Mom's Cat: Short Film from Hungary Captures the Furry Angst of Rejection

Mom’s Cat is an intense, yet quiet, short film by Hungarian writer/director Annabella Schnabel, who produced it for her diploma project at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest (you can watch a preview here). It has already garnered several awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the 29th Chicago Underground Film Festival, First Prize at the 19th Pannonfíling Film Festival, Best Short Film at the 8th Nefiltravane Kino Film Festival, and Best Young Director at the 13th Short to the Point International Film Festival. It was screened at several Oscar-qualifying festivals, such as the 70th Melbourne International Film Festival, 40th Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, 52nd Nashville Film Festival, and the A-listed 43rd Moscow International Film Festival, earning a spot on the 2023 Student Academy Awards long list. I had the opportunity to watch this 18-minute film, and I can say the plaudits are deserved.

What impressed me most about this film is how Schnabel packs so much emotion into just a few minutes and with minimal dialog. Every word uttered, every movement the actors make bears weight. Without giving anything away, the story is basically this: 30-something Felix (Attila Fritz) lives in squalid conditions with his mother, who barely tolerates her son and clearly despises him for not being “normal.” One day, Felix gets exciting news that a company wants to hire him to be a kind of mascot-for-hire, which means he can get paid and wear his fursuit! Felix is immensely proud of his fursuit, which he made himself. So, off he goes to his new job, where he meets coworkers who seem shy but admire his fursuit, which is a kind of winged cat. What follows are some ups and downs in his job that adeptly capture the sensitivities of the kind and sweet Felix, who only wants to be happy, and a mother and society that despise him for being abnormal. The conclusion is tragic, sad, disturbing, and oddly sweet.

For those of you who don’t know me, I have been writing a furry advice column called “Ask Papabear” since 2012 (www.askpapabear.com), and over the years I have been approached for advice from many furries struggling with wanting to be a furry even when their families, peers, and society reject them. This dilemma is a complex issue about which one could write an entire book—even books. If I could encapsulate all the worst experiences and angst I have encountered in my 13 years as a furry advice columnist into one character, Felix would be that character.

Similarly, every scene, every word of dialog, every gesture, and every movement of the well-directed camera compresses a world of misunderstood love like a telegraphed message in which each dot and short dash has a significance. A rose, a hesitant touch, a half-eaten chicken foot, and many other images add to the painting like dots on a pointillist painter’s masterpiece. When Felix explains to his coworkers why his fursuit has wings and why there are stripe marks on the head, for example, Schnabel reveals in a few seconds how a fursuit can contain deep personal meaning for its wearer. It is just one of many poignant scenes here.

To be clear, Mom’s Cat is not about the average furry experience, but it is about a side of the fandom that is very true indeed and to which many furries will relate. I would give it two thumbs up, but I’m a bear and don’t have thumbs, so I will give it a big Awoo! instead.