Sundance’s ‘Cat Person’

The short story’s journey to the big screen

STELLA SCHNEIDER / ASST. A&C EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

In 2017, Kristen Roupenian published her first fictional story, “Cat Person,” in the New Yorker Magazine while in her MFA program at the University of Michigan. When Roupenian submitted her story, she likely didn’t expect the reception. Within weeks of publication, “Cat Person” went viral. It was written two months after The New Yorker first published allegations against Harvey Weinstein, creating more room for honest discussions about women’s experiences. “Cat Person” explores relationships through their miscommunication, awkward interactions and strange sexual encounters for women in particular.

This story on screen is similar to that of the original story, following college student Margot, played by Emilia Jones, as she enters a relationship with an older man, Robert, played by Nicholas Braun, who frequents the movie theater where she works. 

Audiences connected with the story’s tale of online dating, consent and the nuances of age gap relationships. “Cat Person” pushes readers to evaluate their own past relationships. Conversations around the article during the time of the #MeToo movement were rampant, and readers questioned the love interest, Robert, and his motivations, considering he was an older man talking to a sophomore girl in college.

Since its initial release in 2017, “Cat Person” drummed up conversations due to its controversial writing of a fictional relationship, and — years later — the story gained a second life. Alexis Nowicki released an article in 2021 entitled, “Cat Person and Me,” in which Nowicki expressed her connection to the viral story and Roupenian. Her essay explains how Roupenian was drawing from specific details about Nowicki’s own life. The work of fiction mirrored ample details of Nowicki’s relationship with an older man when she was enrolled in college. This man shared the same description of ‘Robert,’ and their first date was similar to that of the fictional story. Nowicki’s personal story started conversations around the original work once again, revisiting ideas around dating, consent and age gaps. 

By the time “Cat Person and Me” was published, director Susanna Fogel had already been working with screenwriter Michelle Ashford to get “Cat Person” to the big screen. In fact, Nowicki mentions the casting of Nicholas Braun for the lead male in the film. 

In this story about modern romance and dating, from long text exchanges to awkward in- person dates, the set-up of this relationship feels real on the screen because of its adaptation from the short story. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, “Cat Person” retains cultural relevance, revitalizing the same conversations from when the short story was initially published.

In her essay, Nowicki shared a conversation with Roupenian about how the story had affected her. 

“When ‘Cat Person’ came out, I was the target of an immense amount of anger on the part of male readers who felt that the character of Robert had been treated unfairly,” Roupenian said. 

This story highlighted power dynamics in relationships and just as it sparked controversy in 2017, those topics were still relevant. Age gap relationships tend to have an imbalance of power, with the older of the two having dated more or experienced more in life. 

“Cat Person” tells a story of this power balance of Robert and Margot, but also attributing some power to Margot in her youth. Many women who read “Cat Person” realized the problematic behavior of men in their relationships, whereas men who read the story viewed what Margot and Robert had as merely a ‘complicated relationship.’ Not only did Roupenian reveal this controversy, but later in “Cat Person and Me,” Nowicki brought up this idea of power in their relationship as well. “Cat Person” became a touchstone for how many men act in relationships. 

Because a short story cannot fit the length of a two hour movie, screenwriter Ashford joined the project, lengthened the story and added a new ending. This new ending focused on the ‘shock value’ to garner attention from audiences and increase moments of doubt and panic in an otherwise common story of dating in the modern world. In addition, a genre change altered the tone of the story, adding more thriller elements to draw in more audiences. Ashford wanted to add a psychological flair to the story to properly convey the fears and anxieties many women experience when dating. With a new genre and ending, the film’s departure from the initial story detracts from the intended meaning. While the original story thrives in its relatability to the readers and their own dating experience, the film adaptation focuses on conforming to the standards of mainstream Hollywood films. Ultimately, this decision abandons some relatable aspects of the relationship and highlights drawn-out, improbable elements to draw shock from the audiences. 

Despite the addition of a completely new ending, original author Roupenian was involved in the production of this film, seeing parts she wrote years ago recreated in a number of scenes. 

“I feel like I’m trying to just be amazed by [the short story making it all this way,] because it is amazing,” Roupenian said.

“Cat Person” can still draw in audiences to have conversations about the attitude of modern romance. “I think that five years is a long time [since the initial release] and a lot of the conversations around dating have moved in a lot of really interesting directions. What we talk about in relation to [the #MeToo movement]  now will be different from what we talked about in 2017,” Roupenian expressed. 

Under the premiere category at Sundance, “Cat Person” featured more predictable themes that appealed to audiences. The film uses thriller elements to place doubt on the couple as they venture into their new relationship, and uses comedy to lighten the mood of the topics at hand. This balance confused some of the meaning from the original story, letting the audience laugh at some of Margot’s concerns and see Robert in a different light than in the story. While it seems to work for the movie, it contradicts some meaning audiences relished in the short story. 

Roupenian’s “Cat Person” connected with audiences for her relatable description of a relationship, from the exciting first text exchanges, to the awkward dates, and ultimately the ending of their connection felt incredibly real as well. Many readers attached themselves to the relatable ending and how it paralleled their own experiences.  

While its public release date is yet to be announced, “Cat Person” has already become a large topic of conversation yet again, years after the original fictitious short story’s debut, thanks to the film’s 2023 feature at Sundance.