'Zebra Girl' is a mystery thriller that follows Catherine, - a woman with a seemingly perfect life in her rural manor with her husband Dan. The film focuses on Catherine as she goes on an emotionally revealing tale of her past, her mental well-being and her current state of mind.
The film opens with manic energy - we witness Catherine stab Dan in the side of the head after spying on him as he sits at his laptop in the middle of the night. The following morning Catherine greets Anita, an old friend, at her door after having called her to assist in dismembering and burning Dan's remains. As the two get on with the task, Catherine and Dan's time together is shown through flashbacks, including their first date and the more recent revelation of Catherine's pregnancy. It is also shown that Catherine, as a teenager, was sexually abused by her father, and as a coping mechanism started writing the 'Zebra Girl' story. At the same time, Catherine and Anita's relationship is shown, as Catherine relies on her friend, gaining comfort from their time together. In her writings, Catherine had constructed the Zebra Girl persona that wished to retaliate towards her abuser, and after Catherine stabs and kills her father in real life, it becomes evident that Anita, Zebra Girl and her manic attitude stem from the girl trying to compartmentalize and cope with what is happening to her.
In the present day, we learn that Catherine uses antipsychotics to lead a normal life, however since finding out she is pregnant, she has personally opted to not use her medication in order to ensure her child does not suffer from any possible side effects. As she goes off the meds, Catherine begins to experience paranoid thoughts and exhibits erratic behavior. As time passes, she becomes convinced she has to protect her child from Dan who may be abusive towards them just as her father was to her. Ultimately Catherine's delusions towards her husband are revealed to have been entirely unfounded and she comes to terms with what she has done as the police close in on her at her home.
'Zebra Girl' is an intriguing exploration in to a woman's downward spiral as Catherine has a complicated past and does what she believes she has to in order to protect her unborn child. Initially the film carries with it a fast-paced and darkly comedic tone, throwing the viewer in at the deep end in the film's opening. What follows is a sharp and quick-witted exchange between Catherine and Anita, displaying the internal dialogue that Catherine is constructing following her husbands murder. Initially the back-and-forth is sharp, funny and almost comical. As time goes on however, Catherine becomes more morose as what she has done hits her, and in her conversation with Anita, Catherine's thoughts about going to the authorities surface, showing that she is wrestling with guilt and does understand the severity of what she has done. Ultimately, as Catherine inspects Dan's computer, she realizes that there was no foul play, climaxing in her sense of shock and fear as to what she has done.
The first part of the film carries a fast-paced yet somewhat light tone, but after the revelation of what Catherine had to live through as a teen, the film shifts dramatically to a sombre and serious tone, exploring the difficult subject matter that is child abuse. Not only does 'Zebra Girl' uncover the uncomfortable issue that is sexual abuse, but it also incorporates the surrounding issues of trust and the resulting trauma that can lead to psychological instability. The film looks on to Catherine and her mother's relationship. We only really get to see Betty as Catherine is interrogated by the detective following her fathers murder, and it is uncovered that her mother was a passive by-stander as he daughter was being abused. The relationship between the two is not discussed at length, but a handful of emotional scenes are revealing towards the rage, anger and ultimately disappointment that a child can feel towards someone that was meant to protect them.
The film stars Sarah Roy as Catherine and Jade Anouka as Anita. The feature is by far Catherine's story, yet the most revealing moments of personal discovery and emotional revelation emerge when both Roy and Anouka are on screen together. The two actors deliver a well rehearsed back and forth, illustrating the sense in which a person talking with themselves would seem like, with a quick-fire and quippy repartee, initially amusing the audience and later serving to show Roy's character as she goes through fear, bargaining and challenging her own sense of morality and perception.
'Zebra Girl' is an intriguing mystery initially, as the story hits the viewer over the head with a brutal opening sequence and then shifts dramatically to a somewhat humorous narrative until finally concluding on a very grim note, as the narrative shifts towards a very serious issue. Even though the film has a number of well executed scenes, both where it is funny and later on when dealing with living with abuse, 'Zebra Girl' doesn't seem to be well paced, ultimately delivering a feature that feels tonally disjointed and leads to a less impactful final showdown where Catherine has to come to terms with her actions.
Score: 2/4
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