Netflix And Chill: Catfight (2016)

All I knew about Catfight before I started watching it was that a) I had owned it for a while and b) it involved a fight between Sandra Oh and Anne Heche at some point. That's it. Surprisingly, this turned out to be a very darkly comedic film, taking a number of different fights as a way to completely change the lives of those involved.

Oh plays Veronica. She's quite happy with her life, supporting a successful husband and trying to dissuade her son from his interests in art in order for him to pursue a more successful path through higher education. Her main vice is drink. She tends to drink a bit too much when she starts on the wine, and gets a bit sloppy. This irritates her husband more than she knows, an irritation that is voiced as they are en route to a party. Heche plays Ashley, an artists who refuses to compromise her vision, even as her focus puts a strain on her relationship with her partner, Lisa (Alicia Silverstone). Ashley ends up helping out with bar service at the party Veronica is attending. The two eventually recognise one another from school days, with the conversation quickly turning into one full of barbs and vitriol. And that eventually leads to the first fight.

So, unless I am misremembering things already, there are three main fights scattered throughout Catfight, three times when characters have an opportunity to do things differently, and three times when things may change irrevocably for those involved. And this is part of the message being delivered by writer-director Onur Tukel, as well as an exploration of how people politely interact with others that they dislike, how they treat everyone around them, and how things can come undone when the illusion of civility disappears.

Starting in a fairly recognisable reality, Catfight dives further into the black comedy territory when the aftermath of the first fight is shown. From then on, it continues to get more twisted and amusing, all the way to an ending that manages to be wryly amusing, sad, and pointed all at once. Kudos to Tukel for shading the tone so subtly throughout and making the whole thing such a success, in terms of both simple entertainment and the commentary.

Oh and Heche are both very good in the lead roles, with the latter especially enjoying playing a character who is downright monstrous for most of her time onscreen (although Oh also certainly has her moments). Silverstone is very funny in her supporting role, especially in a scene that shows her receiving baby shower gifts (leading to her delivering some scathing critical comments with a sweet tone and a smile), and there are also good performances from Amy Hill, as an aunt of Oh's character, Myra Lucretia Taylor, as Oh's housekeeper, and Ariel Kavoussi, stealing a number of her scenes as the quietly-spoken assistant to Heche's character.

From the title, and from considering the potential of the premise, Catfight may seem like a wish-fulfilment kind of movie. A dream scenario, people saying what they really want to say and taking the gloves off. But that's not really a wish that anyone will want granted, and the dream can very quickly turn into a nightmare. Tukel makes that very clear. I'll be making sure to check out more from his filmography, and hope to be pleasantly surprised again.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.