Edward (Alan Trong) is a troubled and struggling teen. He has trouble fitting in at school, and at home, his father has recently passed away and his mother, Lily (Lydia Look), has only months left to live before cancer takes her, too. As Edward’s behavior grows more and more erratic, Lily begins to fear that her son may be plotting a mass shooting at his school. 

Paul Kowalski writes and directs Paper Tiger, a taut dramatic thriller regarding an unfortunate reality. Film, and stories in general, have always been used as a way to grapple with the things we do not understand, and with the tragic rise of mass shootings taking place in schools, it is no wonder that filmmakers have begun to dissect that specific brand of tragedy in front of a camera. Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) can be seen as the Ur Text for this avenue of discourse that seeks to understand what would drive someone to commit these crimes instead of the effect it has on the survivors of the community. Neither approach makes for a comfortable film to watch and while none of the films in this sub-genre of character study seek to glamorize the crimes, it does not prevent the heavyweight of tragedy from pressing down on audiences. 

With the exception of some auxiliary characters, Paper Tiger is largely a two-hander between mother and son, Lily and Edward. Look plays Lily as a woman at the true end of her rope. Her husband has died, she herself is staring down a terminal diagnosis, and her son is spiraling out of control. Unlike Tilda Swinton’s Eva in Kevin, where hindsight is 20/20, Lily is all too aware of what is happening as her son’s devolution plays out in real-time in front of her. It becomes frustrating at times as she does not truly reach out beyond her sister Mei (Elaine Kao) who helps redirect some of Edward’s frustrations to gardening; a hobby passed down to him from his late father. Look makes Lily an incredibly sympathetic character who tries to do her best in an impossible situation, and while her methods may not be easy to condone given the extra bits of knowledge we have as an audience, the desire to assimilate and not cause any trouble is very clear. She does not want her, or her family, to be a burden so she takes on all of the responsibility of the family. 

Edward, however, proves to be a challenge to the poor woman. He is clearly acting out as a result of his father’s death and his waning social skills at school only serve to further complicate his life. Kowalski’s script creates a bit of a challenge for Trong, who still manages to deliver a strong performance. On the page, it is unclear most of the time of Edward’s motivations or goals. As the film unfolds, he does become more and more brash and bold with those he considers to be “zeroes” in his life, people that are unworthy, perhaps. Much of the rage and anger in Edward is delivered in broad and unfocused strokes. His targets are clear, but his intentions are not always spelled out in ways that make it clear to the audience why he is behaving this way. 

Maybe that lingering question of why, a question so often asked in the wake of any tragedy, is what Kowalski was aiming to examine in Paper Tiger. Unfortunately, there are a few too many loose ends regarding Edward that it seems more like Kowalski is afraid to confront those topics head-on and in a fully realized and detailed manner. While the film may fail Edward as a character, it excels as a character study of Lily, and when viewed through that lens it becomes a truly powerful and heart-wrenching look at the trials of motherhood. Lily may not ever be considered one of cinema’s greatest mothers, but you cannot deny that she tried her best to always protect her family.