Zebra Girl is a mess but not a boring one. It’s utterly perplexing, as we question the intentions of the filmmakers. What were they actually trying to accomplish? This is the first feature film for Stephanie Zari, whose screenplay is co-written by Derek Ahonen. Derek is also the author of the play Catherine and Anita which the film is based on and the actress Sarah Roy recasts her role from the play. But, what makes the film even more puzzling is the fact that in the theatre play was just a monologue for Roy. Hearing Catherine’s tale in a theater is completely different from watching her story in full motion with a character ensemble.
This narrative explains how Catherine, a disturbed woman, came to murder her husband, Dan (Tom Cullen), of three years. After committing the crime, her best friend, Anita (Jade Anouka), pays a visit, claiming to be summoned by someone or something. Catherine, however, outright denies this. The thing is, even though Catherine is no longer the literal narrator of the story, she is still the lens through which we see everything, including the many flashbacks of how she met and married Dan. We may well presume that this angle renders the narrative similar to a story told by an unreliable narrator. What is certain is that this is unfurling as a story not only of a maniac’s mental breakdown but also one that has a history of sexual abuse.
It appears highly dubious to use that type of subject matter in the manner in which it is used in this film. Psychological thrillers typically employ serious tones and, while that can be exploitative, what we have here is a tone that makes this issue even more prominent. Whatever it represented on stage, in its screen version Zebra Girl opts for a blend of melodrama and comedy, and while the humored approach does not stop it from bordering on the horror genre when it gory concerns itself with the mutilation of Dan’s body. It is, above everything, that blend of the grotesque and the funny that makes the film appear as an exploitation piece being too unreal to be taken seriously yet rooted in issues of much importance nowadays like mental health, sexuality, and family abuse. Using them to these ends does not seem justified at all.
Ever since Cullen’s character in Weekend (2011) may not have had much of a role, so does his in this particular movie where he plays the husband. His attraction towards Catherine is very strange, especially considering the first time they met and the kind of weird comments she made. Nonetheless, Roy and Anouka have a better chance and Zari demonstrates remarkable skill for a novice director in the treatment of the flashbacks. On some of these, she also hints rather fleetingly at having some knowledge of Alfred Hitchcock’s films. However, the point is moot. There’s nothing here that enables one to buy pity, and thus it is completely void of such emotion. Rather, one can only feel that serious issues are being taken up in an unworthy way. Perhaps the notion of bad taste is rare nowadays, but if it still applies, Zebra Girl conveys it.
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