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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 33 movies from Akanga Film Asia
In a repressive city-state, a tomboy schoolgirl persuades three classmates at an all-girls school to rebel by forming a triad gang.
Mar 2026
A carefree student at an all-girls school shows unusual symptoms when she begins puberty, forcing her to grapple with a mysterious and visceral power.
Oct 2023
Two young LGBTQ+ lovers in 1990s Saigon get entangled in the criminal underground and must do battle with dark forces that threaten their relationship and test the limits of their humanity.
Mar 2025
After the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter, a young couple receives strange videos and realizes someone has been filming their daily life — even in their most intimate moments. The police set up surveillance around their home to catch the voyeur but the family starts to crumble as secrets unravel under the scrutiny of eyes watching them from all sides.
Nov 2024
It is an unwelcome homecoming for Siva, a Singaporean-Indian ex-convict, haunted by a tragedy in his past. Released after eight years behind bars and dejected by his mother’s coldness, he leaves home in search of his ex-wife and daughter. His old friend denies any knowledge of their whereabouts and instead leads him back into crime. Finding him sheltering in ‘void decks’ (the open public access corridors found beneath government-built residential housing in Singapore), the police force him to meet with a social worker; a woman also dealing with her own fears.
May 2016
Exiled from city comforts to his ancestral village, Mivan meets his embittered aunt, befriends a horse and joins the local kids on wild adventures, discovering the beauty of life and a courage he never knew he had.
Feb 2026
A cop in Singapore investigates the disappearance of a Chinese migrant construction worker who spent sleepless nights playing a mysterious video game.
Feb 2019
In her last year of secondary school, a bright Indonesian student is determined to pursue her education and resist getting married, despite the expectations of her community.
Dec 2021
When ambitious young correctional officer Aiman is transferred to the country's highest-security prison, he catches the attention of the seasoned chief executioner Rahim. Aiman's desire to become the hangman's apprentice is not only professional but born of an unspeakable urge to reconnect with a past that haunts him.
Jun 2016
Commemorating Singapore's 60th year of independence, Kopitiam Days is a stirring anthology film that weaves together six interconnected stories of human connection, reconciliation, and the enduring spirit of Singapore. More than just a setting, the humble kopitiam becomes a living symbol of community and memory, reflecting our past, anchoring our present, and looking towards our future.
Aug 2025
Life is not the most fulfilling for sixteen-year-old Meng: Lounging at home with his grieving father on a daily basis, being excluded from his family’s past, and forced into bullying other kids at school. Everything changes when he is thrown into a life-altering adventure that propels him into an exciting unfamiliar landscape.
Jan 2024
A television switches on. A mind snaps. A man discovers his murdered wife. As he stares at her lifeless body, the events leading to her death play before him, like in a movie. HERE follows the journey of He Zhiyuan, a middle-aged man who struggles to make sense of his reality. Reeling from the sudden death of his wife, he loses the will to speak and is interned at Island Hospital. There, he meets strident kleptomaniac Beatrice with whom he forms an inexplicable bond. As He adjusts to life within, he is selected for an experimental treatment, which forces him to confront the devastating truth behind his past, present, and future. Meanwhile, a filmmaker visits Island Hospital to document the lives of the staff and patients.
Jun 2009
Rosie Wong, a blind woman, shares a retrospective account about the three lives which shaped her life. Taking inspiration from ‘The Giving Tree’, her life is significantly changed by a kind stranger, Pak Cik Tubi Moh Salleh, who helped her get to work everyday for 5 years. Pak Cik Tubi continued this good deed for the next few years, tirelessly helping Madam Rosie.
Feb 2020
Inspired by the first English-language novel "Inheritance" of acclaimed Singaporean novelist Balli Kaur Jaswal about Singapore's Punjabi-Sikh diaspora, the film surrounds the story of a Punjabi family and the characters' struggles against traditions and belonging. The project involves the local Punjabi community, who has often been left out of the larger Singaporean narrative even when they are such an important part of our cultural landscape.
Jan 2017
Shot with Malaysian skinheads in Penang, it’s a meditative fantasy on signs, signals and butterflies, leading to pointed reflections on the relationship between British colonial history and popular culture in South-East Asia
Jan 2012
Lynn has been living away from her husband Kenji and daughter, enjoying a pseudo-single life in China. In pursuit of freedom, she dreams of building a house in her hometown, now a burgeoning tourist hub. She works closely with Long, a married colleague, and their growing mutual attraction complicates her plans. Facing gender biases and local bureaucracy, Lynn strikes a land deal, causing conflicts between the village councilor and his divorced daughter. As her house nears completion, Lynn realises it has come at the cost of estrangement from her husband, daughter, and even herself.
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Featuring five short stories of the reflections, interpretations and perspectives as our Singaporean filmmakers go on a journey in search of their cultural roots and how they make Singapore home, the omnibus seamlessly weaves the past and present as generations seek to understand, appreciate, preserve and pass on our heritage.
Nov 2018
A woman and a little girl find solace and joy during secret stairwell meetings, bonding over playful games.
On the last day for the residents to vacate a high-rise apartment before its demolishment, a young girl, Iris, and her mother are moving out. On a tight deadline, her boyfriend and his friend are also present to help. Iris inevitably gets distracted exploring the vacant spaces of her neighbours, relishing the moment. As they pull away in the rental truck for the last time, Iris sits in the back with her boyfriend, surrounded by her furniture. She allows a small ray of light to penetrate the darkness of the truck. The images of the outside world appear on the interior of the truck; they watch the inverted building before it eventually disappears forever.
A trilogy set in three iconic locations within Singapore's Little India district: Race Course Road, Campbell Lane and Syed Alwi Road. The notion of re-examining history by truth and myth through visual storytelling serves as the inter-connecting thread between the three short films, and the films offer glimpses of Little India through the 19th and 20th centuries.
Nov 2016