Cat Person Plot Summary
A college student, Margot (Emilia Jones), gets involved with a mysterious loner, Robert (Nicholas Braun) after she meets him while working at her local arthouse cinema. They get to know each other, and go on a few dates until it becomes clear Robert isn’t right for her, and the relationship quickly turns sour.
What does Margot do in response to Robert’s abusive messages?
Margot receives a brutal onslaught of text messages from Robert, while she sits on her bed with her friend, Taylor. The abuse ends plain and simply with the word “WHORE.”
It all comes about after Margot ended things with him, and then does her best to avoid him in a bar when she sees him while out with friends. She becomes convinced he is stalking her, when she sees him waiting outside the cinema she works at. She calls the police but they are unable to do anything as Robert hasn’t actually been proven to do anything wrong.
Armed with mace, and a tracker to stick on his car, she approaches his home and breaks into his garage, and is interrupted by the same black dog that appeared outside her residence at the start of the movie. This disturbs Robert, and he comes down into the garage to investigate, just after she has placed the tracker on his car.
Robert is surprised to see her, and asks what she has in her hand, and then tries to wrestles it off her. She sprays mace in her own eyes, after being overpowered by Robert.
What happens between Margot and Robert in the house?
Robert and Margot are now inside his apartment, as Margot is struggling with her stinging eyes. She asks Robert to get some water, to which he tells her she will need a proper cleaning agent. She then suggests this isn’t the first time he’s faced a scenario like this. He responds that it’s actually because he’s a nurse, and knows about these things, but Margot never asked him what he did for a living.
When Robert heads to the kitchen to get something to ease Margot’s stinging eyes, and she sneakily calls 911, but he catches her in the act. A brutal fight ensues between them in the kitchen. She bites him, and he tries to strangle her.
What happens after the house is engulfed in flames?
The fight then proceeds to the basement, where Margot accidentally starts a fire during the commotion, and Robert opens up a crawl space to save them both from the fire, but Margot insists on not joining him. After a minute or so, she decides this is the only way she can survive, and reluctantly climbs in crawl space with Robert.
The rest of the house burns down, and the next day, the police are on the scene, with the fire put out and the house in ruins. Taylor, who had followed Margot to the house the night before after becoming worried about her, is told that they didn’t find anyone in the house. However, moments later they announce that two people have been found alive in the crawl space. Robert and Margot.
How does Cat Person end?
A short time after, a fully recovered Margot rides her bike past where Robert’s house used to be, with her friend Taylor. It is revealed that Robert quit his job and moved away after the fire, and Margot questions the events of that night, and Taylor tells her she wants to hear the full story one day.
The movie ends with Margot back working at the arthouse cinema, and engaging with customers once again. An older man, played by Michael Gandolfini, asks her for her number, and this is when it cuts to the credits. Did Margot say yes to the man’s request for her number? Or has she finally learnt her lesson about getting involved with an strange man? Nobody knows but it’s certainly left on an ambiguous note to ponder this thought.
Read More: Cat Person Movie Review