"Cat Person" is nowhere near as thought-provoking or razor-sharp as it should be and presumably wants to be. It's like an indie drama smashed into a thriller, or a thriller smashed into an indie drama. The genres duel and undercut each other.
The movie doesn't have enough interesting characters or situations for the incisive drama it should be. There was only one moment where the movie had me thinking of real life, which was where the protagonist and her bestie were barged in on and terrified by their two immature male friends. When I was younger, I was aware that some of my own idiot friends thought it was funny to scare women and girls, but this was a joke I never got, because I don't think it's funny to make people who are generally smaller and weaker than me feel afraid.
There is another scene which probably struck a chord with most viewers, but it missed its mark with me. It's where the protagonist is terrified to be walking around alone at night-time, as a young woman. Feminists want us to believe that all women are terrified of men all the time because we are just so-o-o-o likely to murder them.
The thing is, statistically, they aren't and we're not. Studies have shown that only one in four women is afraid walking around alone at night time, which didn't surprise me considering how often women have come up to me asking for directions after dark. Plus, men are about 80% of all murder victims worldwide. Women are even much less likely to be the victim of a violent crime than men are.
What's funny is that the antagonist, if that's what he is, isn't scary or weird enough for us to share the protagonist's fear. Nicholas Braun is far more suited to an indie drama than he is playing the bad guy in a thriller. He may be very tall, but he doesn't appear even remotely capable of violence.
I suppose the point is we're supposed to ponder if the character really did enough to make the protagonist afraid, or if that was just her overreacting? I don't know. It didn't underline that ambiguity enough, perhaps because the filmmakers were too scared of angering feminists by implying there is ever a time where women shouldn't be terrified.
It actually could have been interesting and thought-provoking, but the filmmakers seem reluctant to go for it. So we're left with tepid thrills and only the occasional interesting story beat.
The movie doesn't have enough interesting characters or situations for the incisive drama it should be. There was only one moment where the movie had me thinking of real life, which was where the protagonist and her bestie were barged in on and terrified by their two immature male friends. When I was younger, I was aware that some of my own idiot friends thought it was funny to scare women and girls, but this was a joke I never got, because I don't think it's funny to make people who are generally smaller and weaker than me feel afraid.
There is another scene which probably struck a chord with most viewers, but it missed its mark with me. It's where the protagonist is terrified to be walking around alone at night-time, as a young woman. Feminists want us to believe that all women are terrified of men all the time because we are just so-o-o-o likely to murder them.
The thing is, statistically, they aren't and we're not. Studies have shown that only one in four women is afraid walking around alone at night time, which didn't surprise me considering how often women have come up to me asking for directions after dark. Plus, men are about 80% of all murder victims worldwide. Women are even much less likely to be the victim of a violent crime than men are.
What's funny is that the antagonist, if that's what he is, isn't scary or weird enough for us to share the protagonist's fear. Nicholas Braun is far more suited to an indie drama than he is playing the bad guy in a thriller. He may be very tall, but he doesn't appear even remotely capable of violence.
I suppose the point is we're supposed to ponder if the character really did enough to make the protagonist afraid, or if that was just her overreacting? I don't know. It didn't underline that ambiguity enough, perhaps because the filmmakers were too scared of angering feminists by implying there is ever a time where women shouldn't be terrified.
It actually could have been interesting and thought-provoking, but the filmmakers seem reluctant to go for it. So we're left with tepid thrills and only the occasional interesting story beat.