The Duel
Client
Capabilities
Date
14/01/2026
Ever experienced that love-hate relationship with your relatives, especially during festive gatherings? Many of us know the feeling well. Julie’s aims to challenge this dynamic with their Deepavali short film. Titled “The Duel”, the film opens hearts and minds to a fresh perspective, exploring the complexities of family relationships that surface during festive conversations and inviting us to rethink how we perceive these interactions.
Set against the backdrop of a bustling and vibrant Deepavali open house, the story captures a typical Malaysian festive celebration where multiple generations come together to reconnect and celebrate. This story follows two main characters: an outspoken aunt and a young woman navigating adulthood, with conversation and thoughts circling around stereotypical tension-inducing topics like marriage, appearance and lifestyle choices. Through playful and sharp storytelling, their verbal sparring is framed as a cowboy-style duel, echoing the cinematic standoff of a cowboy showdown. Each remark becomes a shot fired, revealing the clash of perspectives between generations.
Just as the tension threatens to escalate, the grandmother enters the scene with her own set of probing questions directed at them. Seeing through a different lens, what seemed confrontational to both the aunt and niece transforms into recognition that beneath every probing question or comment lies an earnest desire to connect, an imperfect but genuine expression of love.
“We are excited to present our first Deepavali short film, a thought-provoking project that speaks directly to the heart of what family means to us. Festive seasons often stir up family tensions from the past yet remind us that family can also unite us. The Duel explores these conflicting dynamics as opportunities to create deeper understanding. Our hope is that this short film will spark reflection and encourage viewers to see family interactions through kinder lenses and to embrace the different ways love is expressed across generations,” said Tzy Horng Sai, Director of Julie’s Biscuits.
Kevin Poh the Executive Creative Director, said: “We wanted to tell a simple yet relatable story that most Malaysian Indians experience during their Deepavali house visits, where unspoken judgements from relatives surface. To bring these ‘silent’ judgements to life, we employed the metaphor of the good ol’ Western TV shoot-out to capture good festive fun, and to show how these old-fashioned and insensitive comments often stem from love and concern. The Duel hopes to remind us that we’re all still connected through tradition and love, even when we least expect it.”
Our hope is that this short film will spark reflection and encourage viewers to see family interactions through kinder lenses and to embrace the different ways love is expressed across generations Tzy Horng Sai, Director of Julie’s Biscuits