October 19, 2023
FILM: CAT PERSON
DIRECTED BY: SUSANNA FOGEL
STARRING: EMILIA JONES, NICHOLAS BRAUN, GERALDIN VISWANATHAN
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The world of dating has been a major subject for films since the beginning of the medium. What’s interesting about Susanna Fogel’s Cat Person is how she treats the discussions of attraction, media, and stalking. Based on a short story that appeared in the New Yorker, the film follows Margot, played by CODA’s Emilia Jones, a college student working at a movie theater which runs old films. One day a bearded customer named Robert, played by Succession’s Nicholas Braun, arrives to see a film. Margot is attracted to him even though he appears to be much older than her. The film follows her perspective, in part, through a number of fantasy sequences as she imagines the two of them in various intimate situations. We also witness her thoughts through text messages to her friend Taylor (Gerald Viswanathan.) We learn little though about Robert’s own intentions until much later in the film and that’s a good thing.
Casting Nicholas Braun as Robert is particularly inspired as the innocence and goofiness that we associate with his character on Succession helps to cloud what his own perspective might be. When we do experience some of Margot’s fantasies, a whole other side of Braun is seen. He’s definitely physically bigger than her, which creates in him an almost menacing, perhaps predatory, quality. There’s a darker side to his personality that shines through making us question whether their connection is safe or not. Of course, being that he is 33 he uses “older” expressions like “honey” and “sweetheart” with Margot suggesting that they he is an old-fashioned guy. (Although it’s a little hard to believe that a 33 year-old today would use any of those words, but here he does.) Interestingly, the music chosen for most of the film are tunes from earlier eras, such as “I Only Have Eyes for You,” which ask us to re-evaluate what those songs might really be saying in today’s dating world.
The age difference is less pronounced than the potential stalking that Margot believes may be one of the biggest dangers associated with him. Yet, there are constant references to older man younger women relationships from the movies, in particular Harrison Ford, who is seen in scenes with the younger Carrie Fisher in The Empire Strikes Back. Similarly, at one point we see Margot singing the old Marilyn Monroe song “My Heart Belongs to Daddy,” perhaps suggesting that Margot is in fact the one who is pursuing and stalking Robert with her interest in older men.
The fact that there are so many allusions to older films, music, and television shows says a lot about what Cat Person is trying to explore. Women, in particular, seem to be inspired by depictions of male/female relationships that the media has fed us for decades: Men are predatory, women are innocent, women need to stand up to men, and protect themselves, and so on. It’s interesting then that it is Margot who sends Robert a sexy photo of herself and not the other way around. Perhaps director Susanna Fogel is suggesting that women also need to take responsibility for how they present themselves to a man.
Overall, the film allows the viewers many ideas to debate. There is, sadly, a scene near the end of the film that is a bit over-the-top taking the narrative in a momentarily unrealistic direction. Yet, I think there are enough intriguing ideas here to overlook that part of the story as nothing more than a Hollywood-style climax. There is plenty more to chew on here than that: trust, innocence, predatory behavior, etc. that allows this to be an interesting and provocative reflection on dating today.
Cat Person premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It opens this week at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.
FILM: CAT PERSON
DIRECTED BY: SUSANNA FOGEL
STARRING: EMILIA JONES, NICHOLAS BRAUN, GERALDIN VISWANATHAN
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The world of dating has been a major subject for films since the beginning of the medium. What’s interesting about Susanna Fogel’s Cat Person is how she treats the discussions of attraction, media, and stalking. Based on a short story that appeared in the New Yorker, the film follows Margot, played by CODA’s Emilia Jones, a college student working at a movie theater which runs old films. One day a bearded customer named Robert, played by Succession’s Nicholas Braun, arrives to see a film. Margot is attracted to him even though he appears to be much older than her. The film follows her perspective, in part, through a number of fantasy sequences as she imagines the two of them in various intimate situations. We also witness her thoughts through text messages to her friend Taylor (Gerald Viswanathan.) We learn little though about Robert’s own intentions until much later in the film and that’s a good thing.
Casting Nicholas Braun as Robert is particularly inspired as the innocence and goofiness that we associate with his character on Succession helps to cloud what his own perspective might be. When we do experience some of Margot’s fantasies, a whole other side of Braun is seen. He’s definitely physically bigger than her, which creates in him an almost menacing, perhaps predatory, quality. There’s a darker side to his personality that shines through making us question whether their connection is safe or not. Of course, being that he is 33 he uses “older” expressions like “honey” and “sweetheart” with Margot suggesting that they he is an old-fashioned guy. (Although it’s a little hard to believe that a 33 year-old today would use any of those words, but here he does.) Interestingly, the music chosen for most of the film are tunes from earlier eras, such as “I Only Have Eyes for You,” which ask us to re-evaluate what those songs might really be saying in today’s dating world.
The age difference is less pronounced than the potential stalking that Margot believes may be one of the biggest dangers associated with him. Yet, there are constant references to older man younger women relationships from the movies, in particular Harrison Ford, who is seen in scenes with the younger Carrie Fisher in The Empire Strikes Back. Similarly, at one point we see Margot singing the old Marilyn Monroe song “My Heart Belongs to Daddy,” perhaps suggesting that Margot is in fact the one who is pursuing and stalking Robert with her interest in older men.
The fact that there are so many allusions to older films, music, and television shows says a lot about what Cat Person is trying to explore. Women, in particular, seem to be inspired by depictions of male/female relationships that the media has fed us for decades: Men are predatory, women are innocent, women need to stand up to men, and protect themselves, and so on. It’s interesting then that it is Margot who sends Robert a sexy photo of herself and not the other way around. Perhaps director Susanna Fogel is suggesting that women also need to take responsibility for how they present themselves to a man.
Overall, the film allows the viewers many ideas to debate. There is, sadly, a scene near the end of the film that is a bit over-the-top taking the narrative in a momentarily unrealistic direction. Yet, I think there are enough intriguing ideas here to overlook that part of the story as nothing more than a Hollywood-style climax. There is plenty more to chew on here than that: trust, innocence, predatory behavior, etc. that allows this to be an interesting and provocative reflection on dating today.
Cat Person premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It opens this week at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.