Directed by the emerging talent Natalie Sin, The 4PLY Clandestine System has earned its place as one of Singapore’s five standout short films at the 36^th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), competing in the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition. The film’s strength lies not only in its craft but in its local soul; it re-examines the iconic landscape of Singaporean tissue peddlers on their PMDs (Personal Mobility Devices), filtering this familiar sight through a contemporary and startlingly imaginative lens.

The term “4PLY” in the title refers to the four-layered tissue, designed to securely contain the mucus without seeping through, and also doubles as its core selling point. The protagonist, Maryanne, known as the leader of the tissue cartel, is charismatic and opportunistic. Beneath her composed exterior, her yearning for connection is stretched into a pathological obsession: she treats her hand-sewn dolls as her own children, a hallucination born from years of loneliness as an elderly empty-nester.

The screenplay masterfully constructs this duality. Within a concise twenty minutes, we witness Maryanne as a fearsome entrepreneur and a vulnerable individual. This nuanced portrayal stems directly from director Natalie Sin’s preliminary volunteer research. She uncovered a truth often missed in our daily transactions: for many elderly peddlers, selling tissues is less about sheer survival than a quest – a reason to leave the house when agency and family are absent. Yet, the public often perceives only helplessness, responding with charitable overpayment – a transaction that satisfies the giver’s conscience but perpetuates a barrier to genuine exchange.

Sin employs pervasive point-of-view (POV) shots, compelling the audience to occupy the space of an ordinary passerby. This visual strategy transforms a routine, often-avoided interaction into a portal for deep observation. Through this intimate perspective, we are drawn into the unseen mechanics of a “tissue-paper business empire,” complete with its territorial disputes, and into the stark reality of elderly isolation that fuels it. Moreover, the POV frame confronts us with an ethical dilemma akin to the editor’s own in the film: having witnessed Maryanne’s deepest secret, what is the filmmaker’s responsibility in revealing it? 

This potent narrative ultimately shifts our focus inward, to a reflection on the ethics of the medium itself. Through a “film-within-a-film” structure, it stages the very dilemma faced by its creators: the editing room debate over whether to use footage that exposes Maryanne’s private agony becomes a direct analogue to the filmmaker’s perpetual negotiation between revelation and respect. This reflexive move grounds the film’s social observation in the raw experience of creation, challenging not only practitioners but also every viewer to become more conscious and critical participants in the act of watching. The 4PLY Clandestine System thus achieves a rare duality – it is both a poignant portrait of marginalised lives and a compelling inquiry into the responsibilities we all share as makers and interpreters of images.

Rejecting the serious tone often linked to social realism, 23-year-old Natalie Sin brings her generation’s energy to the film. With bold visuals and a sharp narrative pace, she turns Maryanne into a “trendy grandma.” Her youthful style doesn’t lessen the story’s weight; instead, it makes the emotions stronger, letting the absurdity and the sadness coexist in a single, delicate frame.

With a background in Social Sciences, Sin approaches filmmaking from an anthropological perspective – turning observation into empathy, then into visual language. The 4PLY Clandestine System does more than depict a slice of Singaporean culture; it questions our passive acceptance of it. Sin urges viewers to look again, to recognise the layers of dignity, loneliness, and strength folded within every sheet of paper, and within every human encounter we so easily overlook.

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Written by Jane Wei

Featured image courtesy of SGIFF

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to film, music, and the arts, with a special focus on the Asian entertainment industry. Alongside in-depth features on emerging and established musicians, we provide thoughtful coverage of cinema, from independent films to international releases, exploring the stories and work that bring them to life. Through interviews, reviews, and features, we connect our audience with the voices and visions driving the cultural landscape today.}