Kristen Roupenian’s short story Cat Person became an overnight sensation after its publication in the New Yorker in 2017. It was incredibly bold and contemporary in its portrayal of digital-age sexuality, focusing on the morally dubious relationship between 20-year-old student Margot and mysterious older man Robert. Roupenian's unflinching writing style was both relatable and shocking as it navigated the issues of consent, power dynamics and sex-positivity in a concise 7201 words.
Unfortunately, as groundbreaking as Cat Person’s publication was, its adaptation into a feature-length film was wholly unnecessary from the get-go. Its brief word count did not allow for a 118-minute runtime without a significant amount of filler involved, which is unfortunately what the audience received in its 2023 revival, starring Emilia Jones — recent star of Best Picture winner CODA (2022). This originally simple narrative quickly became convoluted to reach feature length, with mundane plot points on college life and friendship drama taking centre stage over the romance that made the short story viral in the first place.
Several new archetypal characters are added to the mix that add nothing to the plot; the overly woke best friend, the useless police officer, and the firm-but-fair biology professor who seemed to exist only to spout heavy-handed metaphors. In fact, it seems the only reason that Margot was made a biology student for the film adaptation was so the screenwriter could bombard the audience with constant references to the role of the Woman in nature (ants actually live in a matriarchy, don’t you know?) The pacing was also incredibly mismatched, with a tedious first act building to the scene that made Cat Person famous to begin with: the darkly comical hookup between Margot and Robert. And in fairness to the film, it was pretty perfect.
Genuinely funny cutaway gags to an imagined couples’ therapy session allowed insight into Margot’s train of thought during the awkward encounter, similar to the short story. This, combined with cynical play-by-play narration from Margot’s disassociating self, successfully shows her naïvety and the subsequent power imbalance between the two characters. Nicholas Braun excelled in the role of the blundering love interest, bringing a tangible feeling of secondhand embarrassment whenever he graced the screen.
Without spoiling anything, several moments during the aforementioned sex scene caused the entire cinema (myself included) to audibly groan, which is as good of a testament to Braun’s acting ability as anything. His awkward body language, cringy dialogue, and constant desire to emulate a Harrison Ford-style suavity was the 'ick' encapsulated, and he played it to a tee. After this optimistic turn, however, the film quickly descends into a wildly unbelievable third act and unnecessarily dramatic conclusion that quashes any previous relatability the film had to offer.
Thus begins a bizarre attempt to humanise all of the film’s male characters after they have been (rightfully) painted as misogynistic or predatory. For example, Robert is meant to be sympathised with after we learn he works as a nurse — despite the fact he spends the entire film pursuing an inappropriate relationship with a much younger girl. The character of Taylor — Margot’s best friend — is also used to represent the dangers of extreme feminism; she’s depicted as a liberal, man-hating nightmare whose radical views cause her and Margot to get into a massive fight.
Thus begins a bizarre attempt to humanise all of the film's male characters after they have been (rightfully) painted as mi-
Her crimes? Yelling at a group of men who walked into her dorm unannounced and being angry that a man had posed as a woman on her female-only online forum. She is then given a ride home for free by said man in another endeavour from the filmmakers to prove that not all men are terrible — a pointless play at devil's advocate that goes back on everything the short story initially tried to achieve.
Cat Person is no longer the story of Margot as much as it is the story of the men around her. More specifically, how the men around her are not as bad as you’d think because they work in a predominately female workplace and perform basic acts of human kindness. Never mind the stalking.