Missing Kitty
Director/Writer/Producer: Lenni Uitto
Starring: Karlee Broschinsky, Eric McGraw, Tua Kealoha, Sila Agavale, Julie-Anne Liechty, Connor James Moore, Dutch Vanderlaan, and Shane Morrisun
Missing Kitty is a story of a mentally unhinged man who kidnaps a young girl who goes about in search of her missing kitten. When her kitten goes missing a girl goes about asking everyone in the neighborhood distributing leaflets with her kitten’s picture on them, she knocks on the door of a man who will turn her life around. This short film explores the idea of the things that could lead a man insane when they act upon him since childhood. The things that we say to a person, the way we smear his budding mind with the things that provoke him later in his life which could jeopardize the lives around him is presented in this film.
The film opens with a group of teens ganging up on a boy and cornering him about how he doesn’t play with a cat. Then we see two kids asking about a missing kitten door-to-door. The little girl who is sad about her missing kitten is solaced by her mother who later reports the missing of her daughter to the police. The young girl disappears for about a day when the police come by to collect more details. The distressed mother acts out when the police try to calm her down.
The screenplay is written in such an intelligent way that in the end of the film a rush of emotion and fear surges up. The little girl is shown crying who realizes a kitten collar on her neck when she finds herself in a dark room. Occasionally the room to the door opens slowly to reveal a man with gloves offering food to the kidnapped girl whom he calls Kitty. While the girl leaves after asking about a missing kitten, the man who kidnaps her asks where to bring the kitten if he finds it which is how he finds her address and kidnaps her. We see him totally oblivious to the fact that he has kidnapped a girl and he treats her like he does a kitten. That reality is disturbing and the idea of being in control of such a person is scary. The occasional opening and closing of the dark room is complemented by a background music that is played in his house.
The actor who played the mentally deranged person has done a great job portraying such a disturbing personality. We can witness his acting abilities when he stares at the list he compiles and how he eats the Noodles. The way he looks out through the window where three sticks bearing a word that is later revealed as Kitty stand is amazing. The obliviousness in his expression is what this film is about. The photography has really played a vital role to set the mood for such a short horror film. The girl later flees when he tries to forcefully feed her the cat food by kicking him and he is later arrested.
Missing Kitty is a thoughtfully written story which is executed with equal determination. The performances of all the actors add such a realistic color to the plot. The film ends reminding us of the boy that was bullied when the camera closes in on the mentally disturbed man. The concept of the film is new and appreciable.
