Directed by: Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky

This review contains some Kitty Carnage Warnings!

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Francine (Melissa Leo) tries to adjust to life after prison, sinking deeper into a world where animals are her main source of joy and comfort.

Cat Cattle Call: Francine interacts with many cats and dogs throughout the film. The first cat she meets is on a dock near her lakeside home. She calls the cat and holds and pets the animal lovingly.

As the movie progresses she takes in more and more animals until her home is overrun with them.

Francine loves the animals but in wanting to keep and care for so many their living conditions become far less than ideal. Eventually she just throws food on the floor for the dogs and cats to eat.

Kitty Carnage Warning: Later in the film Francine gets a job as a veterinarian’s assistant. There is one scene where a cat is drugged and prepped to be fixed.

Franny brings in one of her cats and the vet tells her the poor animal is covered with fleas and parasites and he wishes she had brought the animal in sooner.

The living conditions of the poor animals is hard to watch, as is a scene in which a dog is euthanized. There is an American Humane Association notice at the end of the movie saying some animal action was monitored and no animals were hurt during the making of the film, although the film is not listed on the AHA’s website. This may be an intense character study but despite the loving look of the movie’s poster it is probably a film animal lovers will want to steer clear of.

Final Mewsings: Hoarding animals is not the same as loving animals.

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