Being ghosted is the least of anyone’s problems in Cat Person, a psychological thriller that peels back the dangers of modern romance. What begins as a flirty spark, a few witty texts, and a seemingly sweet connection spirals into something darker, reminding us how easily desire can blur into fear.
Margot, a college sophomore working at a movie theater, meets Robert, an older man who frequents her counter. What starts as a harmless meet-cute turns into constant messaging and mounting tension. At first, their chemistry feels exciting, even promising. But as Robert’s behavior grows inconsistent and his stories start to contradict, Margot begins to notice the red flags: the strange messages, the possessive tone, the fact that he might’ve lied about owning cats at all. Soon, her imagination races ahead of her reality, feeding her doubts until she’s trapped between attraction, discomfort, and dread.
Emilia Jones delivers a gripping performance as Margot—vulnerable, confused, and painfully relatable to anyone who’s ever questioned their own instincts. Opposite her, Nicholas Braun plays Robert with unnerving precision: part charm, part menace, and just familiar enough to make the danger feel real. Together, they pull you into the disquieting headspace of a relationship that’s equal parts fantasy and threat.
Directed by Susanna Fogel and written by Michelle Ashford, Cat Person first premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and is an adaptation of Kristen Roupenian’s viral 2017 short story from The New Yorker. Rather than offering tidy answers about dating and consent, the film thrives in the gray area—the awkward texts, the overthinking, the quiet panic of realizing you might not be safe but not knowing how to say no. It’s an uncomfortable mirror to modern dating, one that asks: Do I actually like this person, or do I just like that they like me?
In an interview, Fogel captured the heart of that discomfort: “It’s neither a great love story where no one has to ask because everybody just reads each other’s minds, nor are most encounters a clear-cut case of somebody drawing a boundary verbally and the other person overriding it in a problematic and illegal way. Most encounters are in between. That ambiguity is the kind of thing that people are more hesitant to acknowledge.”
Cat Person doesn’t aim to solve the dating dilemma—it simply holds a mirror up to it, showing us what happens when politeness, power, and fear collide in the age of connection.
If you think you know modern romance, think again. Cat Person starts streaming exclusively on Lionsgate Play starting October 17 via PLDT Home, Smart and Cignal.