Cats! Gotta love ’em. But how much is too much love? Talking to them constantly? Getting in their faces to tell them how special they are? Taking them everywhere with you on your shoulder—from a ferry to a ski slope? Telling even a disembodied robot, Alexa, that you adore them?
The subject of filmmaker Lasse Linder’s 17-minute documentary All Cats Are Gray in the Dark does all of the above and more. The short is a portrait of the relationship the self-dubbed “Catman” has with two Scottish Folds: Marmelade and Katyusha. The New York Times recently published this doc with the headline “I’m Not Alone. I Have My Cats.,” and indeed it is a meditation on what constitutes loneliness. Is it fair to say that Catman lives “alone” in his small Switzerland town when he has his two beloved felines to occupy his time and attention?
The ingenious thing about this deadpan doc is that it can function as a sort of emotional Rorschach—viewers will pity or admire the subject depending on their own capacity to bond with animals and the resulting fulfillment.
Also, it’s just teeming with excellent shots.
You can watch the short in its entirety here: