Written and directed by stars Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson, framed as a film for Will’s mother, we too are invited to witness how Will deals with the grief of his mother’s cancer. The duo work on their animations and face the frustrations of trying to make this documentary. Whilst alone, Will turns to Dom (voiced by Tobias Feltus), the animated cat that lives on his laptop screen.
Film has always been a great medium for exploring complex emotional moments in life, a way to remember and process difficult times. That’s exactly what Will Anderson does with A Cat Called Dom, it’s a free-flowing portrayal of confronting the possibility of loss. It’s not straight forward or structured, it’s a blending together of moments and thoughts, in a fairly chaotic way.
That chaos has its advantages and disadvantages, the creation of Dom as a means of facing Will’s deflection and denial was a great idea. It adds an undeniable charm and larger personality to the film, while weaving in Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson’s animation skills. Mixing animation with the real world is not always successful but containing Dom within screens means that it blends in effortlessly. The voice work from Tobias Feltus only pushes that charm further, he brings a touch of comedy and self-deprecating air which is very endearing.
On the other hand, the film’s style being akin to a stream of thought, can sometimes feel like you’re missing parts of the conversation. There’s almost a downward spiral progression to A Cat Called Dom and the deeper it goes into distraction, it starts to lose its impact. The choice itself is a thoughtful reflection of being faced with the idea of a family member passing but it doesn’t always work well. Although Anderson and Henderson do a great job of capturing the different tones, that the film is coming from an extremely loving place but is also filled with sadness.
An unexpected element is how much warmth Ainslie Henderson brings, particularly in the later scenes, adding a supportive and kind air. The moments where Will’s mother appears in the film also feed into its grounded feel, being very candid and touching. Adding in scenes of their other animation work in progress is also a nice addition, exploring the process, and the writing has a great sense of humour and entertaining style to it.
A Cat Called Dom is like reading someone’s diary, delving into their errant thoughts and procrastinations. Exploring how we can often try to distract ourselves or go into flat out denial when faced with the potential loss of a loved one. The film encapsulates that retreat into yourself, it’s intentionally messy and extremely personal. Its purposefully unstructured and chaotic nature works but it also has its limitations, without a stronger guide at the helm and bouncing around so much, it can feel like we’re not getting the full story.
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