Be My Cat: A Film for Anne

A nasty film for fans of Gaspar Noe and the film Man Bites Dog in particular. Avoid if you don't like realistic or extreme horror.

In 2015's "Be My Cat: A Film for Anne" we are introduced to an independent filmmaker from Romania who is so shooting some sort of documentary for a movie where he has planned to cast Anne Hathaway. It's a found footage movie with a scarily realistic approach and we follow the young man documenting the process of his movie for Anne as if it was a fan video dedicated to her. He is casting three young woman to be part of his movie that obviously don't know of his true intentions.

Adrian Tofei who is playing the aspiring filmmaker also directed the flick and his portrayal as this delusional sick man who is obsessed with cats and Anne Hathaway was really convincing and his acting was pretty good. The movie had a realistic feel to it which made it the more disturbing.

However the movie really takes it's time before something happens and it's really slow paced. There's pretty much no gore to be found which was surprising to me and you could tell that the budget was really limited. I honestly found myself bored throughout the film because except conversations not much is happening and even though Adrian Tofei's performance is entertaining it is not able to provide for almost 90 minutes. But still the movie is innovative and definitely unique and disturbing in its own way however that doesn't automatically make a great movie. [4,7/10]

As one reviewer says it's for found footage fans. At first I found the main character to be annoying and no charm but pushed through to see what will happen. I kinda got used him and found him funny at times. There is no "seen" gore which is sometimes the payoff in these films so it's okay. It's a 5.5 than 6 for me.

I did end up watching it all so I can have a complete picture. It's awful beyond words, bad acting, bad dialogue, worse script. Can't imagine what twisted minds (except the creator) agreed to support this effort. The only thing I liked was the end song. I hope Anne never sees or even hears about this film (and that is from Romania).

As far as I can remember Be My Cat is the very first Romanian movie I have ever seen in my life. At first I did not even know what to expect from the film. After 87 minutes I was completely amazed!

One of the most courageous and stunning elements of this production is Adrian Tofei. The way he portrays the protagonist of the film is amazing. You never really know what to think about his character…at first you think he is just an innocent filmmaker from a small town who tries to pursuit his dreams. Even the camera-work and the found footage style itself strengthen this idea in you.

Sometimes you just laugh on his actions but somehow they remind you all the things you did in the past as an amateur filmmaker. Sometimes you are shocked because of him. It is really difficult to play such a complex role as this but Mr. Tofei did that without any mistake.

Let me talk about the female characters. Both Sonia Teodoriu and Florentina Hariton did a great job and did their best to portray their characters however unfortunately they were written a little bit too naive. On the other hand Alexandra Stroe and the last 15-20 minutes between her and Mr. Tofei was fascinating. That was the part of the film when I really saw a strong bond between the two characters and it made Ms. Stroe the most powerful female character in the motion picture.

As the previous review mentioned before, the visual effects – fake blood – were unfortunately not so well made and the ending of the film could have been done in other ways.

All in all, Be My Cat is a very brave, original, well-executed film with memorable scenes and a fantastic protagonist but what is the greatest achievement it has gained is its existence. Adrian Tofei and his crew proved that you can do movie magic without millions of dollars but with creativity and commitment to your work and that can raise hope for every independent filmmaker all over the world.