Sandi Tan’s Shirkers (2018) opens with the soft pulsating tones of vibraphones as the scribbled credit titles ‘A Netflix Original Documentary’ appear in white penmanship over a black screen. The gentle reverb of the ethereal soundtrack, ‘Waking Up’, is interrupted abruptly by the click of a film roll as scattered light streaks flash across the screen. An establishing shot of a swan gliding across a lake in a park is rolled in reverse as the scene appears as negative-image, while the lilting soundtrack transitions into a shrill mix of static white noise, scratches and sonorous vocals. The audience next observes the same image of a swan gliding in reverse across a lake before the scene cuts to a closeup of a brown leather suitcase on lush green grass. Here, the camera pans slowly and clumsily to a hand gently clutching the handle of the suitcase. The camera traces up the hand towards the face of a young bespectacled Sandi Tan lying on the grass with her eyes closed (See Fig. 11.1). Sounds of crackling static noise pepper the scene before the off-screen voice of Sandi finds their way to the audience:

A montage sequence follows: a wide shot of S (young Sandi Tan) sitting on the edge of a bed, moving game pieces on a whimsically-designed board game that is propped on the same leather suitcase in the earlier scene; close-ups of the board game that features tiny figurines standing in the middle of a bullseye target amidst other quirky hand-drawn artworks of a piano, a scooter, a dog, just to name a few (See Fig. 11.2); a reverse-footage of vehicles driving through a tunnel; a static shot of S and a small boy standing by a shop front with mannequins on display before walking away. The opening sequence returns to a medium close-up of young Sandi Tan lying on the patch of grass with earplugs in her ears and a vintage camera slung across her neck.