NEW TO XUMO AND PLUTO! Argentinian writer/director Jose Maria Cicala’s The Shadow of the Cat sets a family story about secrets of a dark past in the trappings of a thriller. Gato (Guillermo Zapata) lives with his teenage daughter Emma (Maite Lanata) and friend named Sombra (Danny Trejo) on an isolated farm cut off from communication with the outside world. Emma is restless and wants to know more of the world, so she slips away to a carnival parade where she is amazed and thrilled by the spectacle.
Trouble begins when Emma finds a mobile phone in the street. She makes a selfie video and uploads it. Soon, she is contacted by a woman named Celia (Mónica Antonópulos) who claims to be her long-lost mother. When Emma suddenly disappears, Gato and Sombra search for her. Gato knows where to look, as he suspects she’s been drawn to the cult from which he escaped years ago. Sombra is his faithful companion as they make plans to take Emma from the cult.
The tone of The Shadow of the Cat is odd. Cicala attempts to portray the grim themes of cult indoctrination and the forced, if necessary, estrangement of Emma and her mother in a brightly whimsical way. For American audiences, anyway, this is an unsettling misstep. On the other hand, the cinematography works with low light and shadows, in sync with the thematic elements. It’s like there are two different films playing on top of each other, one Disney-fied light family tale, and the other a dark exploration of a hidden past sparking the adventure of Gato and Sombra trying to rescue Emma. The title is a play on the character names. Gato is “cat” in Spanish, and Sombra means “shadow.” That’s about as deep as that gets.
Gato and Sombra share a tense, intimate moment indoors in The Shadow of the Cat (2024).
“When Emma suddenly disappears, Gato and Sombra search for her.”
Some of the film wanders into Del Toro-esque magical realism. If Cicala had built on that, more of his choices would make sense. Is Sombra a Brujo? He might be, it’s unclear. By the wrap-up of the third act, the film is in absolute chaos as the cult is performing a ritual to sacrifice Emma while Gato and Sombra fight to get to her. This would all go down better with a giant hit of ayahuasca, or perhaps that’s how it got written? Gato sums it up at the end by saying, “What’s the use of explaining what happened?”
The soundtrack is downright weird. Setting a dark Argentinian film to bouncy American country music is a strange and jarring choice. The light-hearted, playful tone doesn’t match the film. The performances are adequate, the actors do their best with what’s provided, but the characters are written as exaggerated caricatures. That said, nobody classes up a joint like Danny Trejo. After a decade in prison, evolving into a recovery advocate, he’s become a lovable avuncular presence, a remarkable person, and fun to watch onscreen. He’s delighted us in Desperado, Spy Kids, Machete, and hundreds of other films. He is the best part of this film. It’s cool to see him speaking Spanish.
The Shadow of the Cat is a strange little film. It feels like Cicala had two ideas percolating in his brain, and he should have picked one. It’s entertaining once you figure out which you are focusing on. Is it the Disney-like take on a young girl exploring the wider world with curiosity and enthusiasm? Or is it the forbidding drama of a girl caught in the web of a nefarious cult while her father tries to rescue her? It is left to the viewer to choose their own adventure.
Learn more at the official The Shadow of the Cat website.
"…nobody classes up a joint like Danny Trejo."
