Films featuring cats usually do well in cinemas and during festivals, as they speak to a wide audience and Hwang Soo-bin's ‘Cat Kiss' is no exception. Overall, it is a very enjoyable film, perfect for the entire family, even when dealing with difficult topics such as grief and loss.
Cat Kiss is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
Even though it's been a few years since Yong-hee's wife died, the now-single parent is still not coping. He writes children's books, which his wife used to illustrate, but as a result of her death he's struggling with writer's block. At the same time, he's also been blocking out his emotions. This manifests itself physically in his inability to enter the rooms she worked in. Then, one day he starts hearing weird noises in that room. It turns out his son Jae-in has smuggled a kitten into the house. When a leak needs fixing, Ro-an, a neighbor and carpenter, enters their lives. Her suggestion to turn the abandoned room into a cat room is only the first of many changes she puts into motion. But Ro-an suffered a loss as well and is coping in her own way.
When it comes to the storytelling, it shows that ‘Cat Kiss' is Hwang Soo-bin's debut feature film. Towards the second half of the film the events get predictable and some of the characters are slightly over the top, bordering on caricatures. At the same time, some interesting seeds are being planted throughout the movie but sadly these are not followed up upon. An example of this is the confusion about Jae-in being a boy instead of a girl, which could have led to some interesting discussions, but now fails to add to the story.
However, the script also has a lot going for it, leaving room for the audience to find out things at their own pace. The tone of the film is gentle and funny without getting too sugary-sweet. This is in part due to the actors and their performances. Oh Dong-min portrays the emotionless father as slightly aloof but at the same time sympathetic. Ryu A-bel as Ro-an is like a fresh wind both in the story and onscreen. Their performances are solid and the changes their characters go through are believable. But the star of the film is, without a doubt, the young actor portraying Jae-in who with a natural charm brings a subtle and endearing performance. And of course, Bonjour, the cat, steals the show.
A couple of times, Hwang Soo-bin has chosen to combine animation and live action in the same shot, for example when Ro-an envisions the future cat room. At first this might seem a strange choice, but because the style of the animation relates to the mother working as an illustrator, these scenes feel like natural elements of the movie. Frankly, it is a shame that there aren't more of these scenes as they allow for a playful way to talk about and show emotions that would go well with the overall tone of voice.
Overall, there are more than enough reasons to have high expectations for Hwang Soo-bin's next film. She put quite a few good elements into ‘Cat Kiss', maybe even too many. A bit more focus and some choices in style and story will make her next endeavor not just an enjoyable but a great film that will be loved by a wide audience.
