Another Person Writing About Cats

The vast majority of Cats reviews seem to have been written by food critics. The meaner, the better. The worse the experience, the funnier. The more bad blood, the cleverer the reviewer thinks themself.

If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll be well served by the garish colours, the inexistent plot, the singing and the arbitrary range of feline characters. There’s another way to watch Cats, though. You can let yourself go and, like Alice, fall into the senselessness. At that moment, the film stops being a film and goes beyond a cinematic experience. 

Staying in that hole gave me space to think of the tradition we all follow. How much are we willing to believe? Can we unhinge our preconceptions? Does credibility leave any room to manoeuvre?

Cats is muddled and absurd and unexpected. Also, unconsciously refreshing. You see Idris Elba (aka ‘the sexiest man alive’) dressed in a velvety feline costume or ponder on the distance between Sir Ian McKellen reciting Shakespeare and him drinking milk from a saucer, and there isn’t another option besides admiring the boldness of the show.

Still, if you want to have a laugh with some of the wittiest Cats reviews, click here.