Directed by: Josh Schwartz
This review contains a Cartoonish Kitty Carnage Warning!
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: A teenaged girl named Wren (Victoria Justice) has her Halloween night turned upside-down when her younger brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll) goes missing.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): During the course of their misadventures, Wren, her girlfriend April (Jane Levy), and acquaintance Peng (Osric Chau) all end up at Roosevelt’s (Thomas Mann) house. He lives with Jackie (Ana Gasteyer) and Barb (Kerri Kenney), his peace-loving, hippie lesbian parents, and a brown tabby cat named Tolstoy. Before entering the house, Roosevelt asks if any of them are wearing any kind of perfume or scented chemicals, as the cat is allergic. April neglects to mention that she has used Nair on her behind (for reasons we won’t get into here).
Cartoonish Kitty Carnage Warning! As Roosevelt talks to his moms about borrowing the car, Tolstoy the cat starts to wheeze and sneeze. April fans her behind, realizing the Nair is the cause of the cat’s discomfort. The cat is clearly animated in these segments.
Eventually April sits next to Tolstoy, who continues to gasp and wheeze and then finally keels over. “My ass is killing this cat!” April gasps.
It isn’t until the kids leave that Jackie and Barb notice Tolstoy is lying on his side. “Kitty down!” Barb cries.
Later in the film when Roosevelt returns home, Barb leans over and tries to use a nebulizer on Tolstoy, but the cat is having none of it.
The cat wrangler on the film was Sarah Clifford of Animal Savvy.
Final Mewsings: Cats are smart not to like chemical scents!
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