“Wait, you’re literally having your own cat’s baby!”
In documentaries, the point is to examine and present the truth. In mockumentaries, however, the unbelievably absurd is treated like the truth. In the instance of Kitty Mammas, a camera crew follows a literal mad scientist – Dr. Han (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) – as he leads a clinical trial in which four women give birth…to kittens.
Though slightly disgraced from previous endeavours, Dr. Han has been presented the opportunity of being a modern day Frankenstein of sorts. The experiment, made possible by financial backers and desperate participants, lasts over a three month period which sees the cat foetus grow to the size of a kitten with next to no visible bump. Plus, the participants even get to keep the kitten if successful! The diversity in the mothers-to-be ranges from the LGBTQ+ community, undergrad students, middle-aged mothers, and vloggers, but they all want one thing: to give birth to a kitten. This is a common goal like no other.
With the participants’ diverse range of backgrounds comes a diverse range of issues and obstacles which they must endure. The challenges they face range from financial inheritance, online backlash, and acceptance. Running parallel, Dr Kittenstein faces the annoying persistence of Darryl (Drew Nelson), a journalist desperate to expose the grotesque experiment, but also in pursuit of revenge. After the 90-day period, what will be of Sylvia (Janet Porter), Joan (Kathryn Kohut), Maria (Vienna Hehir) and Rose (Morgan Kohan)? New mothers? Human-cat hybrids?
As a mockumentary, Kitty Mammas exists as both a surreal comedy and a drama which deals with serious issues too. The balance of both is certainly effective in its execution, though the mockumentary style is much more frequent and attempted when dealing with the surrealist nature of the clinical trial. Kitty Mammas almost feels like a hybrid of two movies, but with the same cast. A major issue, however, is that in the mockumentary, extraordinary and out-of-this-world characters and situations are depicted realistically, despite being completely unbelievable and unrealistic. The unbelievable is made believable. In Kitty Mammas, whilst the characters deal with such realistic, relevant, and hard-hitting issues outside of the clinical trial, there is an overwhelming ambiance of the film not feeling one bit real. Kitty Mammas doesn’t even feel like a documentary.
Of course, there is an excruciating difficulty in making such a wild concept seem at all plausible. Humans giving birth to kittens is just mind boggling. The heart of Kitten Mammas really lies within the social issues explored outside of the medical practice. The four performances of the trialists are all terrific respectively, especially that of Vienna Hehir. Under the screenwriting of Katrina Nicholson, the characters – specifically the trialists – are empowered to really showcase both the power and vulnerability which they possess within. These are strong characters. Strongly written characters.
Ultimately, from director Dennis Alexander Nicholson, Kitten Mammas can be read as a film with a hidden agenda… The kitten trial stuff is just for show. Essentially, the concept is just the overcoat covering a body which provides a commentary on social issues. This form of trickery is terrific in that it, to some degree, pays off because the issues explored are done really well. Probably the best aspect of the film overall. Though a great exploration of issues, one can’t imagine that much of Kitty Mammma’s audience will be coming for a class on sociology, but instead, they’ll be wanting to see something totally messed up, like the film initially suggests.
A24 is coming off a major Oscars coup with its Best Picture-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once, but now, they’re headed for a major ensemble comedy film from the lens of Saturday Night Live‘s own Kyle Mooney. Per Deadline, it appears that Mooney will direct the disaster film titled Y2K which comes from a script from Evan Winter.
The movie boasts a major ensemble that includes the following: Jaeden Martell (It), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Mason Gooding (Scream VI), Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2), Lachlan Watson (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Tim Heidecker (Us), Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus), music artist The Kid Laroi and Alicia Silverstone (Clueless). The film is set on NYE 1999, where two High School loners (Martell and Dennison) decide to crash a big party before the end of the millennium, however, when the clock strikes midnight, it becomes a disaster unlike anything they could have ever imagined.
A24 will back the pic that also features Jonah Hill and The Bear creator Christopher Storer amongst its behind-the-scenes producing partners. With such a major ensemble, it seems like it could be a mixture of This Is the End with touches of Hill’s directorial debut, Mid90s within the 90s-set disaster comedy.
A24 ‘Y2k’ Cast
Martell is probably the most recognizable actor amongst the ensemble having starred in the It films as the younger version of Bill Denbrough. He also has appeared in recent years in films such as Knives Out, St. Vincent and Netflix’s Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. He’s also the titular character in Apple’s series, Defending Jacob and is set to lead the upcoming reboot of The Lost Boys alongside Noah Jupe and Charlene Amoia.
Zegler is best known for her debut role as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story in 2021. Her star power continues to rise as she’s already joined DC’s superhero universe for Shazam! Fury of the Gods which is currently in theaters. She’ll also play Snow White in Disney’s 2024 live-action remake of the iconic animated film and lead the upcoming prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes alongside Hunter Schafer, Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis.
Dennison first came on the scene when he starred in Taika Waititi’s indie dramedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople with Sam Neill. He followed that up with a major role in Deadpool 2 and then later joined the cast of Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021. Gooding is one of the starring members of the ensemble in Scream VI, which is currently in theaters. Hechinger starred in the first season of The White Lotus as the son of Connie Britton and Steve Zahn and will next appear in Kraven the Hunter. Additionally, the older cast members in Silverstone and Heidecker are best known for roles in Clueless and Jordan Peele’s Us respectively.
Lawrence’s character portrays the “ne’er-do-well” who answers a Craigslist ad that was placed to hire a date for an introverted and socially awkward teen boy, by his mother and father, who also just so happens to be preparing for college soon.
Jennifer Lawrence, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Natalie Morales
Plot Summary:
Lawrence’s character portrays the “ne’er-do-well” who answers a Craigslist ad that was placed to hire a date for an introverted and socially awkward teen boy, by his mother and father, who also just so happens to be preparing for college soon.