Strayed

STRAYED is a twenty minute short film about a woman who is followed home by a cat. Soon after, the cat needs medical treatment and she takes it to a clinic who specializes in felines, at the request of her neurotic, cat-obsessed mother.

When the cat needs to be euthanized, her mother further surprises us with her insistence on a proper funeral and burial for the beloved stray cat. Although the daughter barely knew the cat, she reluctantly follows the direction of her insistent mother. While making arrangements at the funeral parlor and deciding on cat-sized caskets, the funeral director receives another call requesting that a family’s pet dog, a Great Dane, be exhumed. Twenty years later, this request is finally fulfilled in a fun twisty way, upon the death of the neurotic mother.

This fun little comedy is cleverly done, and a cute story told well. The teen actresses have excellent chemistry and wonderful dialogue that gives the story a vibrancy, despite the sad circumstances of death throughout. The costumes were well thought out and many ‘animal print’ fabrics were used in the wardrobe, as well as in the production design of this fun little drama. The film appears to have been set in the 1980’s and this served the story well, and contributed to creating nostalgia for the viewer with the use of appropriate props.

Even though we never see the mother’s face, her performance and character are very real and enjoyable. She should be considered for a BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS award for bringing this fun character alive on the screen.

The film should also be considered for BEST COMEDY SHORT FILM and BEST MUSIC SOUNDTRACK FOR A SHORT FILM. Filmed with half a dozen of the most adorable, well behaved and possibly trained felines in the business, the director captured many ‘aw, is that ever cute’ moments throughout the film. Cat lovers, in particular, will greatly appreciate and enjoy this film.

This was a great film that explored difficult subject matter, but handled it with a lightness and humor that is not easy to achieve. Picking out caskets and choosing funeral plans, are not generally pleasant tasks that any one chooses to do with enthusiasm or enjoyment. However, watching this young woman make arrangements for a stray cat that she didn’t know certainly captures the humorous side of these difficult decisions that are sometimes necessary in life.

The film is well edited and the pacing is fantastic. Lots of coverage for every scene helps to make this film move seamlessly, and the playful, light music sets the mood and is enjoyable throughout. The casting choices for the teenage characters and then the ’20 years later’ characters were well matched and appropriate, and most importantly, believable. This was risky because had it been done poorly, we would have been taken out of the story. However, the filmmakers made good decisions, and as a result, they have a film they should be proud of and that will entertain audiences. Congratulations to this cast and crew.