Cat Person: The Dating Thriller To Watch This Month
Looking for something a bit different to watch at the cinema this month? Cat Person, a new black comedy thriller from Booksmart writer Susanna Fogel, might be what you’re looking for.
Starring Emilia Jones (CODA), Nicholas Braun (Succession) and Geraldine Viswanathan (The Beanie Bubble), it’s based on a short story that appeared in The New Yorker several years ago, which went viral for its sly commentary on the world of modern dating. It focuses on the brief relationship between a 20-year-old student (Jones) and an older man (Braun), and its tense aftermath.
What is Cat Person about?
Back in 2017, The New Yorker published Cat Person by author Kristen Roupenian, a short story about Margot, a student who works at a cinema, and Robert, an older man who’s a regular. After meeting and getting her number, Robert starts extensive conversations through texts. Finding him funny and enjoying her chats with him, Margot tries to meet up with him more often but finds him awkward and aloof. Their odd relationship begins to deteriorate, with Margot’s roommate voicing her disapproval, and the film adapts and goes beyond the original story. Cat Person went viral on social media and attracted attention, particularly in the US, appealing to a young demographic experience of a changing world of dating.
What else do we know?
The film version keeps the same basic premise: Margot (Jones) meets the older Robert (Braun) and they bond through texts and a running joke about Robert’s cats (which may or may not exist), but it expands the story into more of a thriller. While Roupenian’s original story (which is fictional) remains mostly grounded in reality, the official trailer for the film teases that it goes into a more unconventional direction, along the lines of the Daisy Edgar Jones-starring Fresh from last year.
The trailer gives us a glimpse of how things might play out, with Margot talking with her roommate Taylor (Viswanathan) about whether continuing to date Robert is a good idea. After ghosting him, Robert starts turning hostile and sending insulting messages, Margot and Taylor seek help from their professor, Dr Enid (Isabella Rossellini)- but the trailer ominously ends with Margot concluding, “one of us has to die.”
Who else stars, and is there a release date?
The cast also includes Hope Davis (Succession), Fred Melamed (Barry), Liza Koshy (Work It) and Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark). Cat Person is set to have a limited release in UK cinemas from 23 October, before a later release on streaming.