Based on the polarizing New Yorker short story of the same name, “Cat Person” is a 2023 thriller starring Emilia Jones and Nicholas Braun, currently streaming on Hulu. Both the original short story, written by Harvard graduate Kristen Roupenian, and the feature film have generated a fair share of conflict online. 

The short story, and the movie by association, have been the center of a slew of online conversations. Ranging from criticisms of the unspoken representation of privilege, the supposed demonization of a vulnerable man, and the nuances of a bad experience in the bedroom. 

However, the short story drew its fair share of praises as well. Most young women can cite an uncomfortable experience with an older man and many of these young women felt “Cat Person” resonated with them in a way they hadn’t felt before. Roupenian organizes the short story in a way that captures the necessary feelings of excitement, trepidation, and guilt that typically follows these encounters. 

As with so many culturally significant pieces of writing, a movie soon followed. 

Directed by Susanna Fogel, best known for her 2018 comedy, “The Spy Who Dumped Me”. She injects her signature humoristic style into “Cat Person” in the form of dream sequences and Margot’s imagination, drawing the audience into the mindset of a slightly paranoid, adrift twenty-year old. 

Emilia Jones, best known for her role in “CODA”, best picture winner of 2022, is Margot. She’s actually the same age of her character, a relatively rare thing to see in Hollywood, making her character’s naivety and poor life choices all the more believable. 

Nicholas Braun, otherwise known as Cousin Greg in HBO’s hit drama series “Succession” stars opposite Jones as Robert. After four seasons of seeing him as the awkward, yet endearing character of Cousin Greg, it’s strange to see him portraying an actually functional adult. 

Ironically, Braun recently came under fire for pursuing women significantly younger than him, which makes his character of Robert much too real and potentially harmful to the lasting reputation of the movie. 

“Cat Person” (2023) sees Margot meet Robert in the exact same way as in the short story, behind the counter of a concessions stand at her local movie theater. After his second time into the theater, he asks for her number and the two begin a steady text thread. 

With a thirteen-year age gap between them, Robert and Margot’s tentative relationship maintains a feeling of unease and power displacement. It’s an interesting dynamic to watch as well as read in the original short story. 

Where their relationship begins to unravel, is in person. Their relationship is quick, personal, and witty through text. In person, Robert is awkward, condescending, and overly fond of Harrison Ford. He’s also kind of old, and not in a cool way, as Margot finds out. 

On their first ‘date’ Robert takes Margot to her own workplace to see a showing of “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”. Already an awkward setting, Robert continually ignores her attempts to quip about the movie and recites Han Solo’s lines during the infamous kiss scene between him and Princess Leia. 

The movie uses an unsuspecting Harrison Ford to make a distinct point about the dating culture of the ’80s, the overly masculine focus of much of Ford’s filmography, as well as hint towards Robert’s true demeanor. Fogel speaks more about the choice of using Harrison Ford and the problematic nature of many of his movie’s romantic subplots here. 

Speaking of movie kisses, “Cat Person” contains one of the most uncomfortable and cringiest kiss scenes at the midpoint of the movie. Bringing to life one of the most memorable scenes from the short story, Robert and Margot share a kiss that shocks her with how clumsy and inexperienced it is. 

From here, Margot feels significantly more comfortable with Robert and then in the following scenes, quickly becomes disillusioned with the entire concept of Robert. What follows is a recreation of the painfully awkward night the two spend together in the short story. Be warned, this is not a movie to watch with your parents. 

Shortly after the best, and grotesquely familiar, scene of the movie is where the script begins to fall apart. The first two-thirds of the movie highlights what made the short story so provocative and effective in its message. A fumbled genre shift near the end devalues some of the movie but it’s nonetheless entertaining all the way through. 

Where the infamous short story “Cat Person” ends, the movie “Cat Person” continues. The short story ends on an aggressive text thread from Robert, capping the story with a subversion of his texts from the beginning of their exchange. 

In the movie, these texts pop up on Margot’s screen with forty minutes to go. From there, the movie spirals dramatically, seeming to lose sight of what made the short story so relatable, controversial, and culturally significant. The realism factor. 

Without giving too much away, the movie descends into chaos with the help of stalking, tracking devices, a lot of mace, and an arbitrary house fire. Where the short story shined because of its roots in reality for many, the movie sensationalizes and unravels in an attempt to turn itself into a horror movie. 

Braun and Jones both deliver wide-eyed panicked performances in some of the best acting of the movie. Unfortunately, this is accompanied by some of the worst writing of the movie, in a hamfisted attempt to finalize the message of the story. 

It’s a relevant issue in the age of dating apps to project an impression of someone over their text messages and “Cat Person” effectively shows the reality of this. Margot’s perspective of Robert drastically shifts throughout the movie, from his texting persona to who he really is in life, as a flesh and blood person. 

A commentary both on the modern age of dating as well as the current climate of digital communication, “Cat Person” is a cautionary tale for prospective daters as well as screenplay authors looking to avoid a bad ending to their movie.