Shedding (2019)

by Linda Kay

Starring: Panda, Apollo, Samson, “Bluey”

Directed by: Jake Thomas

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

Synopsis: Panda is a bored house cat who is intrigued by the outside world. One day he wakes up as a human and wanders outside where fate has an important role for him to play.

Featured Felines: Panda is a white and black Harlequin cat who spends his days lounging about the house with his roommate, a smoke black cat named Apollo.

Shedding - black and white Harlequin cat Panda looking out window

Panda loves to watch the pigeons outside the window and dreams of running free across grassy fields.

Shedding - black and white Harlequin cat Panda sleeping

The most excitment Panda usually has is roughhousing with Apollo.

Shedding - black and white Harlequin cat Panda and smokey black cat Apollo playing

One day Panda watches as his owner leaves the front door open a crack. He ventures just past the doorway, looking down the stairs, until the owner comes back and Panda scurries back inside.

Shedding - black and white Harlequin cat Panda outside front door

Another morning Panda watches a woman getting into her ticketed car and driving away.

Shedding - black and white Harlequin cat Panda

Panda falls asleep and wakes up as a man (Lex Quarterman). Apollo is understandably just as surprised as Panda.

Shedding - smokey black cat Apollo hiding as feet pass

When Panda finally gets up the courage to leave the house, Apollo watches but does not follow.

Shedding - smokey black cat Apollo looking out front door

While out and about, Panda meets a woman (Karla Droege) who shows an immediate interest in him. Her daughter (Jacquelyn Zook) is less then happy about the fact that her mother has picked up a strange man. Missing cat posters are tacked up nearby and we see that Apollo and his owner are worried about what has happened to Panda.

Shedding - lost poster for black and white Harlequin cat Panda

Shedding - smokey black cat Apollo close up

Kitty Cameos: Out on the street, Panda spots a gray cat who does not pay much attention to him.

Shedding - blue gray cat on wall outside

During his adventures, Panda dreams about the time he was a kitten. He longs to return home, but will that be possible?

We don’t want to spoil this sweet story with too much more information. The photography of the cat actors is especially nice and Lex Quarterman does an outstanding job of capturing a cat’s mannerisms without being over the top. Needless to say, this is a film which cat lovers will definitely enjoy.

Shedding - black and white Harlequin cat Panda inside shirt

Shedding - black and white Harlequin cat Panda being held

According to to the film’s producer and cinematographer, Erin Brown Thomas, the film was shot on an iPhone 4 and played in numerous film festivals. Panda and Apollo are Erin and her husband Jake’s (the film’s writer and director) own cats whom they filmed documentary style over a four year period with only a few specific shots staged.

Shedding - black and white Harlequin cat Panda close up

The kitten appearing in the flashback scenes was a stray named Samson who found a good home afterwards. The blue cat recorded outside was a neighborhood kitty the couple referred to as “Bluey.” Erin also informed us that Panda’s biological sister, Grey Bear, did not appear on screen but acted as a “production assistant” during the shoot.