Cat Person

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Cat Person is an adaptation of the New Yorker short story of the same name by Kristen Roupenian; this short story became a viral internet sensation upon release. The feature follows the experience of Margot, a young college sophmore who meets an older romantic partner in Robert. The film as a whole examines the complexities of modern dating and some of the new dangers and behaviours associated with it. The film is extremely powerful when it stays with Margot, this is a protagonist who is extremely relateable and whom the audience can follow like a cat chasing a laser dot. Margot is someone with a great deal of care for others, a pretty razor sharp wit and an element of personal insecurity. She comes from a home life where she feels manipulated and unable to be herself, her ex-partner coming out as asexual also leaves her feeling distant. But as she meets Robert, in what is a very abrupt and awkward encounter, she begins a romantic entanglement that takes place in equal measure via her phone as it does in person. 

 

Margot constructs a fantasy of the man she is with through the texts she gets, never quite fully realising the true nature of Robert. I love seeing the contrast of this when she finally meets up with Robert in person from time to time. They only ever really have two physical dates but their relationship lasts for months on text, which affects their feelings towards one another immensely. I loved the more fantastical elements of this film, in which Margot imagines all the ways scenarios may actually go; her fear around a strong dog she was helping turning feral on her especially reflected the theme of the film well. But the real coup de grâce occurs when Margot and Robert have sex for the first and only time, an extremely awkward and provoking scene. It is a variety of elements at play here that makes this scene work so extremely well: from the clear implication Margot isn't comfortable with having sex, the out of body theatrical dialogue Margot shares with an imagined copy of herself or even the way the camera places Robert over the audience in several moments. The trick here of making the audience feel sexually engaged with Robert is horrifying and a revolting moment that stayed with me well after credits rolled.

The way this film is shot is told via a very skilled contrasting lens; there can be close moments of anxiety that will scale out to these wide and empty silent shots that up the scare factor. I also really enjoyed the soundtrack for the film; there's a lot of small cues here that feed well with want and desire. Also hearing Britney Spears' 'Gimme More' used to essentially block out the frightful nothing of a walk home at night was brilliant.

 

Nicholas Braun, who played Robert, does a frighteningly excellent job at portraying a man so emotionally distant and lacking confidence; Braun can switch between the Robert we see and the Robert Jones' Margot imagines in the blink of an eye. Geraldine Viswanathan, who played Taylor, has really just come onto my radar this year but is already an actor whom I greatly enjoy; Viswanathan is so blunt and champions her character's crusading sense of justice well. Hope Davis, who played Kelly, is very intense as this controlling mother figure; Davis really sets the tone for home life discomfort in the film chiefly through her unnerving Marilyn Monroe number. Liza Koshy and Josh Andrés Rivera, who played Beth and Dave respectively, are extremely funny side characters in this; I love the complete dedication to the annoying musical theatre friend appearance they had going. Jeremy Gill, who played Kyle, is only a briefly appearing figure but quite a profound role; Gill's approach to presenting and talking about asexuality in his role is commendable. Fred Melamed, who played Dr. Resnick, is one of the funniest performances in the film and one of my favourite scenes; the gravity Melamed lends this fictional therapist is what makes this so very special. Sammy Arechar, who played Kelvin, is another role that is only one scene strong but makes it an absolute memorable piece of viewing; Arechar awkwardly navigating having to sell defensive products to the two female leads results in some incredible dialogue exchanged between him and Viswanathan.

However, the best performance came from Emilia Jones, who played Margot. There are some really up and coming performers who are well worth watching right now and Jones is one of them in a big way. I was so entirely impressed with her in Coda that I wondered how her next leading role could ever compare. While I won't describe Cat Person as being close to Coda's quality, Jones' excellent leading performance sure is. I loved watching this protagonist who feels very grounded, she can be witty and spirited in one scene while exposing some personal insecurities the next. Watching Jones take a role who was very free-spirited, if not a little lonely, and entirely reworking her to be essentially bound to the idea of this man she is dating was an uncomfortable but honest watch. The almost dual monologue performance in the major sex scene of the film felt like an awards worthy performance out of theatre; Jones was arresting and helped to heighten audience fear and axiety. This movie is worth seeing because of Margot, and that can only be said because of Emilia Jones and her powerhouse performance.

 

So why does Cat Person never rise to be the same sort of critical piece that a similar feature like promising Young Woman is? Well the feature often feels very muddled in the first act, it knows where it wants to go but neglects to really seem interested in taking the audience there. Margot's day to day life is simplistic and the way we ease into her relationship with Robert isn't especially compelling. In fact you really have to take a few leaps in logic to believe this relationship can get to where it's slanted to go. The second act really patches that issue up but at first it is hard to imagine any woman becoming shackled to a person who behaves like Robert does. But the part that really doesn't work for this piece is the final act and the way this film keeps trying to run some commentary on what this all means for Robert too. As a male viewer I can appreciate the desire to position Robert's perspective; but this is a female led film, written and directed by women front faced with a kickass Margaret Atwood quote that notes the danger women experience versus the fear of lost status men have. This was never going to be Robert's story and it's not vital to capture his point of view as much as this film attempts to find it. The final act just melts down into a violent thriller-styled brawl for survival culminating in a fire that forces our protagonist and antagonist to work together. It is a massive sequence that really lets down the themes of the movie, essentially drifting apart from what we have been told the entire time.

 

The editing for the film got pretty choppy at times, I was also underwhelmed by the special effects. In the climactic sex scene there's a moment where we see multiple Margot's surrounded by stars in what is the only weak part of that scene, a glaring moment of bad visual effects. The score for the film never really strikes up attention, the music could have achieved a moment of fear or anaxiety in the piece but is never attention-grabbing enough. 

Isabella Rossellini, who played Dr. Enid Zabala, is one of the least convincing performances in the film; this college professor with some over the top dialogue and an oddly social relationship with her students feels like an odd side character. Christopher Shyer, who played Ernie, is quite an unimpressionable stoic father figure; Shyer's role doesn't build on relationships with other characters and becomes fairly forgettable. Donald Elise Watkins, who played James Madley, is the weird result of a very forgettable subplot; Watkins didn't really need so much dedicated screen time and was a role that really drew attention away from storylines that were probably more important.

A pretty provoking and relevant film that could have been the next Promising Young Woman if it didn't pull its punches. I would give Cat Person a 7/10.