Housekeeping (1987)

Directed by: Bill Forsyth

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

Synopsis: Sisters Ruth (Sara Walker) and Lucille (Andrea Burchill) are taken aback after their mother’s suicide when their eccentric Aunt Sylvie (Christine Lahti) arrives to take care of them.

Cat Cattle Call: Sylvie lives in a world of her own and as a result housekeeping and convention go out the window. In addition, numerous cats start to appear around the house, showing up in various scenes. For the most part they are in the background, on a couch or a bed.

Housekeeping - brown tabby cat on couch behind Ruth Sara Walker and Lucille Andrea Burchill
Housekeeping - two tabby cats on bed beside Ruth Sara Walker

In a couple of cases several cats run in or out of a room or the house when someone enters or exits.

Housekeeping - longhaired cream cat walking into room with Ruth Sara Walker
Housekeeping - longhaired cream cat and dark tabby walking into room with Ruth Sara Walker
Housekeeping - ginger and dark tabby cats walking into room with Ruth Sara Walker
Housekeeping - two cats entering house behind Ruth Sara Walker

Later in the film Sylvie and Ruth return home after wandering around all night. Two tabbies are on the couch but Ruth moves one to lie down. The other remains on the arm of the sofa.

Housekeeping - brown tabby cat and ginger tabby cat on couch as Ruth Sara Walker approaches
Housekeeping - brown tabby cat being moves from couch by Ruth Sara Walker with Sylvie Christine Lahti and ginger tabby cat
Housekeeping - Ruth Sara Walker on couch and Sylvie Christine Lahti on chair with ginger tabby cat between them

Two cats are also present when a women’s aid group does a welfare check on the family.

Housekeeping - woman sitting down with ginger tabby cat and cream tabby cat behind her

Finally a tabby cat is eating out of a pot of stew left on a table.

Housekeeping - dark brown tabby cat eating from stew pot with Ruth Sara Walker and Sylvie Christine Lahti
Housekeeping - dark brown tabby cat eating from stew pot with Ruth Sara Walker and Sylvie Christine Lahti

Final Mewsings: Cats may not complain but they do appreciate good housekeeping.

Many thanks to Ted Davis for letting us know about the cats in this film!

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