Set in 1990s Singapore, Ah Girl is the directorial debut of Ang Geck Geck Priscilla, who also wrote the screenplay. The drama focuses on seven-year-old Ang Swee Swee (Ong Xuan Jing)—referred to as Ah Girl by her family—as her life is marred by loneliness and coldness from her family.
When we first meet Swee Swee, she is unaware of her English name (Aileen) at school and crushes on classmate Sean. This initial air of innocence quickly sours as the film sheds light on her home life—her grandmother (Doreen Toh) is the primary caregiver, caring for her and her younger sister Ah Tian (Sydney Wong) while her father (James Seah) works nights. He is also separated from the girls’ mother (Carrie Wong), who comes across as an unbothered parent who focuses on work and treats the girls as an inconvenience. With her family fractured beyond repair, Swee Swee becomes increasingly self-aware that the world can be unkind to children.
Ang’s considerate direction and screenplay complements Swee Swee’s youthful perspective and the narrative’s harsh realism, allowing audiences to feel the protagonist’s growing frustration with the adults around her. They are quick to discipline and in some cases, lie, yet do not afford the time to care and teach the children about right and wrong. Furthermore, Ang litters small instances that would later distort Swee Swee’s view of the world such as her grandmother lying about ice cream, her reluctance to getting a hair cut, or her father’s string of girlfriends, labelled Auntie Japan and Auntie Malaysia for clarification. When Swee Swee asks her elders, “Why are adults always lying?”, as a child would, her concerns are brushed off—reducing her curiosity into something insignificant. Collectively, these moments paint a bleak picture of a child’s world that is dominated by their loneliness.
Although Swee Swee sadly has to learn about life on her own, it makes her resolve to navigate life all the more endearing. One notable aspect is her illegally selling imported chewing gum at school (a crime in Singapore as of 1992), highlighting a survival instinct and resourcefulness that differentiates her from her family. Amid her day-to-day hardships are a handful of vibrant dream sequences that channel Sean Baker’s The Florida Project—another film driven by another precocious girl with a troubled home life. Ah Girl delivers an escape from reality into a world where Swee Swee finds the affection she quietly craves.
Despite Swee Swee’s hardships, Ang’s screenplay offers sweet moments that focus on her relationship with Ah Tian. Through Wong and Ong’s sweet performances, their sisterly bond is strengthened by the time the siblings spend together—to the point that Swee Swee’s love for her sister is more evident than that of their own parents. An emotional moment sees Ah Tian forcibly separated from her sister, and Swee Swee is the most vocal against it, whereas the adults choose to stay silent out of displaced self-preservation. As Ang weaves a sense of dependency between the girls, the film subtly transforms into a coming-of-age drama that only sees Swee Swee come to terms with life—however harsh it can be.
Ah Girl is a sensitive portrait of a girl struggling to understand an adult world. Ang doesn’t shy away from Swee Swee’s lack of stability, yet the filmmaker’s subtle direction, which sees the youngster discover her own survival instinct, puts her on the map for Asian cinema with a confident debut. And in doing so, Ah Girl finds gentle hope and resilience in the protagonist’s struggles.
Ah Girl is receiving its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2026.
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Director: Ang Geck Geck Priscilla
Stars: Ong Xuan Jing, Sydney Wong, Carrie Wong, James Seah, Doreen Toh
Runtime: 99 minutes
Country: Singapore
