Emilia Jones and Nicholas Braun in *Cat Person.*

Cat-and-Mouse Game

It was never going to be easy adapting “Cat Person,” Kristen Roupenian’s viral New Yorker short story, into a movie—even with Nicholas Braun starring

By Will Zimmerman

Cat Person, the $12 million adaptation of the groundbreaking New Yorker short story by Kristen Roupenian, has been met with … crickets. Since its release on October 6, the film has grossed less than $35,000, and its score of 52/100 on Metacritic offers no further assurances.

Published in 2017, “Cat Person,” the story, charts an ill-fated and morally scrupulous relationship between the college-age Margot and an older, less discriminate “cat person” named Robert. Roupenian’s prose was lauded for its nuanced, profound investigation of topics such as gendered expectations, the power dynamics of dating, and the female perspective on consent.