Cat Person
Rialto Pictures | Release Date: October 6, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
17
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Jen ChaneyOct 19, 2023
The most compelling moments come from watching Braun and Jones advancing toward and retreating from each other. It doesn’t sound quite right to say they have good chemistry; it’s more accurate to say that both actors understand how to make the lack of chemistry between their characters real and tangible. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJan 22, 2023
By swerving into territory already better owned by outrageous indies like Promising Young Woman — and to a lesser degree, last year's Sundance breakout Fresh — Cat forfeits its own underlying message, without finding anything else new or even particularly coherent to say. Read full review
57
Paste MagazineJesse HassengerJan 30, 2023
Rather than containing relatable multitudes in a compact story ready-made for online sharing, a bigger-screen Cat Person turns paper-thin. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyOct 6, 2023
The film captures a little bit of the flame of the original, particularly when it allows itself to be funny. It works really well as a comedy, almost of "manners," although manners aren't really in sight. Read full review
50
ColliderRoss BonaimeFeb 3, 2023
There are great ideas within Cat Person, and when this story sticks to the meat of the original story, it’s a fascinating look at dating from a female perspective. Unfortunately, the nose dive in its intent in the final act, when Cat Person gets away from the short story, makes Cat Person two-thirds a solid film, and one-third an absurd blunder. Read full review
50
PolygonKatie RifeFeb 1, 2023
As filmmakers try to figure out how to lasso the internet and tame it for the screen, Cat Person is mostly useful as a lesson in what not to do. Read full review
50
The Film StageJordan RaupJan 26, 2023
Every so often the semblance of a promising adaptation peeks beyond the surface, but ultimately it all gets swallowed in a reductive muck of misguided choices that over-explains what the short story left up for discussion. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearJan 22, 2023
You can’t say that Cat Person is shy about taking the medium to task for selling a romantic ideal that’s more than a little curdled. If only it was this rigorous and incisive about the source material itself. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 22, 2023
If "Cat Person" could just strip away all the nonsense and instead focus on its more realistic, genuine elements, it would be something special. Instead, it ends up being a mildly amusing mixed bag.  Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJan 22, 2023
There is nothing better about this Cat Person, which coarsens, flattens and torturously over-elaborates a story whose elegant concision was precisely what made it such rich and elastic interpretive fodder. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 28, 2023
Had Roupenian stretched out Margot’s ordeal into the turgid novella it hereby becomes, we’d never have heard of Cat Person in the first place. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeOct 26, 2023
No great blame attaches to Emilia Jones or Nicholas Braun. Both leads do their best with a screenplay that doesn’t allow the creaks in meaning that made the story such a sensation. Read full review
40
EmpireLaura VenningOct 26, 2023
Adapting a relatively uneventful short story was always going to be tricky, and despite some strong performances and wry observations, Cat Person’s disastrous ending takes everything else down with it. Read full review
40
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJan 25, 2023
Cat Person is not as compelling as it perhaps aims to be and, though there are great — and even uncomfortable — moments in the film, it doesn’t justify its tonal shifts or its feature length. Read full review
40
NMELou ThomasJan 25, 2023
Much like a bad date, Cat Person feels like a missed opportunity. Read full review
40
TimeStephanie ZacharekJan 24, 2023
When it comes to dating, there’s no doubt we live in confusing times. But no one needs a confused movie about dating confusion, and Cat Person’s ideas are so blurry it’s impossible to know what its goals are. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJan 22, 2023
The chillingly unanswered questions of the story are all given the most obvious answers imaginable and relatability is carelessly tossed aside, along with logic and investment. Read full review
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