First time I’ve seen a depiction of a pseudo-Bodhidarma as a Tamil uncle but here we go. He has a slight Morpheus-liberator-of-the-matrix role too!

Tan Chui Mui and Senthoran at Odyssey 2025

A lot of this film plays out like a series of call-backs and cuts, with a lot of the appeal resting on the audience finding Tan Chui-Mui’s character endearing. 

I for one certainly did. And I found Tan to be just as engaging in real life. I caught a screening of this with a Q&A with the director herself and found her passion for jui-jitsu, Malaysia, and film infectious. 

Critically speaking, the film has sporadic elements that all sum to an amalgam that cannot necessarily be said to be greater nor less than its individual components.

For one the protagonist’s journey loosely autobiographical. Then, a metatextual element of Tan’s acting under a gaze of a director as an actor. And beyond this (or under the surface), there are hints of allusions to sci-fi classics such as Blade Runner and the Matrix series, albeit with a spiritualised interpretation on ego and the collective.

Tan is apparently a huge fan of science fiction literature with an sequence of extended references to the work of Philip K. Dick – from a store called Ubik (a novel where the female protagonist is already dead) to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Not to mention Kurt Vonnegut books lined up on shelves and a hint of the synths made iconic in Vangelis’ Blade Runner score seem to echo on occasion.

Tan confirmed this as a gentle nod to the film’s musings on identity whilst having fun and engaging the audience. 

A love for Martial Art classics is very much present here and intertwines with Tan’s own Jui-jitsu training over the years. The lead character shares the same name as the iconic star Moon Lee, with Tan citing her love for Moon Lee’s feats of valour in many of the 90s TVB series as an inspiration. 

Overall, the enjoyment of this film very much pivots on an appreciation of the above elements and the spirit of independent filmmaking. So, if this review makes the film sound interesting to you, it mostly likely will be! If not, well Hong Sang Soo gets a mention, so worth watching anyway.

Barbarian Invasion was screened as part of the ‘Filmmaker in Focus’ Masterclass with live Q&As with Tan Chui Mui in person as part of Odyssey film festival 2025.