Lee, Lim Shi-An and Genevieve Tan—who play a group of teenage rebels navigating the pressures of fitting in. “I befriended a group of misfit tomboys, and together, we rebelled against the constant pecking and pruning meant to turn us into virtuous wives and dutiful mothers,” Tan recalls. “They were my first loves.”
What started as friendship evolved into a secret “gang” fuelled by suppressed desires and a hunt for the supernatural. Tan explains that this story is really about the ghosts we create when we are forced to bury our true selves. “Ghosts to me are the irrepressible nature of the suppressed—what we don’t say.”
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The film became a way for her to recapture a pivotal moment in life and understand herself better. “Through the process, I realised how much our lives and choices were dictated by others, and it helped me unlearn some of the narratives indoctrinated in me since childhood.”
She hopes the film speaks to young women who recognise themselves in its world. “Being true to yourself might mean disobedience and that might be overwhelming, but eventually those will be the most important scenes in your own story.”
Amoeba is now screening at Filmhouse. The film is part of Filmhouse’s Women In Focus series. Tickets are now on sale at their website. For more information, click here.