What superhero does Singapore need? The Sandbox's Nathan Hartono, Benjamin Kheng and Oon Shu An have ideas

The mockumentary-style comedy follows a struggling stunt training school that gets an unexpected boost from rumours of a Marvel casting call. It opens in cinemas on Oct 8.

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24 Sep 2026 07:19AM

The Sandbox isn’t a superhero movie, but it is about a superhero movie. Kind of.

In cinemas from Oct 8, The Sandbox is a quirky, mockumentary-style film about a stunt training school on the verge of shutting down, until a rumour that Marvel is casting for their next superhero movie in Singapore brings paying clients through the door. 

These, of course, turn out to be a ragtag bunch of misfits who bring the requisite slapstick comedy.

The film, which premiered at the Singapore International Film Festival last year, stars real-life stunt performer Peps Goh as the owner of the school, alongside actors Oon Shu An, Benjamin Kheng, Nathan Hartono and Jon Cancio.

Kheng shared that what made the project special was that writer and director James Thoo gave the cast a long leash to develop their individual characters. 

“The script was amazing to start with, but we had a lot of slack to really own our characters and play them. Mine was a supporting role, but the amount of dialogue we had about the character, his motivations and his quirks was enormous, and you never get that really from a project,” he said.

In a weird twist of life imitating art, The Sandbox was an actual stunt training studio run by Goh, and it closed down last week.

“It was a very special place for people to dream that you could create a stunt community in Singapore, and they're good at what they do,” Oon lamented, pointing out the movie’s overarching theme of how small businesses and creative enterprises struggle to thrive. 

“There are a lot of things we're willing to sacrifice in the name of pragmatism, but, how much joy and creativity are we losing? I wish we had more fertile ground for that to blossom, because the world is richer for it.”

That said, “the movie actually gives me so much hope," she added. "I was like, 'Can I please have a copy so I can watch it when I get sad?'”

That’s an argument in favour of the power of art to effect change. What else in the world needs saving? Oon, Kheng and Hartono describe the superheroes they think Singapore needs.

NATHAN HARTONO

“This is Fan Man, aka Tan Jisu. And he is capable of expelling ungodly amounts of wind to cool the masses. But, also, to thwart the villains and blow them away. 'Fan Man, coming to theatres soon!'

"If I could pick a superpower for myself, it would be something in between Mr Fantastic and Spider-Man. Since I was young, whenever I was walking home from school, or just taking long walks wherever, I would always imagine myself swinging from the lamp posts just to get somewhere faster. I think most kids have that vision when they're younger. And, I'll also take Mr Fantastic's powers, because I could just stretch my arms and grab things.

"For my superhero name, I would go with The Fabulous Hart. It's part of my last name. Yeah, I'm bad at naming things.”

OON SHU AN

“My superhero has diamonds or some sparkly things because we like those. Hearts, diamonds, stars, the sun.

“What she does is, she creates space. If there's any conflict, or maybe something that we need to make a decision on, she'll just go, 'Whoosh', and then she creates, like, a space ball around it that's luminous, soft and warm.

“I think in Singapore, we're always rushing. We rush a lot. We're rushing to build. We're rushing to tear down. We're rushing to develop. What she will do is create a space where we can just hang out for a moment and then connect with each other as people. Because, I think we do want to do that, but, life is tough, man. Life can be tough, you know."

BENJAMIN KHENG

“This is Mr Dandy, short for dandelion. He has the insatiable power of growing through concrete. I think we need resilient art makers, resilient happy people, to push through what might be difficult circumstances, in order to really be themselves. 

"If I were a superhero, I'd be Existential Crisis Man. He brings the unrelenting power of self-doubt and anxiety, to ownself-check-ownself, I suppose. His costume would be the absolute mean of what everyone was wearing. It would be a functional aesthetic. Because you can't self-soothe when you are in skintight skinny jeans. I’m a millennial, I struggle to keep with the times.

“I think that's my own kryptonite and my superpower, maybe – anytime you need paralysing self-doubt, I'm there! Yes, maybe the base of it is an existential crisis. I’m obviously prone to overthinking and and questioning my purpose. But, I like the fact that I get to take my time with things nowadays.

“If I could choose a superpower to have, it would be the power to always be happy and to make people happy. That's the the value I want to put out there right now.”