Last week week I saw 4 films at the cinema: Saltburn, Thanksgiving, Dream Scenario (also featuring Nicholas Braun) and this one; Cat Person.

In the movie trailers featured when I saw Saltburn there was a trailer for this one. I closed my eyes, blocked my ears and tried to take in as little as I could so as not to spoil it.
I wanted to go in clean, no prejudice, no expectations.
I knew Cat Person was based on a New Yorker short story and the word was that it wasn’t meant to be as good as the story (I disagree, it’s equally good).

Emilia Jones and Nicholas Braun in Cat Person

Sophomore student, Margot (Emilia Jones) begins a relationship with an older man, Robert (Nicholas Braun) and emotions and thoughts escalate the situation. 

The perils of modern day dating, or really just dating, whatever era you live in. The age old dilemma of trying to find love, connection and companionship go south in this psychological comedy thriller.

After watching the film I read the short story written by Kristen Roupenian and the film, although obviously expanded, kept pretty much all of the story and 90% of the dialogue was verbatim.

The story was well written and shows how quickly things can go pear shaped.
Cat Person is enjoyable, funnier than the article which was down to the casting, writing and the actors involved. 

Geraldine Viswanathan and Emilia Jones in Cat Person

Emilia Jones portrays Margot, a 20 year old college student with the right balance of smarts and naiveté. Jones is an English actress who was excellent as the lead in the outstanding CODA. Nicholas Braun gives the perfect amount of awks, humanity and possible threat as Robert. Isabella Rossellini plays Margot’s tutor and is always a welcome addition to a cast, she was great as Marcel’s grandmother in Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Australian actor, Geraldine Viswanathan is a great best friend who is filled with her own issues; shit, who isn’t? Hope Davis delivers another top performance as Margot’s mother, herself filled with issues.
Special mention goes to Lisa Colón-Zayas who plays Officer Elaine, she’s also in The Bear, which is a top series.

Emilia Jones and Isabella Rossellini in Cat Person

On Monday I started to read The Outsider by Albert Camus, I had picked it up from my childhood home when I was back there visiting my Mother a few months ago and it looked interesting and short and maybe easy to pace through. I had finished it by Thursday when I saw Cat Person.
In The Outsider (L’Étranger) the main protagonist, Mersault, finds himself in a situation where he is judged for an act that he seems unconnected to and is condemned by society for telling the truth, his truth, a truth that is not in line with the common thinking.
In Cat Person, a truth revealed spirals the whole situation out of control, the truth told in Cat Person would normally be avoided to save hurting someone’s feelings.

The real world is so far away from where our imaginings take us. The stories we tell ourselves are filled with fears, insecurities and lies for the most part and have little to do with reality. Until our dangerous thoughts become manifest one way of another. 
We really do create the world we live in, whether it’s actually real or not.
We seem to be so afraid to ask direct questions in case we are thought of as an idiot (men being laughed at) or less than cool and this is a big problem and leads us down too many unneccesary roads. 
When did hiding become the norm, were we always judged as harshly as we imagined or is this a modern problem? The social etiquette line is a thin one to walk.

Directed by Susanna Fogel and adapted by Michelle Ashford, Cat Person addresses these issues and entertains at the same time. Who said entertainment couldn’t teach us something? So, best to tell the truth like Mersault, unless it’s not best, which at times, it clearly isn’t.

See it now at a cinema near you.
119 Minutes