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Kristen Roupenian’s 2017 New Yorker short story Cat Person became a viral sensation, inviting wildly different interpretations of complicity and culpability within a relationship that never even really got started. Now, writer Michelle Ashford adapts her story into a full-length feature, which has taken on more significance since the #metoo movement and has plenty to say in a format that can’t quite be grouped into any one genre.
I had the chance to speak with Ashford about her familiarity with the story, working with director Susanna Fogel, and whether it helps that audiences know stars Emilia Jones and Nicholas Braun from other prominent roles.
You can watch the video above, and read below for an official summary and where to watch.
Film summary:
Susanna Fogel (The Flight Attendant, The Wilds) directs this genre-bending thriller about the horrors of dating in the 21st Century, adapted by Michelle Ashford (Masters of Sex, The Pacific, Operation Mincemeat) from the acclaimed New Yorker short story by Kristen Roupenian.
When Margot, a college sophomore (Emilia Jones, Locke and Key, CODA) goes on a date with the older Robert (Nicholas Braun, Succession, Zola), she finds that IRL Robert doesn’t live up to the Robert she has been flirting with over texts. CAT PERSON is a razor-sharp exploration of the gender divide, the quagmire of navigating modern dating and the dangerous projections we make in our minds about the person at the other end of our phones.
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Cat Person opens theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, October 6th.